Board of Governors Chair Kristen Hardy comments during the meeting.Feb. 27, 2023 – The State Bar of Wisconsin’s 52-member Board of Governors adopted an updated policy position on bail reform at its meeting on Friday, Feb. 24.

At the September 2022 meeting, the board discussed the proposed new policy at length. At that meeting, President Margaret Hickey – who was a member of the Policy Committee during the bail reform discussion – said the proposed new policy was worded…
Continue Reading State Bar Board Approves Updated Bail Policy, Discusses Budget

Tony Earl, a former Wisconsin governor and State Bar of Wisconsin member for nearly 60 years, is remembered as a dedicated public servant who brought dignity and integrity to the legal profession. Feb. 23, 2023 – Anthony “Tony” Earl, a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin for almost 60 years, passed away Feb. 23, 2023, at the age of 86. A 1961 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, Earl served as the state’s 41st governor from…
Continue Reading Wisconsin Gov. Tony Earl: ‘The Best in Public Service and the Legal Profession’

From left, candidates for election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court: Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dorow, former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Everett Mitchell, and Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz. Jan. 10, 2023 – At a forum in Madison yesterday, four candidates running for election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court discussed their judicial philosophies and provided other insights on how they would handle the role as a state supreme court…
Continue Reading Candidates Provide Insight at Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Forum

Kristen Hardy, chair of the Board of Governors, and State Bar President Margaret Hickey get into the spirit of the season. Dec. 5, 2022 – The State Bar of Wisconsin’s Board of Governors on Dec. 2 voted to support a rules petition filed by the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) that would make it easier for Wisconsin attorneys to accept electronic payments into trust accounts.
Rule Petition 22-05, if approved by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, would amend Supreme…
Continue Reading State Bar Board Supports Rules Petition on E-Payment for Trust Accounts

Every day, we see examples of members who donate their time and talent not only to the State Bar of Wisconsin, but also to the communities in which they work and call home.Attorneys and judges are busy people. Sometimes it may feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to volunteer between other professional activities, all while trying to achieve work-life balance. But countless State Bar members volunteer every day, with or without recognition.Your volunteer efforts – whether…
Continue Reading Thanks-For-Giving!

Nov. 3, 2022 – Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Annette Ziegler used her second State of the Judiciary address on Nov. 2 to highlight the need to bolster judicial security for the state’s 272 judges.Ziegler began her address, which took place at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference, by paying homage to the five judges who died since the conference’s 2021 annual meeting.Among those judges was Judge John Roemer.Roemer, a retired Juneau County Circuit Court judge,…
Continue Reading State of the Judiciary: Chief Justice Ziegler Calls Attention to Judicial Security Issue

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Oct. 18, 2022 – The State Bar of Wisconsin, along with its partners,
WisPolitics.com and
WISC-TV, will host a debate between the candidates for Wisconsin Attorney General,
District Attorney Eric Toney and
Attorney General Josh Kaul.

• ​ When: Thursday, October 27, 4:00 p.m.
•  Where: State Bar Center, 5302 Eastpark Blvd., Madison, WI

RSVP by Oct. 25Join the pre-debate reception at 3:30 p.m. in the State Bar Center Rotunda. As the debate will be broadcast live…
Continue Reading Last Call: RSVP for Wisconsin Attorney General Candidate Debate, Oct. 27

Sept. 27​, 2022 – Members of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Board of Governors engaged in a substantive discussion of proposed revisions to the State Bar’s current position on bail reform at its first meeting of the fiscal year, Sept. 23 in Elkhart Lake.The 52-member board represents member-constituents in
16 districts and sets the organization’s policy positions. The board welcomed 17 new members this term.A previous board adopted the current policy position on bail reform in 2018. It says…
Continue Reading State Bar Board Discusses Bail Reform at First Meeting of Fiscal Year

Zamir Abid points to his name on the sign welcoming new Wisconsin lawyers, following a swearing-in ceremony before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Visit the
State Bar’s Facebook page for more photos of this event.Sept. 14, 2022 – These are among the 55 new Wisconsin lawyers, taking the final steps Sept. 13 in a ceremony before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, taking the Attorney’s Oath and signing the Wisconsin Supreme Court Roll book. Jacquelynn B. Rothstein, director of the Board of…
Continue Reading Welcome to 55 New Wisconsin Lawyers: September Admissions

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Sept. 2, 2022 – Dozens of lawyers have spent part of this summer preparing asylum applications for Afghans who were evacuated to the U.S after the fall of the Afghan government in August 2021.This is a short profile of one team of four attorneys:
Kendall Harrison and
Linda Schmidt at Godfrey & Kahn S.C. in Madison, and Chester (“Chet”) Isaacson and Megan McKenzie in the legal department at American Family Insurance.
How did they get involved with…
Continue Reading Pro Bono Spotlight: Helping Afghan Evacuees with Asylum Applications

Jill Hartley discussed developments in labor law during the State Bar’s annual Health, Labor, and Employment Law CLE on Aug. 19.Aug. 23, 2022 – The State Bar of Wisconsin held the Health, Labor and Employment Law (HLE) Institute and the 10th annual Indian Law CLE program in-person this year, both at the Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells on Aug. 18-19.Post-Dobbs LandscapeDuring an HLE session held on Friday, Aug. 19, panelists surveyed the legal landscape…
Continue Reading Sports Betting, Dobbs, and NLRB Headline Indian Law and Health, Labor and Employment Law Programs

Executive coach and author Alonzo Kelly (center) gave a presentation on the power of diversity and inclusion. Visit the
State Bar’s Facebook page for more photos of this event. June 22, 2022 – For the first time in three years, judges, lawyers, and other legal professionals gathered in person last week in Lake Geneva for the State Bar of Wisconsin’s
Annual Meeting and Conference (AMC). The State Bar’s Board of Governors kicked off the three-day event on June 15…
Continue Reading AMC Round-up: In-Person Gathering for the First Time Since 2019