Former Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Joins Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan LLP

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Aug 10, 2011, 04:45 ET

MILWAUKEE, Aug. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan LLP announced today that former Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Louis B. Butler, Jr. has joined the firm's Milwaukee office as a partner.

Butler was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Jim Doyle in August 2004, becoming the first African-American to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. After his term expired on July 31, 2008, Butler served from October 2008 through May 2011 with the University of Wisconsin Law School as a Senior Visiting Lecturer, with the title "Justice in Residence."

"I am very grateful for the opportunity to be joining such a widely respected law firm," said Butler. "We share the same commitment to excellence and diversity, and I hope to add my unique perspective to the firm to further strengthen its ability to service clients nationwide."

Butler served as an assistant state public defender from 1972 to 1992, where he was the first public defender in Wisconsin history to argue a case before the United States Supreme Court. After serving as assistant state public defender, Butler was appointed to the Milwaukee Municipal Court. He served as a municipal judge until 2002, when he was elected to Branch 9 of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

Butler is a permanent member of the faculty of the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada, where judges from across the nation and around the world take continuing judicial education classes. He also serves as a member of the final bench in the Southwestern Law School Moot Court Competition in Los Angeles. Butler formerly directed the Wisconsin Public Defender Clinical Program at Marquette University Law School as an adjunct assistant professor of law. He is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, NAACP, Wisconsin Association of African-American Lawyers, Community Brainstorming Conference, and James E. Doyle Chapter of the American Inns of Court. Butler was a member of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Judicial Independence from 2008 through 2011, and previously served as Chairman of the Alcohol Beverage Licensing Task Force for the City of Milwaukee. He was inducted as a member of the Fellows of the Wisconsin Law Foundation in November 2008, and in February 2011, he was elected to serve on the Board of Trustees for Lawrence University.

Butler received a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and a B.A. from Lawrence University, where he also received an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities.

"We are exceptionally proud to have such a valued member of the bench joining our firm," said Emery Harlan, Managing Partner of Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan LLP. "His perspective, knowledge and experience as a former judge and justice will bring significant value to our clients and firm."

About Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan

Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan LLP (www.gshllp.com) is a nationwide law firm with 130 attorneys in 17 offices located in Atlanta; Boston; Boca Raton, Fla.; Chicago; Cincinnati; Cleveland; West Des Moines, Iowa; Indianapolis; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Milwaukee; Nashville, Tenn.; New York; Phoenix; Stamford, Conn.; Washington D.C.; and Wayne, N.J. The firm represents midsized to Fortune 1000 companies, governmental entities, and individuals in the areas of litigation, employment, environmental, corporate and transactional, public finance, intellectual property, energy and regulatory, immigration, and estate and asset protection planning. As the nation's largest certified minority-owned law firm, Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan practices law with a commitment to quality, diversity and to the communities it serves.