William Eich is an American lawyer and retired judge. He was Chief 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 ...

from 1989 to 1998. Earlier in his career, he served as a county judge and Wisconsin circuit judge in

Dane County, Wisconsin Dane County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin. The county seat is Madison, which is also the state capital. Dane County is the ...

Biography

Eich was born in

Park Ridge, Illinois Park Ridge is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a Chicago suburb. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 39,656. It is located northwest of downtown Chicago. It is close to O' ...

. He graduated from Maine East High School in 1956,

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and has ...

in 1960 and the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1963. Eich and his wife, Lynne, have four children. Eich has published in law reviews and legal periodicals on a variety of legal and government-related topics.

Career

After practicing with a private law firm in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, Eich served as an Assistant and Deputy Attorney General of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

with Attorneys General Bronson La Follette and

Robert W. Warren Robert Willis Warren (August 30, 1925 – August 20, 1998) was a United States district judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. He had previously served as attorney general of Wisconsin and represented Brown and Calumet Counties in the ...

. In 1971, Governor Patrick Lucey appointed Eich as Chairman of the

Public Service Commission of Wisconsin The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin is an independent regulatory agency responsible for regulating public utilities in the energy, telecommunications, gas and water companies located in U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2021, the agency regul ...

. Lucey later appointed Eich to be a Judge of the Wisconsin Circuit Court in 1975. Eich was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Governor

Tony Earl Anthony Scully Earl (born April 12, 1936) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic party and served as the 41st governor of Wisconsin from 1983 until 1987. He graduated from Michigan State University in 1958 and earned a J.D. fr ...

in 1985. He later became chief judge in 1989 and remained in that position until 1998 before retiring in 2000. Since retiring from full-time judicial service, he has remained a reserve judge for the Circuit Court and served as a legal advisor to the

Wisconsin State Journal The ''Wisconsin State Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin. As of September ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eich, William People from Park Ridge, Illinois Politicians from Madison, Wisconsin Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges Wisconsin circuit court judges Beloit College alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Lawyers from Madison, Wisconsin