State Bar of Wisconsin​

We are a professional association for Wisconsin lawyers. The State Bar provides educational, career development, and other services to more than 25,000 members. We also provide public services, including attorney referrals, public education, and reduced-fee legal assistance for low-income state residents. Our mission is to improve the administration of justice and the delivery of legal services and to promote the professional interests of Wisconsin lawyers.

Website: https://www.wisbar.org/
Follow:

Latest from State Bar of Wisconsin​ - Page 5

Stock Photo of Cell Phone and Magnifying Glass
​​
Jan. 23, 2026 – The Fourth Amendment’s private search doctrine protected a warrantless view of a video that Snapchat flagged as child sexual abuse material (CSAM), a majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday in State v. Gasper, 2026 WI 3.

“The government did not exceed the scope of Snapchat’s search when it viewed the video because any expectation of privacy [Michael Joseph] Gasper may have had in the video was frustrated by the private

…
Continue Reading Wisconsin Supreme Court: Video View OK Within Private Search

In recent years, advancements in neuroscience have shaped and reshaped how we understand the adolescent brain and psyche.

For most of our nation’s legal history, however, children have been overlooked, undervalued, and misunderstood. In the 1990s, several criminologists coined the term “super-predator” in a book in which they theorized that America would be the “home to thickening ranks of juvenile ‘super-predators’ – radically impulsive, brutally remorseless youngsters, including ever more pre-teenage boys, who murder, assault, rape, rob, burglarize, deal

…
Continue Reading Neuroscience in the Courtroom Informs How We Should Sentence Youth

Physical placement disputes are often some of the most contested issues in family law cases. The current physical placement standard directs courts to maximize the time children spend with each parent consistent with their best interest. This strikes a thoughtful and flexible balance that a more inflexible presumption of equal placement cannot match. By focusing on the unique circumstances, needs, and family dynamics of each case, the existing framework preserves both parental involvement and judicial discretion. This ensures that

…
Continue Reading Why Wisconsin’s Balance Placement Standard Works without a Presumption of Equal Time

The Reentry Legal Services (RLS) program of Legal Services of Wisconsin helps people prepare for life after release from prison by securing essential benefits and health coverage.
Heidi Mangelsen headshot Heidi Mangelsen, St. Thomas 2010, is a Reentry Legal Services (RLS) attorney with Legal Action of Wisconsin, in Oshkosh. Her practice focuses on providing legal services to incarcerated people as they approach their release from prison.

RLS attorneys represent eligible clients in applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or

…
Continue Reading Boosting Successful Reentry: RLS Helps Formerly Incarcerated People Access Benefits

Lawyers regularly help their clients form business entities. In the modern day, the large majority of entities that are formed are formed as limited liability companies (LLCs).[1] While forming an LLC is fairly simple – one simply needs to prepare and file with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) a certificate of formation and have an operating agreement (which can be informal and oral, though preferably is in writing) – there is a subsequent step practitioners be

…
Continue Reading Primer on Wisconsin Securities Laws for LLC Interests

Please note that views presented in blog articles are those of the author, not those of the Wisconsin Department of Justice, the section, nor the State Bar of Wisconsin. On April 16, 2025, a group of Wisconsin legislators announced their proposal to enshrine a right to clean water, air, and soil in the Wisconsin Constitution. In part, the proposed amendment reads: The people, including future generations, have the right to a clean, safe, and healthy natural environment, including clean

…
Continue Reading Green Amendments in Practice: What Wisconsin Can Learn from Other States

Every day it seems that another health provider or company is entering into an agreement to resolve health care fraud allegations, or in more egregious cases, being convicted of health care fraud. Here are cases from this past November alone:
  • On Nov. 17, 2025, the United States and the State of California announced CVS Pharmacy Inc., paid a total of $18,282,280 in order to resolve allegations that the company violated the Federal False Claims Act and the California False

…
Continue Reading The Road to a Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action (and Sometimes Conviction)

stock photo

Dec. 16, 2025 – A car enthusiast who likes vanity plates to express his opinions recently lost his First Amendment claim on summary judgment before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

The court in M J Nichols Company, Inc. v. Thompson, No. 24-cv-566-amb (W.D. Wis., Dec. 12, 2025), held that a license plate is government speech.

