Colin T. Roth

Wisconsin

Stafford Rosenbaum LLP
222 West Washington Ave
Suite 900
Madison, WI 53703-2744

Tel: 608-259-2647

Email: croth@staffordlaw.com
Web: www.staffordlaw.com

Attorney Colin T. Roth is a partner in the Madison office of Stafford Rosenbaum LLP. His practice focuses on appellate law, commercial litigation, election and political law. He litigates in both state and federal courts at both the trial and appellate levels, frequently in areas like voting rights, administrative rulemaking, constitutional challenges to state law, state taxation, environmental protection, and civil rights.

Colin has litigated some of the highest profile cases in recent memory before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He handled briefing and oral argument in challenges to the Governor’s partial veto power (in Bartlett v. Evers and Wisconsin Small Business United, Inc. v. Brennan), the executive branch’s pandemic response powers (in Wisconsin Legislature v. Palm), and the 2020 general election recount (in Trump v. Biden). He has also litigated many appeals before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. Colin serves as co-chair of the firm’s appellate practice team with Attorney Jeff Mandell.

Colin also maintains an active commercial litigation practice at the trial court level. He has expertise representing clients in matters involving the Wisconsin Fair Dealership Law, breach of contract, securities fraud, trademark infringement, and defamation, among many other areas.

Colin also has substantial experience advising clients on state regulatory matters, having worked closely with state officials in the Governor’s office, the Department of Administration, the University of Wisconsin System, the Department of Revenue, and the Department of Natural Resources to answer complicated legal questions and map the path forward for complex regulatory programs.

Prior to joining Stafford Rosenbaum, Colin spent five years at the Wisconsin Department of Justice as an assistant attorney general, handling the state’s most important trial and appellate civil litigation and, before that, four years as an associate at Irell & Manella, a prominent law firm in Los Angeles.

Colin is admitted to practice in Wisconsin, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western District of Wisconsin, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Education
  • New York University School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 2012)
    • Order of the Coif, Law Review
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison (B.A., Political Science, 2007)
    • Phi Beta Kappa
Professional Memberships and Activities
  • State Bar of Wisconsin
  • Dane County Bar Association
  • 7th Circuit Bar Association

Stafford Rosenbaum’s appellate team offers the breadth and depth of experience to provide outstanding appellate and consulting services for your case. Stafford Rosenbaum’s appellate attorneys have experience in all phases of appellate litigation. The Firm is one of only three firms to have won at least two-thirds of its cases before the Wisconsin Supreme Court since 2008. We have also represented clients before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit, and the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, as well as several other federal and state appellate courts around the country on a wide range of substantive law.

Appellate litigation is both an art and a science. It is intricately related to trial litigation, but requires a distinct skill set. Success in the trial court is no guarantee of a favorable result on appeal. This is why courts and clients arerecognizing the value added by experienced, talented, and focused appellate counsel.

Our appellate team brings value to our clients in several ways:

  • Peerless practice in Wisconsin appellate courts and the Seventh Circuit.
  • Breadth of experience in other state and federal appellate courts.
  • Comprehensive knowledge of the intricacies of both trial and appellate practice and procedure.
  • Strategic insight into identifying, preserving, and presenting key issues at every stage of pleadings, discovery, summary judgment, trial, and appeal.
  • Exceptional writing that distills abstract legal doctrine and dense factual background into clear, cogent, and compelling briefs.

We provide effective representation at the appellate level, either to preserve a favorable verdict or to seek reversal of an adverse judgment. But our representation goes beyond that. Our experience as both trial and appellate litigators allows us to work with trial attorneys to help shape issues and facts that may seem unimportant at the trial level but could prove determinative on appeal. We are happy to discuss alternative fee arrangements for such consulting work.

Stafford Rosenbaum LLP, with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, has been one of the leading law firms in Wisconsin for over 140 years. The firm offers a full array of legal services to businesses, governments, and individuals, helping find solutions to legal problems. Our attorneys are known for high ethical standards and are well respected by clients and peers.

Though we serve clients around the United States and all over the world, we trace our roots to our current hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, in 1879. Generations and partners have come and gone, but what remains — and will always remain — is our commitment to providing practical legal solutions and our adherence to the highest standards of legal ethics and professionalism. Whether your legal concerns lie in Wisconsin, out of the state, or in any country around the world, you can always turn to us.

We harness the collective experience of our business attorneys and litigators to solve legal needs arising in the areas of antitrust and trade, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, business law, dealership and franchise law, employment and labor law, environmental law, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, and alternative dispute resolution.

We serve as general counsel or act as special counsel for more than 100 Wisconsin local governmental entities advising in areas such as public utility, government and administration, employment and labor law, and environmental law.

We’re committed to local communities, and the foundation of our practice is communication. We seek resolution by listening to your legal concerns and understanding your goals, explaining your options and their ramifications clearly and simply. And if you have questions, we’re always here for you — just as we have been for over 140 years.