Online Registration Closed at 3:00 PM

on Wednesday, February 27.

You can still join us! Feel free to walk in to tonight's program.

How does the justice system affect YOU?

Demystifying the Courts: A community discussion of history, purpose,function & structure

Join Mitch Teich of WUWM as he moderates a panel of Milwaukee Circuit Court judges and attorneys.

Chief Judge Maxine A. White
Judge Carl Ashley
Judge Ellen R. Brostrom
Judge Kevin E. Martens
Judge Mary E. Triggiano
Commissioner Ana Berrios-Schroeder
Attorney James C. Griffin
Attorney Craig A. Mastantuono
Attorney Amy E. Wochos

Presented by Milwaukee Bar Association
www.MilwBar.org
(414) 274-6760

Circuit Court Judge Carl Ashley

Prior to being elected as a Circuit Court Judge, Judge Ashley spent seven years practicing law in the Public Defender’s Office. He opened his law practice in 1989.

Judge Ashley was elected to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 1999. He has served in general misdemeanor court, domestic violence court, juvenile dependency and delinquency court, homicide/sexual assault court, felony drug court, family court, drug treatment court, Veterans treatment court and he is presently assigned civil court.

He has received advanced Domestic Violence Training from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and served on the faculty of the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence. He presently trains judges and system partners about how being trauma informed improves criminal justice responses. He is a member of the Evidenced-based Sentencing Judicial Peer Group for the National Center for State Courts.

He is a faculty member of the Wisconsin Judicial College.

Judge Ashley is Past Vice-Chair of the Supreme Court Policy and Planning Committee and presently Chair of its Subcommittee on Effective Justice Strategies (EJS) Committee. Judge Ashley is Chair of the Wisconsin State Bar Diversity and Inclusion Oversight Committee.

In 2003, he received the Innovator of the Year Award in recognition of vision, creativity, and innovative spirit. In 2011, he was selected by the State Bar of Wisconsin as Judge of the Year. In 2013, Judge Ashley received the Leaders in the Law Award from the Wisconsin Law Journal. In 2014 and 2015, Judge Ashley was presented with the State Bar’s President’s Award. In 2016, he received the E. Michael McCann Distinguished Public Service Award.

He is married to Felita Daniels Ashley and has two girls, Elise and Zoe.

Circuit Court Judge Ellen R. Brostrom

Judge Ellen R. Brostrom was elected to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in a contested election in April, 2009. She was appointed by the Governor to begin serving May 1, 2009, and was re-elected in 2015. Judge Brostrom has presided over dockets adjudicating homicide/sexual assault, domestic violence, felonies, misdemeanors, drug treatment and veterans treatment courts, small claims and large claims civil.

Judge Brostrom is a 1985 honors graduate of Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French Literature, and a 1995 graduate of the UCLA School of Law. Judge Brostrom was a principal in the Milwaukee law firm of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, s.c. prior to her election to the Circuit Court, where she specialized in litigating claims of actuarial malpractice. Prior to joining Reinhart, Judge Brostrom worked at firms large and small, including her own small firm in Milwaukee representing children who had been poisoned by lead paint.

Judge Brostrom has two adult daughters and a cat named Blue. She enjoys running, biking, skiing, and anything on a trail, outside, in a tent or under the stars. She likes to cook, bake, read and listen to music.  

Circuit Court Judge Kevin E. Martens

Kevin E. Martens has served as a judge for Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Branch 27, since July 23, 2001. Judge Martens is assigned to the Civil Division, where he presides over large claims matters. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Martens was an Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Wisconsin (1997-2001). Judge Martens was also an Associate Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin – Madison Law School (1999-2001), where he taught legal research and writing.

From 1995 to 1997, Judge Martens was in private practice at Foley & Lardner in Milwaukee, where he specialized in federal civil and general commercial litigation. Prior to that, he served as a law clerk for United States District Judge Robert W. Warren in the Eastern District of Wisconsin (1993-95). Judge Martens received his law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1993 and his undergraduate degree summa cum laude in Business Administration (Finance) from Marquette University in 1990.

