The Marquette Lawyer magazine often covers a broad range of important issues beyond the walls of the Law School. While this continues to be true in the new issue (Summer 2026), its contents also offer a propitious opportunity to draw readers’ attention—and, if we may, appreciation—to the faculty of Marquette Law School, as well as our alumni and supporters.

The cover feature profiling Judge Diane Sykes, L’84, leads a package of stories focused on one of the Law School’s most distinguished graduates. Sykes stepped down recently as chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, moving to senior status on the court.

Along with the profile, the magazine entries connected to Sykes include descriptions of how decisions and opinions from her work on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and on the federal appeals bench form part of the courses that seven members of the Marquette Law School faculty teach. The package also includes excerpts from speeches Sykes has given, including two at Marquette Law School. And “Seventh Circuit Day”—an occasion last September of oral arguments and legal education programs at the Law School—is described in a fourth piece, including a behind-the-scenes description of preparation for the court’s visit.

• The profile of Sykes, “A Career Built on ‘A Strong Public Service Ethos,’” may be read by clicking here.
• “In Her Own Words,” offering the excerpts from speeches over the years, may be read by clicking here.
• “Sykes in the Classroom,” consisting of essays from Marquette Law Professors Alex Lemann, Lisa A. Mazzie, Chad M. Oldfather, Karen Sandrik, David R. Papke, and Bruce E. Boyden and Dean Joseph D. Kearney, may be read by clicking here.
• And “Seventh Circuit Day: A Great Idea, Carried Out Well,” may be read by clicking here.

The presence in this issue of the Law School’s faculty and staff goes beyond the cover package, to these entries:

• “The Half-Originalist Presidency” offers an excerpt from a piece in the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform by Marquette Law Professor Christine Kexel Chabot on the history of executive removal power.
• “The Haunting of American Trademark Law,” by Marquette Law Professor Kali N. Murray, excerpts her article in the Texas Law Review on connections between the slavery economy and now-longstanding intellectual property practices.
• The work of John Johnson, research fellow at the Law School’s Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education, has expanded public understanding of major trends shaping Milwaukee and Wisconsin. In “Numbers, Facts, and Insights,” Johnson describes his work and a bit about his background.

Even the one major piece in this magazine featuring the work of someone who is not a Marquette colleague or alum still has a strong Law School connection. “History and Tradition in First Amendment Intellectual Property Cases” offers an edited text of the 2025 Nies Lecture on Intellectual Property, delivered at Marquette Law School by Professor Rebecca Tushnet, Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at Harvard Law School. It may be read by clicking here.

The “From the Podium” section offers two brief and engaging texts:

• Remarks delivered by Randy Dean, a Milwaukee native and former NFL quarterback, when his lifelong friend, Michael Lenard, was presented with the Master of the Game Award by Marquette Law School’s National Sports Law Institute. Lenard is the acting president of the international Court of Arbitration for Sport.
• A eulogy by Dean Joseph D. Kearney of the late Louis J. Andrew Jr., L’66, a dedicated alumnus whose support much influenced the course of the Law School during the past 30 years.

The Law School News section, available at this link, reports on the following:

• Three “Face of the Case” programs at Eckstein Hall in which named plaintiffs in cases of national significance described their lives and how they came to be part of legal history
• The Law School’s participation in efforts to increase the number of lawyers practicing in parts of Wisconsin beyond large population centers
• Recent programs in the Law School’s Lubar Center on public efforts to increase the number of young children who become successful readers

Separately in the issue, though also in the nature of news reportage, “Beyond Election Contests” reflects the Marquette Law School Poll’s exploration of topics, beyond the political horse races that get so much attention.

Finally (if on the inside cover), in his column, Dean Kearney describes the importance, for anyone who wishes to learn the law, of “collecting” people. While his primary point concerns legal education, we think the Marquette Lawyer magazine to be an edifying collection as well.

The magazine may be read in full by clicking here.