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Many in the UW-Madison community are familiar with the McBurney Disability Resource Center, but fewer may know about the remarkable UW Law School graduate for whom it was named. A new exhibit at the UW Law Library explores the life and lasting impact of Floyd “Mike” McBurney (Class of 1963).
After sustaining a cervical spinal cord injury in a diving accident at age 16, McBurney adapted to new ways of learning and studying. He graduated at the top…
Continue Reading UW Law Library Exhibit Highlights Legacy of Accessibility Pioneer Floyd “Mike” McBurney (Class of 1963)

Each January, the UW Law School offers a series of free Ethics CLE seminars.  This year, I have the pleasure of presenting on GenAI with my Law Library colleague, Kris Turner.
This session will explore the current landscape of generative AI in legal practice, touching on market trends, practical usage of GenAI tools, and key ethical considerations. We’ll discuss both the benefits and potential pitfalls of AI adoption and examine recent guidance from the ABA and the courts. The…
Continue Reading Free WI Ethics CLE on Navigating Generative AI: Ethical Issues and Practical Guidance for Lawyers

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The University of Wisconsin Law Library is proud to host a traveling display celebrating Lavinia Goodell, Wisconsin’s first woman lawyer and a pioneer in the fight for gender equality in the legal profession.
Goodell was an active member of the 1870s “Woman’s Rights” movement, working as an editor for Harper’s Bazar and publishing numerous articles on women’s rights in the national press. Her legal career began in 1874, when she achieved a significant milestone by being admitted to…
Continue Reading UW Law Library Hosts Exhibit on Lavinia Goodell, Wisconsin’s First Woman Lawyer

The Illinois Supreme Court has released its new policy on generative AI use in courts, effective January 1, 2025. The policy takes a balanced approach – acknowledging AI’s potential while setting clear boundaries for its use.

Some notable elements of the policy:

  • First, the policy opens with the phrase “Embracing the advancements of artificial intelligence” – signaling an intentionally forward-looking perspective. It explicitly states that AI use “should not be discouraged” when it complies with legal and ethical

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Continue Reading IL Supreme Court’s New AI Policy Takes a Balanced Approach

The current legal landscape might be comparable to an alien world in a sci-fi movie, exceedingly complex and constantly changing. Myriad statutes, regulations, rules, ordinances, case law, and other sources of law create a legal multivariate calculus problem. Due to practical necessity and ethical requirements, attorneys are required to understand applicable law in order to provide guidance to their clients.

Regardless of the preparation that law school provided, that preparation will be insufficient for legal problems that attorneys eventually…
Continue Reading Tips for Lawyers: Keeping Pace with the Law

I read two thought-provoking articles today that got me thinking about how we approach prompting when using generative AI tools. Ted Underwood, writing in the Chronicle of Higher Education, makes a key point – we shouldn’t treat AI as an all-knowing oracle. “Instead of assuming that the model already has an answer to every question in memory,” he writes, “any special assumptions or background knowledge the model will be expected to use” should be included in the prompt.
Continue Reading AI is Not an Oracle: Designing More Effective Prompts

I recently wrote an article on Getting Started with GenAI in Legal Practice for the December issue of Wisconsin Lawyer that I wanted to share. It examines how attorneys can approach generative AI tools thoughtfully and ethically in their practice.

The ABA’s recent opinion on Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools makes clear that “even in the absence of an expectation for lawyers to use GAI tools as a matter of course, lawyers should become aware of the GAI tools relevant…
Continue Reading Getting Started with GenAI in Legal Practice

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Last fall, we reported that the UW Law School State Democracy Research Initiative launched a new resource called 50constitutions.org, which provides easy access to the text of all 50 state constitutions and allows users to search within and across states.

One of the features, Tracking Constitutional Change helps visualize the many amendments made to state constitutions and allows researchers and the public to see how state founding documents have developed over time.  Initially, this feature was available for…
Continue Reading SDRI Adds More States to Constitutional Amendments Visualization Tool

Here is the latest faculty scholarship from the University of Wisconsin Law School Legal Studies Research Papers series vis SSRN.

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Continue Reading Recent UW Law Faculty Scholarship

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The Milwaukee Bar Association’s annual Law & Technology Conference will be held this Friday, bringing together legal professionals to explore the latest developments in legal tech, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. The conference offers both in-person attendance at the MBA and a virtual option for remote participants.
I’ve attended this conference many times over the years – it’s always an excellent event. This year, I’m excited to be participating as a panelist!
I’ll be joining my UW Law Library colleague…
Continue Reading MBA’s Annual Law & Tech Conference Returns This Friday

Attorney Mason Higgins to present at State Bar of Wisconsin’s Annual Debtor-Creditor Bankruptcy Updates
Stafford Rosenbaum Attorney Mason Higgins will present on real estate issues in bankruptcy, including single-asset real estate issues commercial leases, on Wednesday, November 6, for the Annual Debtor-Creditor Bankruptcy Update for the Eastern District, and on Thursday, November 7, for the Western District. Both updates are presented by the State Bar of Wisconsin. This year’s updates feature time-tested legal techniques, the latest case…
Continue Reading Attorney Mason Higgins Presents during Annual Debtor-Creditor Bankruptcy Update for State Bar

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An item in today’s Flamingle caught my eye:  Why is Bucky Badger’s birthday October 2nd? 

Turns out that the big day dates back to the registration of Bucky’s likeness in the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries on October 2, 1940.

Being a law librarian, I couldn’t help but dig a little further to find that entry.  There are actually two entries:  “Wisconsin and seal together with comic collegiate badger mascots” and “Wisconsin football player together with Wisconsin…
Continue Reading From Copyright Catalog to Campus Icon: The History of Bucky Badger’s Birthday

Generative AI productivity tools have become increasingly popular in the legal profession, offering significant potential to enhance efficiency and streamline workflows. Tools like Otter.ai, Zoom AI Companion, and Microsoft Teams AI Note Taker can help summarize remote meetings and transcribe conversations. But, they can also be a privacy disaster for the unwary and uneducated user as an article in this morning’s Washington Post illustrates.
Researcher and engineer Alex Bilzerian said on X last week that, after a Zoom meeting…
Continue Reading When AI Assistants Overshare: Best Practices for Lawyers Using Gen AI Productivity Tools

Here is the latest faculty scholarship from the University of Wisconsin Law School Legal Studies Research Papers series vis SSRN.

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Continue Reading Recent UW Law Faculty Scholarship: Purcell Principles for State Courts, Climate Justice & Non-human Rights Law in Latin America, & Poultry Grower Regulations

According to The Atlantic, 23andMe, a leading provider of consumer genetic testing services, is considering selling the company amidst financial difficulties.  This is particularly noteworthy because of the vast amount of genetic data 23andMe has accumulated – information from approximately 15 million customers.

From the article:
DNA might contain health information, but unlike a doctor’s office, 23andMe is not bound by the health-privacy law HIPAA. And the company’s privacy policies make clear that in the event of…
Continue Reading 23andMe Considers Selling: Implications for Consumer Genetic Privacy

On Friday, September 20th, the Wisconsin Law Review and the State Democracy Research Initiative will bring together legal scholars to discuss the future of American state election law and the challenges that may arise in the face of the upcoming federal elections.
When: Sep 20, 2024 08:45 AM Central Time (US and Canada)
For more information, including a registration link, visit the Wisconsin Law Review’s 2024 Symposium website. Each panel of the Symposium has been approved for 1.5…
Continue Reading WI Law Review Symposium on State Law & Federal Elections, Sept 20th