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.

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Latest from State Bar of Wisconsin​ - Page 6

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Nov. 25, 2025 – In what may be the first case of its kind, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in

State v. Melssen, No. 2024AP1942-CR (Nov. 20, 2025) (recommended for publication) vacated an order denying suppression of evidence obtained from an overly broad search of a smartphone. Presiding Judge Rachel A. Graham, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, concluded “the warrant to search [Emil] Melssen’s smartphone – which authorized officers to search virtually all of the messages, images,

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Continue Reading Court of Appeals: Smartphone Search Unconstitutionally Overbroad

As a new lawyer handling (what I assumed was) an easy settlement disbursement meeting on a small personal injury case, I vividly recall learning that the client was on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and then leaving the room to ask one of our firm’s estate planning and elder law attorneys, “Is this going to be an issue?”

Aside from having the good – and increasingly rare – fortune of being part of a general practice firm where I could…
Continue Reading Knowing the Intersection of Settlements and Public Benefits

This year has been a busy one for me, and I’m not alone. Every elder law and special needs attorney I know is busy. The demand for our services is always increasing, the supply of our time ever scarce. Admittedly, being too busy is a good problem to have – but a problem nonetheless. A Packed Agenda is a Wellness Problem When your calendar looks like the master caution panel on
Apollo 13, it’s stressful. It takes time away

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Continue Reading Saying No to New Clients: How Elder Law Attorneys Manage Their Workloads

I imagine a lot of you got into law for the same reason I did – I wanted to help people and make a decent living while doing it. It hasn’t always been easy, whether it is a difficult client or a difficult issue.

Now, after 37 years of practice, I’m preparing to retire with one clear certainty: we are better lawyers when we’re not alone.

I’ve been thinking about what made the difference over these decades. It wasn’t

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Continue Reading We Are Better Lawyers When We’re Not Alone

“I didn’t expect her to be sobbing,” explained my client, telling me they had just called off the sale of a practice to a long-time employee. The would-be buyer of the practice was not the only one disappointed. My client had hoped this sale would create a lasting legacy as the founders retired. Unfortunately, it became obvious that the buyer had not made the necessary arrangements to carry on the practice without interruption, and any closing would be significantly…
Continue Reading What They Don’t Know Can Hurt Them: Serving as Counselor to Independent Providers

portrait of Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Jill J. KarofskyWisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Jill J. Karofsky.

Nov. 13, 2025 – Full of gratitude, praising the resilience of Wisconsin’s judiciary, new Chief Justice Jill J. Karofsky’s State of the Judiciary Address yesterday (Nov. 12) at the Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference in Lake Geneva also raised the hue and cry.

“[I]t gives me no pleasure to say this: the state of our judiciary … is troubled.

“In this moment, we see increasing attacks on judges and

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Continue Reading Chief Justice Karofsky Delivers ‘State of the Judiciary’ Address to State Judges

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Nov. 12, 2025 – A required administrative referral for criminal prosecution didn’t apply for allegedly breaking controlled substances laws, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently held in
State v. Syrrakos, No. 2024AP554-CR and
State v. Shattuck, No. 2024AP556-CR (Oct. 29, 2025) (recommended for publication). The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the consolidated cases against Christopher J. Syrrakos and Kristyn A. Shattuck to Waukesha County Circuit Court. The circuit court dismissed the cases because the Department of

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Continue Reading Court of Appeals: Controlled Substance Violation Doesn't Get Hemp Regulatory Protection

Earlier this year, I presented at a Wisconsin Defense Counsel Conference, along with three jurors from two of my most recent jury trials.

