Stories

Matt Woleske (2015-16)

Justice Abrahamson, working at a paper-strewn desk

As so many others have said, the Chief (and though she had been recently removed from that position by constitutional amendment, that was always what I called her) worked incredibly hard. So much so that I remember realizing at one point that she and I had surely spent more hours together that year than she’d spent with Seymour, even including time they were asleep. Most of our time together was spent in the law clerk’s office, her office having long ago been given over to the tremendous volume of papers, books, trinkets, and awards she’d accumulated over the years. She sat at […]

Justice Abrahamson wearing her judicial robes, standing in front of shelves full of law books.

As you all know, Justice Abrahamson had a new crop of interns from the UW law school every semester. Each one of them had the opportunity to work on an opinion with her. But she made clear to them that the finished product would be hers and hers alone. One guy just couldn’t get that straight. Over lunch one day, he asked whether he could tell his friends that he had had a hand in a particular opinion. She said absolutely not. But he wouldn’t let it go. He said, “In my heart, can I know that I worked on […]

Justice Abrahamson addressing a crowd of elementary school children

One Sunday, I came back after an early dinner and got right to work, expecting Justice Abrahamson to come in shortly after I did. Time got away from me, Justice Abrahamson did not come in, and around 11 p.m. I went up the back stairs to the State Law Library to get a couple books. Opened the door, and there was Justice Abrahamson, with a full cart of reporters, and a table full of more, going through cases. Outworking her, just for an evening, was not in the cards.

While I was clerking for the Chief, the state constitution was amended to enable the justices to elect their chief. They day after the election, there was a vote, and the Chief was no longer the Chief (though naturally we still called her “Chief” and even answered the phones that way). She did not show even a hint of sadness or frustration in response to this unprecedented event. Instead she filed a lawsuit and said to whoever called her cell, “They gave me lemons and I’m making lemonade.” Her reaction that day was a good summation of her personality — […]

Shirley Abrahamson, seated, and holding a baby as Eli Best crouches next to her and smiles at the camera

I am grateful to have started my career clerking for Chief Justice Abrahamson. She was a generous mentor and maintained incredibly good humor despite the intense demands and challenges of the job. I was inspired by her passion for reaching a fair, defensible result in every case and by her boundless commitment to serving the public. Chief Justice Abrahamson inspired me to become a judge and I was lucky to know her.

Chief Justice Abrahamson with Matthew Splitek, his wife, and daughter

Since clerking, I have been a litigator at Quarles & Brady in Madison, where I live with my wife and three kids. And all of that actually traces to my time with the Chief. I’d originally planned to leave Madison for a job in D.C. after my clerkship ended. But a few weeks in, the Chief asked me to stay for a second year, when she’d be running for reelection. A bit after I said yes, it occurred to me that going two years without meeting anyone outside the office might be a bad idea. This resulted, unexpectedly, in my […]

I worked late with the Chief (always “the Chief” to me) 5-6 days a week, except when she was traveling. As she joked more than once, by day, she was the Chief Justice Abrahamson. At night she was Justice Abrahamson. Most of her case work gone done after hours. At least in those days, her clerk’s office had two desks. During the days, the externs from University of Wisconsin, Marquette and Northeastern would rotate sitting in the other desk because it was nicer and gave them better access to the justices than the windowless extern office upstairs, though it was […]

Chief Justice Abrahamson standing next to Neil Byl

I consider myself very lucky to have had the opportunity to clerk for the Chief. I didn’t have a job immediately out of law school, but Justice Bradley was gracious enough to offer me the opportunity to volunteer in her chambers while I continued my search. After a few months, the phone rang in the intern office and it was Justice Bradley on the phone. The Chief’s clerk had decided to depart and the Chief was interested in hiring Christine Remington and me to share his spot. I would interview in ten minutes. I could hardly believe it.

Most of my memories are not stories, per se. More Chief-isms: Her inability to remember anybody’s name, and thus use of the word “friend.” Waking her up from her power naps on the couch in her office. Opinion-writing weekends, seeing us sit and write in tandem at the desks in the clerk’s office, often culminating over Saturday take out dinner, where she always ordered the tenderloin salad. Her willingness to drive me home late at night, even though it was out of the way. The shag carpet throughout her house, including the bathroom. The soft and caring heart inside her […]

My clerkship year with Chief Justice Abrahamson was fascinating and challenging. It was fascinating because the Wisconsin Supreme Court has discretion over which appeals to hear. Every case the Court takes involves issues of first impression, with many important doctrinal and policy choices for the court to make. It was challenging because the workload was intense. We had around 90 cases that term, and I was the only law clerk in the Chief’s chambers. We had a lot of help from interns, though. Working for Chief Justice Abrahamson taught me the meaning of hard work. She typically worked from 9 a.m. […]

Matt Woleske (2015-16)

Sue Fieber (Judicial Assistant, 1992-1999)

Douglas Endreson (1980-1981)

Megan Sanders (2014-15)

Eli Best (2011-2012)

Matthew Splitek (2007-08, 2008-09)

Noah Rosenthal (2005-06)

Neil Byl (2003-04)

Gabe Plotkin (2002-03)

Megan McDermott (2000-01)