Wisconsin Law Journal publishes "Verdict & Settlement Reports" to assist lawyers in judging the value of cases and to research names of cases, lawyers and experts.
The information contained in these reports is generally provided by one of the lawyers in the case, although some reports may be based on court records and news reports. When the report is submitted by an attorney, the lawyer drafts the information and it is sent to our editors. We edit material for style, grammar, length and content.
To be published, a report must:
Include the name of the case, the court name and docket number.
Include the date of the verdict or settlement, the name of the judge, the amount of the verdict or settlement, and, if it is a defense verdict, the plaintiff's last pretrial demand. This information cannot be withheld from publication.
Include the names of the lawyers for all of the parties.
Provide a description of the case that contains facts of the case, interesting arguments made, novel legal approaches, etc.
List contact information of the lawyer submitting the report.
If parties agreed to a confidential settlement, Wisconsin Law Journal may, in appropriate cases, withhold the names of the parties from the published version - but the information must be provided to us initially so we can be sure that such a case did exist. If the parties' names are to be withheld as part of a confidential settlement, we will need to have the dollar amount of the settlement for publication.