News

Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson has appointed Judge Lisa K. Stark, Eau Claire County Circuit Court, dean of the Wisconsin Judicial College, effective Sept. 3, 2010.

Stark will succeed Judge Robert G. Mawdsley, who has served as dean since 1998. Mawdsley will remain dean through the 2010 Judicial College and continue as an instructor at the annual event.

Held in various locations around the state in late summer or early fall each year, the Judicial College focuses on the tools and techniques of judging. It is designed as an introduction to the bench for newly elected or appointed judges and a refresher for sitting judges, each of whom is required to attend at least once per six year term. Sessions are lively and interactive, with experienced judges sharing their solutions to the new and recurring problems that arise in litigation and their insights on judicial decision making. Newer judges, in turn, are able to share their perspective on private, corporate and government practice of law from the other side of the bench.

Stark, a circuit court judge for nearly 10 years, had served as an associate dean of the Judicial College since 2005. Judge Stark received her bachelor’s degree from the UW-Eau Claire in 1979 and her law degree from the UW Law School in 1982. She served as an Eau Claire County court commissioner and also served nine years on the State Bar of Wisconsin Standing Committee on Professional Ethics.

Judge Stark has been a member of the Civil Jury Instruction Committee since 2001 and currently serves as chair of the committee. She also serves as president of the Eau Claire County Restorative Justice Project, has presided over a drug and alcohol court in Eau Claire County since October 2004, and serves on the Advisory Boards for the Sand Ridge Treatment Center and the recently formed Eau Claire County Criminal Justice Collaborating Council.

Contact:
Tom Sheehan
Court Information Officer
(608) 261-6640