Jon W. Sanfilippo celebrates 100 days in federal court in Wis.

• Date: 04 June 2007
• Author: Zemlicka, Jack

Byline: Jack Zemlicka

After working in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court System for 12 years, Jon W. Sanfilippo was content. Though he had applied to several court positions around the country, the Chief Deputy Clerk of Courts figured he would retire with the county. Then, one day last year, Sanfilippo's boss, Milwaukee County Clerk of Court John Barrett, asked him if he was going to apply for the Clerk of Court position for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Sofron B. Nedilsky was leaving the position after 25 years. "I went home and told my wife about it and she said, 'You have been applying to jobs all over the country and you're not thinking about trying for one right here in Milwaukee?'" said Sanfilippo. "I figured I had better at least apply." The competition, which included everyone from U.S. Army colonels to a friend of college basketball coach Rick Majerus, was intense as was the screening process, but Sanfilippo got the call he had been hoping for from Chief Judge Rudolph T. Randa in...