Judge Martens is Chair of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Records Management – Forms Committee, where he has served since 2001. He is a member of the Wisconsin Hispanic Lawyers Association, St. Thomas More Lawyers Society of Wisconsin, Thomas E. Fairchild American Inns of Court, Wisconsin Trial Judges Association, Milwaukee Trial Judges Association, Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association, Milwaukee Bar Association, and State Bar of Wisconsin. Judge Martens is also on the Board of Directors for the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum Foundation. 

Circuit Court Judge Mary Triggiano

Mary Triggiano is a graduate of UW-Madison Law School and has been a Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge since August 1, 2004. She was first assigned to the Children's Division from August 2004 to August 2009. She was next assigned to the Domestic Violence Court, handling adult misdemeanor and felony domestic abuse and child abuse cases. From August 2013 to August 2017, she was again assigned to the Children’s Court Division where she led the Family Drug Treatment Court and created the first of its kind in Wisconsin Healthy Infant Court. She currently is assigned to the Civil Division and is a Deputy Chief Judge for Chief Judge Maxine White.

Judge Triggiano has been or is involved in the following: Wisconsin Trial Judges Association, Department of Children & Families Trauma Trainings, National Governor’s Association Conference on Child Well Being; National Council on Juvenile & Family Court Judges; Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board; Wisconsin Committee on Children, Families & Courts - Children’s Court Improvement Program; Legislative Committee on Problem Solving Courts, Adjunct Professor at Marquette Law School.

Over the past 20 years, Judge Triggiano has presented on numerous topics to the Judiciary, attorneys, medical professionals, academia and others. The topics include, but are not limited to: Trauma Informed Care, Child Welfare Law, Safety and Permanence, Substance Use Disorders, Infant Mental Health, Evidence Based Sentencing Practices, Domestic Violence, and Restorative Justice.

 Commissioner Ana M. Berrios-Schroeder

Ana Berrios-Schroeder has been a Court Commissioner in Milwaukee County from 2001 to present. She has served in the Milwaukee County Family Court Commissioner’s Office as an Assistant Family Court Commissioner, Deputy Family Court Commissioner and since 2016 has been the Family Court Commissioner. She owned her own all-woman law firm, general practice focusing on family law, and also worked for the Milwaukee County Office of Child Support Services. She earned her B.A. from Marquette University, J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

She has given talks on family law, domestic violence, and the intersections of immigration and family law. Her hobbies include reading, baking, and scrapbooking. She is married to Marquette University Police Sgt. Glenn Berrios-Schroeder and has one son.

Attorney James C. Griffin

James Griffin has worked for the District Attorney's Office since 1993, where he handled misdemeanor and felony cases from 1993-1998, homicides from 1998-2006, and felonies again since 2006. His is presently the team captain for General Crimes Team 5. 

 Attorney Craig Mastantuono, Mastantuono & Coffee S.C.

Attorney Mastantuono specializes in defending people accused of crime in State and Federal courts in Wisconsin. He is a current board member and past-President of the Wisconsin Hispanic Lawyer’s Association. He started his career at the Waukesha County Trial Office of the Wisconsin State Public Defender. He has been selected for inclusion in the Criminal Defense category each year from 2005 thru 2018 in Law and Politics Magazine’s Super Lawyers publication, and was honored as one of the United Way’s Philanthropic 5 in 2009 for his firm’s charitable support of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. Attorney Mastantuono earned his law degree at DePaul University College of Law and a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Loyola University of Chicago. He is currently an adjunct faculty member at Marquette University Law School where he co-teaches a course in criminal law practice with MULS Professor Daniel Blinka, and recently served on the Advisory Council on Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform for WI Governor-elect Tony Evers’ transition team.

Deputy Register in Probate/Acting Court Commissioner Amy E. Wochos

As Deputy Register in Probate/Acting Court Commissioner for the Milwaukee County Register in Probate Atty. Wochos is responsible for facilitating the work of the Probate Court by monitoring and administering pending probate estate matters, presiding over probate, adult guardianship and mental commitment court hearings, making court orders, and assisting the public by answering procedural questions. She has been in that role since July, 2018. Prior to that she was Legal Counsel for the Milwaukee County Clerk of Courts office, Legal Director of the Milwaukee Justice Center and was a litigation partner with the Milwaukee law firm, Piper & Schmidt.