Judge Richard Sankovitz is a distinguished former Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge who now serves as a full-time mediator, arbitrator and court-appointed special master.

Starting in 2019, he has presided over more than 400 mediations and dozens of arbitration, special master and umpire proceedings. The settlements he has brokered total more than $60 million in the aggregate.

Judge Sankovitz presided for 22 years as a circuit court judge. He won the respect of lawyers and litigants for his impartiality, his thorough preparation, his mastery of both law and procedure, his insightful understanding of the legal and factual issues in dispute and his emphasis on moving cases efficiently to the point where they could be resolved fairly. He takes pride in innovating and problem-solving.

While on the bench he served more than ten years in assignments devoted exclusively to civil and family disputes. He presided in almost 300 jury trials. He is among the most experienced and highly regarded former members of the faculty of the state Judicial College. He has been recommended for appointment to the federal judiciary.

Prior to taking the bench, Judge Sankovitz was a shareholder in the law firm of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C. in Milwaukee, and before that an associate at Jenner & Block in Chicago. His practice concentrated in business and commercial litigation. He advocated for clients in state and federal court at both the trial and appellate levels. He litigated a wide variety of disputes on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants.

In 2019 he was ranked “#1 Mediator in the Midwest” by The National Law Journal in their 2019 Reader Rankings Survey, and in 2021 voted Best Mediator in the Wisconsin Law Journal Reader Rankings Survey. Both surveys were conducted online with lawyers throughout the Midwest.