Judge Sykes in the Classroom—Legal Writing

The summer 2026 issue of the Marquette Lawyer magazine has a number of entries concerning the Hon. Diane S. Sykes, L’84, including a set of one-page essays by seven different faculty on how their Marquette Law School courses draw on her writings as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since 2004 or as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court between 1999 and 2004. This is the second of the seven essays. The illustration of the faculty member, taken from the magazine and appearing here with the blog post, is by John Jay Cabuay.

Headshot art of Professor Lisa A. MazzieEvery fall semester, my first-year class in Legal Analysis, Writing & Research 1 is filled with eager students, excited to learn the law.

Law students and lawyers know that legal writing is a skills class. I don’t teach doctrine for its own sake, as does, say, a torts professor who teaches about negligence, its elements, and its nuances. I work with students as they learn how to work with doctrine, doing so through an issue grounded in any area of law, whether tort, contract, criminal, constitutional, or property law. Or something else entirely. The overall framework for my instruction is legal reasoning: rule-based, analogical, and policy-based. And that is the order in which I introduce them.

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Join Us at the 20th Anniversary of the Jenkins Honors Intramural Moot Court Finals

The Jenkins Honors Intramural Moot Court Competition is an annual tradition at Marquette University Law School, and this year, the Jenkins competition celebrates its twentieth anniversary. The Jenkins competition is an appellate moot court competition and the capstone intramural event of the moot court program. Students are invited to participate based on their top performance in the fall Appellate Writing and Advocacy course.

After a weekend of preliminary rounds and two nights of quarterfinals and then semifinals, we now have our finalists. Congratulations to Karli Ring and Elizabeth TenBarge and Alexander Fountain and Zachary McClenathan. These two teams will face off at the finals on Wednesday, March 18, at 6 PM in the Lubar Center.

We’re honored to welcome the following distinguished jurists who will judge the final round:

  • Hon. Janet C. Protasiewicz, L’99, Justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
  • Hon. Byron B. Conway, L’02, U.S. District Judge, E.D., Wis.
  • Hon. Michael F. Iasparro, L’01, U.S. Magistrate Judge, N.D., Ill.

The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. You can register with this on-line registration link.

Congratulations to the following students who were selected for the 2026 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition:

Nichole Athanitis
Emma Boyer
Grace Casteel
Ellie Dimmer
Jack Dose
Kayla Dudor
Makenna Fitzgerald
Andrew Grier
Jacob Kafer
Brianne Karrmann
Megan Kruse
Haley Olson
Blair Remington
Maggie Rimer
Aidan Rogan
Carlos Sanchez
Abby Scheer
Samantha Schnuell
Richard Severyn
Kate Sexton
Kelly Swope
Annie Tate
Liz Uhl
Kiana Valeri
Heather Walla
Joe Yamat

We also very much appreciate the alumni and other attorneys who volunteer to grade briefs and serve as judges in the earlier rounds. We appreciate their time and assistance every year.

Continue ReadingJoin Us at the 20th Anniversary of the Jenkins Honors Intramural Moot Court Finals

Congratulations to the 2024 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition Finalists

Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition, Abby Nilsson and Mackenzie Retzlaff. Congratulations also go to finalists Josephine Napolski and Sydney Wilcox. Nilsson won the Ramon A. Klitzke Prize for Best Oralist. Nilsson and Retzlaff also won the Franz C. Eschweiler Prize for Best Brief.

Presiding over the final round were Hon. John K. Bush (United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit), Hon. J.P. Stadtmueller (L’67) (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin), and Hon. Maria Lazar (Wisconsin Court of Appeals). This year’s final round was held on April 10, 2024, in the Lubar Center.

8 people standing next to each other, all professionally dressed. Four are young women, three are judges, and one is the dean of the law school.
From left to right, Dean Joseph D. Kearney, Abby Nilsson, Mackenzie Retzlaff, Judge J.P. Stadtmueller (L’67), Judge John K. Bush, Judge Maria Lazar, Sydney Wilcox, and Josephine Napolski

Thank you to the law school administrators and staff who helped coordinate the event and to Dean Kearney for his support of the competition and his front-line presence as host. And special thanks to 3Ls Lauren Hudon and Isaiahs Luna, who flawlessly coordinated the details of the competition, from start to finish.

Students are selected to participate in the competition based on their success in the fall Appellate Writing and Advocacy class at the Law School.

Here is a link to a recording of the final round.

Continue ReadingCongratulations to the 2024 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition Finalists
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