Louis B. Butler

Biography

Louis B. Butler, Jr., a former city and state court judge with extensive judicial experience, was the first African-American to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Mr. 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 has extensive knowledge of litigation, dispute resolution and court processes at all levels.

Mr. Butler has argued before the United States Supreme Court and helps guide the firm’s appellate practice group. He has served as a Senior Visiting Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he taught Appellate Advocacy and also has a special understanding of matters that involve criminal risk and defense. Mr. Butler also concentrates his practice to help clients with special areas of criminal, complex, and appellate litigation.

Partial List of Recognitions & Accomplishments:

Mr. Butler had been nominated by President Barack Obama to be a United States District Court Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin. Prior to becoming a city and state court judge, he was the first public defender in Wisconsin history to argue before the United States Supreme Court in McCoy v. Wisconsin Court of Appeals, 486 U.S. 429 (1988). His practice experience includes nine years of exclusive appellate litigation and includes arguing before Wisconsin Supreme Court over 20 times. As a Supreme Court Justice, Mr. Butler authored numerous significant decisions affecting the civil and criminal landscape in Wisconsin.

Mr. Butler has received a number of awards throughout his career, including the Thomas G. Cannon Equal Justice Award from the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, the William M. Coffey Memorial Award, presented by the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; NAACP Foot Soldiers’ Award; Outstanding Citizen’s Award from the Wisconsin Council of Deliberations, Prince Hall Masons; 2014 Leader in the Law, Wisconsin Law Journal; and the Trail Blazer Award presented by the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in both 2002 and 2004. He also was named “Humanitarian of the Year” by the American Federation of Teachers, Local 212.

Mr. Butler formerly directed the Wisconsin Public Defender Clinical Program at Marquette University Law School as an adjunct assistant professor of law. He was a member of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Judicial Independence from 2008 through 2011. He was inducted as a member of the Fellows of the Wisconsin Law Foundation (WLF) in November 2008 and was appointed to the WLF Board of Directors (Chair, Membership Committee) and the Fellows of the WLF Board of Trustees, where he is currently serving as Vice President. In February 2011, Mr. Butler was elected to serve on the Board of Trustees for Lawrence University and was elected to serve on the Board of Directors for The Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee in 2014. He is also a member of the Fellows of the American Bar Association, inducted in 2009. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Wisconsin, Illinois Bar Association, NAACP, Wisconsin Association of African-American Lawyers, Community Brainstorming Conference, and Thomas E. Fairchild Chapter of the American Inns of Court.

Mr. Butler received a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and a B.A. from Lawrence University, where he was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities in 2007. He is admitted to practice in Wisconsin and Illinois, as well as in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh and Eighth Circuits, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Eastern District of Wisconsin. He has also been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.

Education & Bar Admissions

Education

• University of Wisconsin Law School, J.D.
• Lawrence University, B.A.
• Lawrence University, Honorary Doctorate in Humanities

Bar Admissions

• Illinois
• Wisconsin
• United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh and Eighth Circuits
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
• United States Supreme Court

In the News

• 6/2/2015 - Louis B. Butler, Jr. Teaching at National Judicial College
• 3/5/2015 - Louis B. Butler, Jr. Serving on Final Bench at the Evan A. Evans Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition
• 10/2/2014 - Louis B. Butler, Jr. Keynote Speaker at NAACP Freedom Fund Dinners
• 7/3/2014 - Louis B. Butler, Jr. Speaking to University of Wisconsin Students
• 6/20/2014 - Louis B. Butler, Jr. Elected to Board of Legal Aid Society
• 5/13/2014 - Louis B. Butler, Jr. – Upcoming Speaking Engagements
• 3/25/2014 - Louis Butler honored as 2014 Leader in the Law
• 2/7/2014 - Louis Butler Moderating at National Bar Association Conference
• 12/20/2013 - Louis Butler Selected as 2014 Leader in the Law
• 10/28/2013 - Louis Butler spoke for the Center for American Progress
• 9/9/2013 - Louis Butler Speaking at the UW-Madison Law School Pro Bono Program’s Fall Reception
• 8/6/2013 - Louis Butler Wisconsin Law Foundation Appointments
• 7/29/2013 - GSH Hosted Marquette Law School Summer Youth Institute Students
• 4/9/2013 - Louis B. Butler, Jr. Sat on Final Bench
• 3/28/2013 - Louis B. Butler, Jr. Featured in Law360 Article
• 3/4/2013 - Louis B. Butler, Jr. Moot Court Judge
• 2/28/2013 - Louis B. Butler, Jr. Speaking at Harvard and UW Law Schools
• 8/11/2011 - Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan welcomes former Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Louis B. Butler, Jr. as a Partner