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News and developments from the State Bar of Wisconsin.

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By: State Bar of Wisconsin​

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State Bar of Wisconsin
State Bar of Wisconsin
Cheryl Furstace Daniels And Larry J. Martin
Dean R. Dietrich And Larry J. Martin
Margaret Wrenn Hickey And Larry J. Martin
Jeff M. Brown And Shannon Green
Chief Justice Annette K. Ziegler
Jay D. Jerde
Joe Forward
Joe Forward
Cheryl Furstace Daniels
Shannon Green
Larry J. Martin
Shannon Green And Jeff M. Brown
Jeff L. Brown
Ryan M. Billings
Jeff M. Brown

Latest from WisBar News

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,

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Continue Reading Your Vote Matters – Introducing the 2026 Officer Candidates

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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

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

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

Stock Photo of Gavel in Front of Flag​

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

New State Bar Executive Director Jill Rothstein gives her report at her first Board of Governors meeting.

Sept. 24, 2025 – The 53-member State Bar of Wisconsin Board of Governors (Board) held its first meeting of the fiscal year (FY 2026), meeting in Wausau, and welcomed 11 new governors and two building bridges liaisons.

It was also the first Board meeting for new President Dan Gartzke and new Executive Director Jill Rothstein.

The meeting came after the annual Joint

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Continue Reading New Fiscal Year, New State Bar Board of Governors

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Michelle Behnke, A Middle Aged Black Woman A BLue-Gray Business Suit, Suits On The Side Of The Desk In Her Solo Law Office​​​​Aug. 11, 2025 – Michelle Behnke, former president of the State Bar of Wisconsin (2004-05), will be officially sworn in as president of the American Bar Association (ABA) today at the ABA’s Annual Meeting in Toronto. She will serve a one-year term.

Behnke, of Boardman & Clark LLP in Madison, is only the second Wisconsin bar member to become president in the ABA’s 147-year history (founded in 1878).

State Bar of Wisconsin Executive Director Larry J. Martin issued the

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Continue Reading Michelle Behnke, of Wisconsin, is the Newest President of the American Bar Association

a group of people smiling at the cameraThe clerks of the Class of 2025 Diversity Clerkship Program. For more photos,
see the album on the State Bar of Wisconsin Facebook page.

Aug. 4, 2025 – It is a program to boost the next generation of lawyers – and also Wisconsin legal firms and organizations who employ them.

The State Bar of Wisconsin’s Diversity Clerkship Program matches first-year law students from all backgrounds from Wisconsin law schools with legal offices, firms, and corporations for a 10-week

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Continue Reading The State Bar Diversity Clerkship Program: A Win-Win for Students and Employers

State Bar building and sign​July 16, 2024 – ​The State Bar of Wisconsin has successfully resolved a federal lawsuit challenging its Leadership Academy and Leadership Summit programs, which were the target of a legal challenge that alleged the programs used race and ethnicity to select participants.

Ending protracted litigation, the State Bar has entered a settlement agreement with the plaintiff, State Bar member ​​​Daniel Suhr.

“We are pleased to have reached an amicable agreement that resolves the outstanding litigation,” said Immediate Past State

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Continue Reading State Bar Successfully Defends Leadership Academy and Leadership Summit

stock photoJuly 10, 2025 – The State Bar of Wisconsin is proud to participate in a new nationwide research initiative focused on lawyer mental health and well-being.

This important study – led by Patrick Krill (J.D., LL.M., M.A.), a nationally recognized expert on lawyer behavioral health, and his research partner Dr. Justin Anker of the University of Minnesota Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences – is a collaboration with the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs.

​This national

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Continue Reading Wisconsin Lawyers Invited to Participate in National Mental Health Study

June 25, 2025 – Multiple state bars have reported a phishing scam involving fraudulent emails that appear to come from bar leadership or staff. The scam email is designed to look like an official communication from the State Bar.

It could use a deceptive email address — something like l.martin@wisbar.org.securemsg.com — that is not affiliated with the State Bar of Wisconsin.

If you see a return email address like this, it is a scam.

Members should not respond to

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Continue Reading Scam Alert: Fraudulent Phishing Emails Purport to Come from Bar Leaders

alt textDan Gartzke, the State Bar’s next president starting July 1, with his wife Tracey L. Schwalbe, also an attorney.​​

June 18, 2025 – Dan Gartzke could not predict that he would become State Bar president, he said in his inaugural speech Wednesday night in Madison, but “looking backward I see how every decision, every move, led to where I am now.”

He could, however, point to how he made those choices. At each step, he was with mentors.

Gartzke,

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Continue Reading Dan Gartzke Sworn in as State Bar’s 70th President: ‘Mentorship Helps Us Now’

alt textFrom left, current State Bar President Ryan Billings, incoming President Dan Gartzke, and Immediate Past President Dean Dietrich at Board of Governors meeting in Madison​.

​​June 18, 2025 – While the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Board of Governors (Board) bid farewell to several members, and to retiring Executive Director Larry Martin, the Board also selected individuals for leadership positions in the new fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Kicking off the
2025 Annual Meeting and Conference at the Monona

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Continue Reading State Bar Board Bids Farewell to Fiscal Year 2025 and Prepares for the New Year

May 2, 2025 – Some of Wisconsin’s newest lawyers include those fulfilling long-held dreams.

Twenty-two new Wisconsin lawyers were admitted in a ceremony before the Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 23, 2025, taking the Attorney’s Oath and signing the Wisconsin Supreme Court Roll book as the final steps to be admitted.

Jacquelynn B. Rothstein, director of the Board of Bar Examiners, said 41% of the 66 individuals who took the bar exam in February passed it, and 55% of

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Continue Reading State Bar of Wisconsin Welcomes 22 New Wisconsin Lawyers

May 1, 2025 – On Law Day (established by President Eisenhower to celebrate the rule of law and observed annually on May 1) I think about the colonial rebels who risked their lives to create a better society. I admire their brave fight for independence. I equally admire the government they created when the war was won.

Ryan M. BillingsRyan M. Billings, Harvard 2004, is a litigator at Kohner, Mann & Kailas S.C., Milwaukee, and chairs the firm’s business

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Continue Reading Checks and Balances: Embracing Our Patriotic Skepticism

Stephen Sawyer
April 28, 2025 – Stephen Sawyer is the next president-elect of the State Bar of Wisconsin.

In the elections ending April 25, 2025, Stephen Sawyer earned the position of president-elect over Johanna Kirk by 1,211 votes to 1,099.

The president-elect typically serves a one-year term as president-elect before serving a one-year term as president. Newly elected officers take their posts on July 1, 2025.

Sawyer (Notre Dame 1996) is with Sawyer Law LLC in Stevens Point.

“I am very

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Continue Reading State Bar President-elect Post Goes to Stephen Sawyer

Justice Hagedorn speaks at a podiumThe State Bar’s Board of Governors invited Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn to give opening remarks at the Board’s meeting on April 11, 2025. He discussed the high cost of entering the legal profession coupled with the problem of legal deserts, and ideas to consider. He also discussed the politicization of the bar and other institutions, and threats to the constitutional order. Photos: Shannon Green.​

April 14, 2025 – Jill Creston Rothstein will become the State Bar of

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Continue Reading State Bar Board Selects Next Executive Director, Approves FY 2026 Budget, Takes Other Action