Back in June, the Wisconsin State Supreme Court decided in a narrow, 4-3 ruling that Gov. Scott Walker's administration was allowed to start implementing its union-busting law. Now, it turns out that the law firm which the Walker administration hired to argue its case gave tens of thousands of dollars in free legal services to one of the four justices that ruled in the administration's favor:
State Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman in two cases cast the deciding vote in favor of parties represented by a law firm that gave him tens of thousands of dollars of free legal services, a review of state records shows.
One of those was a high-stakes case this June that allowed Gov. Scott Walker to implement a law that all but eliminates collective bargaining for most public workers. Gableman was in the 4-3 majority that allowed Walker to prevail. Michael Best & Friedrich - the firm that defended Gableman for free in an ethics case - worked for the state and Walker's administration in the collective bargaining case.
It was definitely a smart move by the Walker administration to hire a law firm that had recently done a huge amount of pro bono work for one of the justices who would rule on the legality of the administration's most controversial law.
Fun fact: Supreme court justices can be recalled in Wisconsin.