State Ex Rel. Collins v. American Family Mutual Insurance

This is an action in mandamus brought by Allison and Phillip Collins ("Petitioners") to compel the Honorable Willis J. Zick, Judge for the Circuit Court for Waukesha County, to release Petitioners from a stipulation entered into between Petitioners and American Family Mutual Insurance Company ("American Family") which required that the parties pay a "stipulated penalty," as Judge Zick describes it, to the "general fund" of the court should the parties settle their case before trial. The action was brought in the court of appeals under that court's supervisory powers. The court of appeals…