Scott Manley, right, executive vice president of government relations for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and WCJC vice president, presents Bill Smith, left, with the J. E. Hough Distinguished Service Award for 2025.

Bill Smith, the state director for Wisconsin for the National Federation of Independent Business and founding president of the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council, recently announced his retirement. Mr. Smith began his NFIB career 46 years ago when he was named NFIB’s Government Affairs Representative for North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Later, he was named NFIB’s first full-time state director for Wisconsin.

 

Beginning in the 1980s, Mr. Smith began working to organize members of the Wisconsin business community to work together on liability reform issues and helped lead successful efforts to reform Wisconsin’s law regarding medical malpractice, joint and several liability, products liability, expert witness standards, and punitive damages. He also helped lead WCJC’s successful effort to make Wisconsin the first state in the country to require disclosure when third parties invest in lawsuits in return for a cut of a settlement or judgment.

 

In light of his service, Mr. Smith was presented with the J. E. Hough Distinguished Service Award at the WCJC’s spring meeting in May. The award is named after Jim Hough, founder of the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council.

 

Brad Boycks, executive director of the Wisconsin Builders Association, has been named Mr. Smith’s successor as president of the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council.