Whether the language on a license plate is individual expression or government speech to which the First Amendment doesn’t

…
Continue Reading U.S. District Court: First Amendment Doesn’t Protect ‘RD RRAGE’

Work injuries rarely stay neatly contained within one legal bucket. In Wisconsin, a single incident can simultaneously trigger worker’s compensation rights, ADA accommodation obligations, FMLA protections, and short and long-term disability (STD/LTD) issues. For employment attorneys on both sides, understanding how these systems overlap is essential for preventing procedural landmines, avoiding retaliation claims, and guiding clients toward legally sound decisions that also make practical business sense. This article provides an integrated overview of how these regimes interact, the timing

…
Continue Reading Work Injuries in Wisconsin: Navigating Comp, ADA, FMLA, and Beyond

When parents get divorced, establishing paternity, or facing custody and placement disputes, they must seek court intervention.

Many parents expect that equal (50/50) shared placement of the children is the standard placement schedule that every court uses unless there is evidence that one party is a “bad parent.” Even some legal professionals or court officials seem to be operating under this assumption.

Haley Bjorn headshot

Haley Bjorn, Arizona State 2023, is a staff attorney with Judicare Legal Aid, Wausau. She

…
Continue Reading The Myth of 50/50 Placement: What Wisconsin Law Actually Requires

Most construction contracts presume that unanticipated changes sometimes happen, and permit changes to the contract price in those circumstances. However, these terms typically require the party seeking the change (most often a contractor or subcontractor seeking additional money due to unanticipated issues) to establish a causal link between the change and the increased work needed, and thus price. When projects are beset by numerous overlapping issues (for example, adverse weather issues, a design change, and unforeseen jobsite conditions), it

…
Continue Reading Untangling Complex Construction Claims – Why the Total Cost Method Matters

In Wisconsin, Wis. Stat. section 101.11, known as the safe place statute, imposes a variety of duties on employers, owners of places of employment, and owners of public buildings. The statute, first enacted in 1911, is nonspecific as to the exact nature and extent of the duty required to render a premises “safe:” Every employer shall furnish employment which shall be safe for the employees therein and shall furnish a place of employment which shall be safe for employees

…
Continue Reading Wisconsin’s Safe Place Statute: Methods and Processes Still Matter

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) publishes a widely used family of template-based construction contract documents, including A201, the General Conditions of the Contract for Construction. Many Wisconsin municipalities adopt these forms assuming they are balanced, neutral, and suitable for public-sector use without significant revision.

In practice, however, several provisions shift critical project risk away from contractors and toward municipal owners – particularly late in the project when system performance, commissioning, scheduling, and public expectations are most important.

Scott Smith headshot

Scott

…
Continue Reading Five Terms Wisconsin Municipalities Should Revise Before Signing Construction Contracts

Lisa M. Lawless headshot

Lisa M. Lawless

Anna F.C. Muñoz headshot

Anna F.C. Muñoz

Basil J. Buchko headshot

Basil J. Buchko

Joseph M. Cardamone III headshot

Joseph M. Cardamone III

Saveon D. Grenell headshot

Saveon D. Grenell

Jason D. Luczak headshot

Jason D. Luczak

Dec. 5, 2026 –
Lisa M. Lawless and
Anna F.C. Muñoz have accepted nominations to run for 2026 State Bar of Wisconsin president-elect.

Both candidates are lawyers active in Milwaukee. Lawless (Indiana 1992) is with Husch Blackwell LLP, and Muñoz (Marquette 2005) is with Brookdale Senior Living Inc.

The president-elect serves a one-year term before becoming president on July 1,

…
Continue Reading Your Vote Matters – Introducing the 2026 Officer Candidates

stock photo

Dec. 2, 2025 – The State Bar of Wisconsin, along with more than a dozen other state bar associations nationwide, is experiencing a new and highly targeted phishing attack aimed at our members. We want to ensure you are aware of this threat so you can protect your personal information and help prevent further exposure.
What’s Happening
Multiple bar associations, including ours, have reported a surge in phishing emails sent to members. These emails appear to come from organizational

…
Continue Reading Scam Alert: New Phishing Campaign Targeting State Bar of Wisconsin Members

Bottom_Up_1400x1400-20251201-hvyrezljsl

Through the Assigned Counsel Program, the Wisconsin State Public Defender (SPD) appoints private bar attorneys to handle overflow and conflict cases, providing attorneys with courtroom experience in criminal cases representing clients charged with misdemeanors and felonies across the state. “You can absolutely do it,” said attorney Kathleen Pakes, director of the Assigned Counsel Program.

Pakes is talking about new or newer attorneys who may be interested in taking assigned cases, noting SPD provides training and other resources. Learn more…
Continue Reading Episode 29: Private Bar Assigned Counsel Program, State Public Defender with Kathleen Pakes and Melissa Lamb