2017 Law Day Keynote Speakers Revealed
The ECBA invites you to join us on Monday, May 1, 2017 where Keynote Speakers Jerry Buting & Dean Strang will share with us their involvement in representing Steven Avery, the Wisconsin man who was the subject of the 2015 documentary Making a Murderer.
The compelling documentary Making a Murderer, filmed over a 10-year period, explores the story of Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man who served 18 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and attempted murder before being exonerated by DNA evidence. Following his release, Avery filed suit against the county and law enforcement officials whom he claimed had unjustly prosecuted him.
Two years later, while his civil suit was still pending, Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, were charged with the murder of a local photographer, Teresa Halbach, who went missing after meeting with Avery on his property. The same law enforcement officials Avery was suing had been involved in investigating her disappearance. Avery was represented at trial by our keynote speakers, Jerome F. “Jerry” Buting and Dean A. Strang. Attorney Buting is a criminal defense attorney at the firm of Buting, Williams & Stilling of Brookfield, Wisconsin. Attorney Strang, also a criminal defense attorney, practices with the firm of Strang & Bradley in Madison, Wisconsin.
Making a Murderer has been called “a spellbinding slow burn that effectively utilizes the documentary format to tell a twisty mystery”. The film won four Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, a Webby Award for Film & Video Breakout of the Year, and an Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Reality or Non-Fiction Program. The 10 episodes of Making a Murderer are available on Netflix.
Attorneys Buting and Strang will share with us their involvement in representing Avery during his murder trial, their participation in the production of the documentary, and their observations and conclusions about how our institutions of justice respond to the pressures of a crime and how well they are serving us in trying to prevent future tragedies and administer justice to everyone involved. Although Avery is now represented by other counsel, they will also update us on more recent developments in the Avery and Dassey cases.
