Celebrate John Skilton’s Retirement on April 4

John Skilton is retiring in April after spending more than 50 years as a tireless advocate for equal access to legal representation and a host of other civil rights causes. Please join us for drinks and hors d’oeuvres at Boardman & Clark (1 S. Pinckney St., 4th Floor, Madison) from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM on Thursday, April 4th, as we celebrate John and raise funds for WEJF, a nonprofit organization he founded in 1997 that helps fund three of the largest providers of civil legal aid for underserved Wisconsinites. Those who cannot attend the event are encouraged to share their congratulations for John in the comments below and to make donations to WEJF in honor of his retirement.

Everyone is welcome. Please RSVP to Aly at alynch@wejf.org to help us plan accordingly with food and drinks. Special thanks to Perkins Coie and Boardman & Clark for sponsoring this event.

Brief History of WEJF

The Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund (originally called the Equal Justice Coalition) stemmed from Congress’ slashing of the Legal Service Corporation’s (LSC) budget appropriation from $400 million to $278 million for the fiscal year 1996. John Skilton, President of the State Bar of Wisconsin in 1995, formed the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Delivery of Justice Commission to study and make recommendations to help narrow the gaps in the delivery of legal services to a good portion of the public. One of the commission’s recommendations was to form the Equal Justice Coalition. John initiated the EJC with the help of other lawyers around the state and they established the initial contributions from the large law firms and spawned the fundraising concept from there. John will continue serving on the WEJF Board of Directors until his retirement in mid-April.

The mission of WEJF to raise funds and awareness for free civil legal aid services for low-income Wisconsinites remains integral to our justice system.

Donate to WEJF in Honor of John’s Career and Retirement

Donate to WEJF in honor of John Skilton using the form below. Funds donated to WEJF are used to support three of the largest providers of free civil legal aid services in Wisconsin:

• Disability Rights Wisconsin protects the rights of people with disabilities statewide.
• Judicare Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to low-income persons living in Northern Wisconsin and Native Americans statewide.
• Legal Action of Wisconsin provides free civil legal services to low-income persons living in Southern Wisconsin and farmworkers statewide.