Vol. 76, No. 9, September
2003
Higginbotham appointed to court of
appeals
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Higginbotham
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Dane County Circuit Court Judge Paul Higginbotham, U.W. 1985, was
recently appointed by Gov. Jim Doyle to the 4th District Court of
Appeals. Higginbotham is the first African-American person to serve on
any appellate court in Wisconsin.
"Paul Higginbotham is a fair and well-respected judge and an
outstanding public servant," Doyle said. "He will make a fine addition
to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals."
Higginbotham, Dane County's first African-American judge, was elected
to the bench in 1994. Before that, he served two years as the city of
Madison's first municipal court judge. He was Dane County's minority
affairs coordinator from 1988 to 1992. He also worked as a trial
attorney.
Higginbotham began serving Sept. 1. His term will expire in July
2005, and there will be a special election in the spring of 2005.
Higginbotham succeeds Judge Pat Roggensack, who was elected to the
Wisconsin Supreme Court in April.
The 4th District Court of Appeals handles appeals from the circuit
courts in 24 counties in central and southwestern Wisconsin. The court
of appeals was created in 1977 to ease the burden on the state supreme
court.
Sorenson Sole Practitioner of
the Year
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Sorenson
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Steve Sorenson, Marquette 1977, received the American
Bar Association's (ABA) General Practice Section Sole Practitioner of
the Year award at the ABA annual convention in San Francisco in August.
The award recognizes exceptional meritorious achievement by a sole
practitioner widely acknowledged by his or her peers as having
consistently achieved distinction in an exemplary way and is awarded to
a person who epitomizes the ideals of the legal profession and of sole
practitioners.
Karen Mathis, chair of the ABA General Practice, Solo
and Small Firm Section, presented the award to section member Sorenson,
a past State Bar president and former ABA House of Delegates member.
Sorenson was commended for his commitment to the State Bar's and the
National Conference of Bar President's (NCBP) strategic planning, to his
profession, and to the communities in which he lives and works.
Sorenson is the newly-elected NBCP secretary and is
coordinating the 5th annual Midwest Solo and Small Firm Success
Conference, to be held in Minneapolis in October. He is a board trustee
for the Fellows of the Wisconsin Law Foundation (WLF) and is WLF
treasurer. He recently returned to full-time practice in Ripon after a
brief stint as Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission chair.
Wisconsin
Lawyer
