The Amicus Committee: Help Us Help You
Erik Gustafson, von Briesen and Roper, S.C.

After years of dedicated service, Brian Anderson recently stepped away as the chair of WDC’s Amicus Committee. WDC and the Committee thank Brian for his years of leadership. I was approved as the new committee chair and James Biese of SECURA Insurance was approved as the new vice-chair.

With this change in leadership, I wanted to remind everyone of the committee’s existence and how we can help you. The Amicus Committee is tasked with deciding when WDC as an organization will file an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief on behalf of WDC. Once the Committee agrees to participate in a case, we solicit volunteer writers from the Committee.

The Committee typically gets involved in cases that concern at least one issue with broad impact on our organization and its members. This can include first-party coverage issues (property or UM/UIM), third-party coverage issues, and merits liability—anything that affects Wisconsin businesses, insurers, and their attorneys. We typically do not get involved in fact-specific or fact-intensive cases. The Committee typically gets involved at the supreme court rather than court of appeals, but raising a case at the court of appeals stage can still be valuable to put the case on our radar for future participation if it ends up before the supreme court. Though the vast majority of cases brought before the Committee are in state court, we will consider federal cases that raise issues of Wisconsin law.

The Committee considers involvement in a case when a WDC member raises it for Committee participation. The person raising the case to the Committee may, but need not be, counsel of record in the case. In addition, counsel of record in the case need not necessarily be WDC members, but WDC membership is a factor when the Committee considers involvement. 

In order to bring a case to the Committee’s attention, please send an email with brief description of the case, issue(s) on which you seek Committee participation, and representative briefs or filings (e.g., circuit court briefing for a case going to the court of appeals, court of appeals decision for a case before the supreme court, etc.) to the chair, vice chair, or WDC. The Committee will then schedule a meeting to discuss the case. The person raising the case will have an opportunity to explain the case and issue(s). The Committee then discusses whether to participate outside the presence of any attorneys who are direct participants in the case, and solicits volunteer writers. The chair or vice chair then informs the requesting attorney of the Committee’s decision.

Sometimes, the committee would like to participate in a case, but practical realities make it impossible. These practical realities usually come down to time and capacity. For those seeking Committee participation in a case, the biggest help to the Committee is time. The Committee must file a motion to file an amicus brief within 14 days of the respondent’s brief, with the brief then due on a date set by the court.[1] Thus, bringing a case to the Committee as quickly as reasonably possible after filing of the notice of appeal, the adverse court of appeals decision (for participation at the petition for review stage), or granting the petition for review (for participation at the supreme court on the merits), will maximize the opportunity and capacity of the Committee. Conversely, the Committee typically has a difficult time accommodating requests to participate that are made in response to another organization filing a motion to file an amicus brief in support of an opponent.

The Committee’s other need is capacity—that is, the time of volunteer drafters. As an all-volunteer committee, we rely on the generosity of our members to draft the briefs in cases where the Committee agrees to participate in a case. New members to the Committee are always welcome. For WDC members with supervision responsibility at your firms, consider offering credit towards billable hours for associates who contribute to an amicus brief on behalf of the Committee. Drafting a brief with the Committee can be a valuable experience for younger attorneys to gain appellate experience. 

Author Biography:

Erik M. Gustafson is a Principal Associate at von Briesen & Roper, s.c., in the Milwaukee office. His practice focuses on insurance coverage (both first- and third-party) and appeals. Erik graduated from Marquette University Law School, magna cum laude, in 2017, where he was Technology Editor of the Marquette Law Review and earned a certificate in litigation practice. Prior to joining von Briesen, Erik was a law clerk at the Wisconsin Supreme Court and associate at a Milwaukee law firm.