Hon. Laura Gramling Perez is a Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge, currently assigned to the Civil Division. Judge Perez also has presided over CHIPS, delinquency, and termination of parental rights cases in the Children’s Division, and over small claims cases. She chairs the statewide Juvenile Jury Instruction Committee, and she’s also a member of the First Judicial District Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of Pathfinders Milwaukee, Inc. Previously, Judge Perez chaired the Milwaukee Bar Association’s Legal Services to the Indigent Committee and was a founding member of the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic.

Before her election to the bench in 2014, Judge Perez served as the Presiding Court Commissioner for the Milwaukee County Circuit Court and practiced law as a litigation shareholder at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. in Milwaukee and as a litigator at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in New York. Her practice focused on antitrust, professional liability, and general commercial matters. She received her undergraduate degree from Columbia University, and her J.D., with honors, from the University of Michigan Law School.

Jay A. Urban is a founding member and partner of the firm Urban & Taylor S.C., with offices in Milwaukee and Tomah, WI. He represents individuals in complex personal injury and death cases, practicing in all areas of tort law with a specific focus on catastrophic trucking, nursing home abuse, and products/consumer liability matters nationwide (in the federal multidistrict litigation system). He has been named to federal MDL leadership on multiple occasions, taking on large pharmaceutical and other corporate interests who put profits over people. He’s certified as a Civil Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and as an advocate by the National Board of Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy.

Jay is one of the current Wisconsin governors for the American Association for Justice (AAJ), and he was the recipient of the AAJ’s F. Scott Baldwin Award for “Most Outstanding Young Trial Lawyer” in 2002. Jay has also served on the Wisconsin Association for Justice Board of Directors since 1998 and is an active member of the Southern Trial Lawyers Association. He frequently lectures at litigation and trial skills seminars across the country

Hon. Timothy M. Witkowiak is a Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge, currently assigned to the Civil Division. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Witkowiak served as a judicial court commissioner and worked in private practice in Greenfield from 1984-2002. He is past chair of the State Bar of Wisconsin Children’s Law Section. He received his bachelor’s and law degrees from Marquette University in 1981 and 1984 respectively.

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