Preceded by Barbara Crabb Role Judge Name William Conley | Preceded by Barbara Crabb | |
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Alma mater University of Wisconsin, Madison Education University of Wisconsin Law School, University of Wisconsin-Madison | ||
William Martin Conley (born May 25, 1956) is an American lawyer and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
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Early life and education
Born in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, Conley attended St. Joseph's elementary school and Rice Lake High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1978 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1982. He was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as articles editor of the Wisconsin Law Review. He worked as a law clerk for Judge Thomas E. Fairchild on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1982 until 1984.
Professional career
From 1984 until 2010 Conley served as a lawyer with the firm Foley & Lardner in its Madison, Wisconsin office. He was an associate from 1984 until 1992 and a partner from 1992 until 2010.
Federal judicial service
On October 29, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Conley to serve on the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin to fill the vacancy created by Judge Barbara Brandriff Crabb's announcement in March 2009 that she would take senior status. On December 10, 2009 the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary forwarded his nomination to the full United States Senate. Conley was unanimously confirmed, 99-0 on March 4, 2010. He received his commission on March 25, 2010. He served as Chief Judge from March 25, 2010 to April 26, 2017.
Notable case
On March 10, 2017, Judge Conley granted a request blocking President Donald Trump's administration from enforcing its newly revised travel ban against a Syrian family from the city of Aleppo, saying that daily threats against the man's wife and child could cause "irreparable harm". The ruling was the first of its kind since the roll out of the second executive order. A federal lawsuit had originally been filed in February against the first travel ban but was set aside by Conley after the ban was blocked. A new complaint filed after the issuance of the second order maintained the revised ban still infringed upon the man's freedom of religion and right to due process.