Section 1983 Litigation: From Arrest to Release

Steven H. Steinglass Related Seminars and Products

Professor

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law

Steven H. Steinglass is a nationally recognized authority on Section 1983 Civil Rights litigation and currently serves as dean emeritus and professor emeritus at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Professor Steinglass has argued two cases before the United States Supreme Court, Board of Regents v. Roth (1972) and Felder v. Casey (1988). Professor Steinglass is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Law. Following law school, he practiced law in Wisconsin, initially as a staff attorney under the Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship Program and ultimately as the director of Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc., the state's largest legal services program. He also served as a Lecturer in Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School. He joined the faculty of Cleveland State University's Cleveland- Marshall College of Law in 1980.

Charles H. Bohl Related Seminars and Products

Husch Blackwell LLP, Milwaukee

Charles H. Bohl is a partner in the Milwaukee office of Husch Blackwell LLP.  He received  his law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, cum laude.  After graduation, Charles began his career as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Wisconsin.  He is board certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has represented municipalities, corporations, and individuals in hundreds of matters involving a wide range of issues for more than 35 years.  He has represented over half of the counties in Wisconsin.  Charles has been lead counsel in more than 50 jury trials and counsel of record in more than 50 reported decision including many cases brought under § 1983.

Benjamin H. Elson Related Seminars and Products

People’s Law Office, Chicago

Ben Elson is a partner at the People’s Law Office in Chicago. His practice focuses on representing victims of police and other governmental misconduct in civil rights cases, including people who have been wrongfully convicted, subjected to police brutality, and denied medical attention. He received a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Elson serves as an editor of the Police Misconduct and Civil Rights Law Report, published by Thomson West, and is on the Board of Directors of the National Police Accountability Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

Corey F. Finkelmeyer Related Seminars and Products

Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison

Corey F. Finkelmeyer is an assistant attorney general and the director of the Civil Litigation Unit at the Wisconsin Department of Justice. He supervises the defense of lawsuits brought against the state and its employees and represents the state and its employees in major litigation. He received both his B.A. and J.D. from the University of Wisconsin. He is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Western and Eastern Districts of Wisconsin, and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Samuel C. Hall Jr. Related Seminars and Products

Crivello Carlson, S.C., Milwaukee

Samuel C. Hall, Jr. is a shareholder at Crivello Carlson, S.C. and is a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. He received his bachelor’s degree and law degree from Marquette University. During law school, Sam was a St. Thomas More Scholar for three years and was a member of the Marquette Sports Law Review. His principal practice focuses on civil rights litigation and appellate practice. Sam has successfully defended hundreds of law enforcement officers, government officials and municipalities in cases involving alleged civil rights violations. Sam is admitted to practice and has defended law enforcement in high profile cases in Wisconsin, Illinois and New York state courts, the United States Supreme Court, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and federal district courts in Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, Texas and Pennsylvania. Sam's civil rights work has been covered nationally, including in publications such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Miami Herald and San Francisco Chronicle. Sam received the top “AV-Preeminent” peer and judicial ratings by Martindale- Hubbell and has also been selected for the Wisconsin Super Lawyers Rising Stars list several times for his civil rights defense and appellate work. Based on his experience in defending law enforcement officers, Sam has been a keynote speaker and lecturer for many law enforcement organizations and was also an instructor for a Master’s level course offered by the University of Wisconsin for law enforcement command staff.

Susan E. Lappen Related Seminars and Products

Milwaukee City Attorney’s Office

Susan E. Lappen holds a BA and MA from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee in Speech Communication, and is a 1988 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she was Editor in Chief of the Wisconsin International Law Journal and a Teaching Assistant for the UW Legal Writing program. Upon graduation, Sue enjoyed a one-year clerkship with the Hon. William Moser of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. Sue has been employed as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Milwaukee since 1989. Sue’s focus is defense litigation. She has defended the City and City employees in more than 500 lawsuits, and taken more than 100 cases to jury trial. She has briefed and argued  dozens of  cases before the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Sue has briefed cases pending before the United States Supreme Court. For the majority of her tenure with the City Attorney’s Office, Sue’s primary responsibilities included defending the City, seven Chiefs of Police, and hundreds of police personnel in civil rights cases pending in federal court.

Elizabeth Mazur Related Seminars and Products

Loevy & Loevy, Chicago

Elizabeth Mazur is a partner at the Chicago law firm of Loevy & Loevy.  She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.  After graduation she clerked Judge M. Blane Michael of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  Her current practice focuses on Section 1983 litigation involving excessive force, unlawful seizure, prison conditions, and wrongful convictions. She is a member of the Federal Bar Association and the National Lawyers Guild National Police Accountability Project. 

Jeff Scott Olson Related Seminars and Products

The Jeff Scott Olson Law Firm, S.C.,

In over forty years of private practice, Jeff Scott Olson has almost always represented individuals or small businesses in litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts against government agencies, corporations and insurance companies. 

He has been asked on over sixty occasions to present programs for lawyers, and has authored more than a dozen articles on civil rights topics in national publications.  He won the American Civil Liberties Union's "Volunteer Attorney of the Year" award in 1986 and the Dane County Fair Housing Council's "Fair Housing Advocate Award" in 1988. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America and in Superlawyers since their earliest editions.

He plays the banjo.

Robert T. Pledl Related Seminars and Products

Pledl & Cohn, S.C.

ROBERT (ROCK) THEINE PLEDL is a Senior Attorney at McNally Peterson, S.C. in Milwaukee. The firm handles general litigation and business matters. Mr. Pledl’s state-wide practice focuses on serving individuals with disabilities and their families. He handles cases involving §1983, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. He has investigated or litigated numerous deaths in psychiatric facilities. Mr. Pledl also represents disability service providers in “NIMBY” zoning disputes. He was lead class counsel in a case that addressed systemic ADA violations in the Wisconsin Family Care program. He serves as co-chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the Eastern District Bar Association. Mr. Pledl graduated from the UW-Milwaukee social work program in 1976 and from the John Marshall Law School in 1980.

Jan A. Smokowicz Related Seminars and Products

Milwaukee City Attorney’s Office

Amy Doyle Related Seminars and Products

Crivello Carlson, S.C., Milwaukee

Amy Doyle is a shareholder with the firm of Crivello Carlson, S.C. she received her law degree in 1990 from Marquette University. Her primary practice areas are municipal liability and civil rights violations including jail and law enforcement liability and employment discrimination. Amy is admitted to practice in Wisconsin State Courts, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and various United States District Courts. She was involved in defending the wrongful conviction claims of Evan Zimmerman and Steven Avery.