The Honorable Rachel A. Graham | |
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Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals District IV | |
Assumed office July 4, 2019 | |
Appointed by | Tony Evers |
Preceded by | Gary Sherman |
Personal details | |
Born | Stevens Point, Wisconsin, U.S. | June 7, 1976
Education | |
Rachel Anne Graham (born June 7, 1976) is an American lawyer, currently serving as judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in the Madison-based District IV court. She was appointed in 2019 by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers.
Born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Graham graduated from Stevens Point Area Senior High School in 1994. [1] After earning her bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 1998, she went to work for several years as a special education teacher in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and worked as a curriculum specialist at various education non-profits. [2]
She returned to school to obtain her Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2008. [2] During law school, she worked as a student attorney with the Wisconsin Innocence Project and was senior managing editor of the Wisconsin International Law Journal. [3] [4]
In 2011, she served as a law clerk to Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. She was clerking for Justice Bradley during the infamous altercation between Bradley and fellow-Justice David Prosser Jr., in which Prosser grabbed Bradley by the neck. [5] Graham was one of several court staffers interviewed in the investigation and pointed to pressure from the state legislature as having damaged relations between the justices. [6] [7]
Following her clerkship, Graham was hired by the national law firm Quarles & Brady in their Madison office, working in commercial litigation. While working at Quarles & Brady, she was also volunteering as a commissioner on Wisconsin's National and Community Service Board, having been appointed in 2010. [3] She remained at Quarles & Brady until her appointment to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in 2019. [2]
On June 13, 2019, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers announced the appointment of Graham to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, to the seat vacated by the retirement of Judge Gary Sherman. [1] Judge Graham was the first judicial appointment of Tony Evers' governorship. [7] She won re-election without opposition in the 2020 election. [8]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
General Election, April 7, 2020 | |||||
Nonpartisan | Rachel A. Graham (incumbent) | 341,286 | 99.42% | ||
Scattering | 1,996 | 0.58% | |||
Total votes | 343,282 | 100.0% |