Lisa Neubauer ( Stephens; born July 21, 1957) is an American lawyer and judge, currently serving as a judge of the

Wisconsin Court of Appeals The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court that reviews contested decisions of the Wisconsin circuit courts. The Court of Appeals was created in August 1978 to alleviate the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rising number of appe ...

in the Waukesha-based District II. Judge Neubauer has served on the Court of Appeals since 2007 and was chief judge from 2015 through 2021.

Early life and education

Neubauer graduated from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 1979. Prior to attending law school, she worked as an aide to state senator

Fred Risser Fred A. Risser (born May 5, 1927) is a retired American politician and attorney who served in the Wisconsin Legislature from 1957 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party from Madison, Wisconsin, Risser holds ...

of Madison. In 1987, Neubauer graduated from the

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 180 full-time and part-time facul ...

where she was a member of the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif () is an American honor society for law school graduates. The Order was founded in 1902 at the University of Illinois College of Law. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of trial lawyers, the serjeants-at-la ...

. Following her graduation from law school, she was a law clerk to Judge Barbara Brandriff Crabb of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (in case citations, W.D. Wis.) is a federal court in the Seventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ...

Community involvement

Neubauer is a recipient of the Community Service Award from the Association for Women Lawyers. She is a former board member of the Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund, Racine Area

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

, the Equal Justice Coalition, and Legal Action of Wisconsin. She has been a reading tutor in the Racine public elementary schools through the United Way Schools of Hope program, a big sister with a Big Sisters of Greater Racine, and a mentor for breast cancer survivors through "After Breast Cancer Diagnosis" (ABCD). Neubauer is on the Supreme Court Finance Committee and is co-chair of the Wisconsin Bar Association’s Bench and Bar Committee and Chair of the Bench/Bar Court Funding Subcommittee. She previously served on the Planning and Policy Advisory Committee, the Judicial Conduct Advisory Committee, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court Committee on Community Outreach.

Legal career

Neubauer was employed from 1988 until 2007 at the

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

law firm Foley and Lardner, specializing in environmental cleanup litigation and rising to the level of partner. While at the firm, she chaired the Insurance Dispute Resolution Practice Group and co-chaired the firm's national recruiting committee. In December 2007, Democratic governor Jim Doyle appointed Neubauer to a seat on the

vacated by retired Judge Neal Nettesheim. Neubauer was the first woman to serve as a judge of the court's District II, headquartered in Waukesha. Neubauer was elected to a full term on the court in the April 2008 general election, defeating attorney William C. Gleisner III. She enjoyed bi-partisan support in her campaign for the position, including the endorsement of Michael Grebe, the former state chair of the

Republican Party of Wisconsin The Republican Party of Wisconsin is a conservative politics, conservative and Right-wing populism, populist political party in Wisconsin and is the Wisconsin affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party (GOP) ...

. In 2009, Neubauer was appointed presiding judge of District II. On May 8, 2015, the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the state judicial system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. In addition to hearing appeals of lower Wisconsin court decisions, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also ...

appointed Neubauer chief judge of the Court of Appeals. Neubauer took office on August 2, replacing retiring Chief Judge Richard S. Brown. Neubauer was a candidate for

in 2019. Despite endorsements from 150 current and former Wisconsin judges, including 18 from the court of appeals, she was narrowly defeated by Judge Brian Hagedorn. Neubauer was re-elected to another term on the Court of Appeals in 2020. On June 28, 2021, the

issued an order ending her term as chief judge on July 31, 2021; she was replaced by presiding judge William W. Brash III.

Personal life

Lisa Stephens took the last name Neubauer in 1986 when she married Jeffrey A. Neubauer, who was then serving as a state representative and would later serve four years as chairman of the

Democratic Party of Wisconsin The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is currently headed by chair Ben Wikler. Important issues for the state party include support for workers and unions, strong public edu ...

. They have three adult children, including Greta Neubauer, the current Democratic minority leader in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

. The Neubauers reside in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...

Electoral history

Wisconsin Court of Appeals (2008, 2014, 2020)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 1, 2008 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 1, 2014 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 7, 2020

Wisconsin Supreme Court (2019)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 2, 2019

References

External links

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Neubauer, Lisa
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Neubauer, Lisa 1957 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Chicago Law School alumni Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges Wisconsin lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women judges