I was pleasantly surprised that these three jurors (two of whom are retired, giving them a little more free time) voluntarily spent time answering questions on a panel and taking the many questions from our audience. Many attorneys talk to jurors immediately after verdicts or follow up in the days after verdicts to learn what the…
Continue Reading The Jurors Spoke. I Listened. Here’s What I’ll Do Differently Next Time

For the past year and a half, the tenant side of landlord tenant law in Wisconsin has had serious ammunition when landlords provide their tenants with leases that are void and unenforceable under Wis. Stat. section 704.44 and Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.08. One case is
Koble Investments v. Marquardt (2022AP182), a Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision from 2024 that has recently been argued before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Koble involves a lease that was found void and unenforceable…
Continue Reading Proper Remedies Under a Void Lease: Koble v. Marquardt

Ultimately, every business will close. All businesses fail eventually.

In March 2025, the oldest business in North America filed bankruptcy. Hudson’s Bay Company, incorporated May 2, 1670, filed under the Canadian equivalent of Chapter 11. They quickly determined that it would not be able to put forth a viable restructuring plan and entered into liquidation. In June 2025, after 355 years, all its retail stores closed.

General Motors was one of the largest industrial companies in the world.

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Continue Reading Bankruptcy Isn’t the End: Tools Lawyers Can Use to Help Business Clients Rebuild

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Oct. 28, 2025 – The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed President Donald Trump’s nomination of Rebecca L. Taibleson to be the next judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Taibleson is Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and co-chief of the office’s Appellate Division. Her confirmation fills the seat of Judge Diane S. Sykes, who began senior status on Oct. 1.

The Senate voted 52-46 to confirm the nomination.

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Continue Reading Rebecca Taibleson Confirmed as Seventh Circuit Appeals Court Judge

Lawmakers have introduced a bill (LRB 25-1726) in both houses of the Wisconsin legislature to legalize and regulate medical marijuana. If passed, Wisconsin would be the 41st state to legalize medical cannabis.

The bill was introduced in the Senate on Sept. 29, 2025, by President Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, and Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Testin.

The bill comes on the heels of anticipated federal action, including statements by the Trump administration about cannabis rescheduling for purposes of the Controlled…
Continue Reading Is Legalized Medical Marijuana Coming to Wisconsin?

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law that makes available a free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the United States and ensures special education and related services to those children.

Those who work with children in the court system should understand the basics from IDEA so that they can support families in accessing crucial educational services and promote a child’s educational stability.
Child Find and FAPE
Among other requirements within the IDEA,…
Continue Reading Advocating for Students with Disabilities: IDEA Basics for Wisconsin Attorneys

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Oct. 14, 2025 – A circuit court’s failure to instruct the jury to decide on each period of abandonment denied a mother due process protection of a five-sixths verdict, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals decided in

S. S. v. A. S.-P., No. 2024AP2532 (Sept. 23, 2025) (recommended for publication). The decision clarifies “unsettled law,” justifying reversal of the Brown County Circuit Court verdict for plain error. “When multiple periods of abandonment are alleged, that statute requires the jury

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Continue Reading Court of Appeals: Separate Abandonment Claims Require Separate Verdicts

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Oct. 14, 2025 – The statute setting requirements for recommitting an individual that the circuit court had conditionally released after a verdict of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect the Wisconsin Court of Appeals found unconstitutional in State v. ​Wilhite, No. 2024AP2177-CR (Sept. 25, 2025) (recommended for publication).

Due process requires a finding of dangerousness, explained Presiding Judge JoAnn F. Kloppenburg for the unanimous panel, including Judges Brian W. Blanchard and Jennifer E. Nashold.

The

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Continue Reading Court of Appeals: Dangerousness Necessary to Support Recommittal

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Jesse Blocher is the author of a recently published book, “Wisconsin Tort Law: Products Liability,” published by State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLE®. He’s also an award-winning author for Wisconsin Lawyer magazine. In this episode of the Bottom Up Podcast, produced by the State Bar, the conversation explores Jesse’s journey into law, the challenges faced by young lawyers, the decline of jury trials, and the intricacies of product liability law.   A partner at Habush, Habush & Rottier, Jesse shares insights…
Continue Reading Bottom Up Episode 28: Product Liability Law and Legal Writing with Trial Attorney Jesse Blocher