Gavin Wardzala (Associate-Milwaukee) and John Loringer (Partner-Milwaukee) secured dismissal in the Waukesha Circuit Court in a professional negligence suit brought against Wilson Elser’s clients, a real estate appraisal services company, and its appraiser/employee. The clients had previously conducted a valuation of marital real estate in the context of a divorce proceeding. The plaintiff in this matter argued that our client’s appraiser employee was negligent when he allegedly conducted a “reappraisal” of the residence while preparing to testify at trial. Gavin and John filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the appraiser was a court-appointed expert entitled to quasi-judicial immunity; our clients were entitled to an absolute testimonial privilege from liability due to the plaintiff’s allegations that damages sustained were a direct result of the company employee’s testimony; and the doctrine of issue preclusion applied to the family court’s determination that the clients were court-appointed, rather than jointly-retained experts. The court concurred with Wilson Elser’s position, liberally construing the appointment order in favor of immunity to protect quasi-judicial officials like our clients from the chilling effect of retaliatory litigation, thereby extending quasi-judicial and testimonial immunity and dismissing the complaint.