2017 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Semifinalists

Congratulations to the students in the Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition who have moved on to the semifinal round of the competition.  The students will be competing on Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. in the Appellate Courtroom and the Trial Courtroom to determine who will be advancing to the final round on April 11 at 4:00 p.m.

The teams will be paired as follows:

Nate Oesch and Elisabeth Thompson v. Meredith Donaldson and Ben Lucareli

AJ Lawton and Ashley Smith v. Mitch Bailey and Jacob Heuett

Congratulations to all the participants in the competition.  We also very much appreciate the judges who grade briefs and participate in the preliminary rounds.  This year we had a recent alum, Natalie Schiferl, who travelled all the way from Minnesota to judge the competition.  One of the great things about moot court is how active our alums and volunteers are, and we appreciate their time and assistance very much.  A special thank you to Samuel (Micah) Woo, Associate Justice in charge of the competition.

Best wishes to all of the competitors on Wednesday night.

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Collaboration Between Attorneys and Law Students Benefits Both Parties

Members of the Hispanic Law Students Association mingle with local Hispanic Attorneys at an event in Milwaukee.As President of the Wisconsin Hispanic Lawyers Association (WHLA), I have had the opportunity to help foment various partnerships in the legal community. One of the most recent and fruitful of these is our collaboration with the Hispanic Law Student Association (HLSA) at Marquette Law School. While our collaboration began informally, we have recently created a student liaison position on our Board of Directors. Currently, 2L Alex Castro is serving in that capacity. This closer communication with Alex has lead to a number of interesting events.

On October 13, 2016 our associations brought Consul Julian Adem of the brand new Mexican Consulate in Milwaukee to the law school. Mr. Adem presented on the array of functions and services of the Consulate, from providing documents, community education, and legal advice to Mexican nationals, to offering visa services for non-Mexicans who want to travel to Mexico. There was a strong turnout of both students and local attorneys. The information will, without a doubt, help a number of clients and can be shared with the wider networks of those who attended.

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Women in Wisconsin Law: Olga Bennett

This is the second part of a three part series on Women in Wisconsin Law.

Although women were admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 1879, it would be over one hundred years until the state’s first elected female county judge.  In 1970, Olga Bennett, a native of Vernon County, was the first woman elected and sworn in as a county judge in Wisconsin.

Bennett was born on May 5, 1908, in Viroqua, Wisconsin. Education played an important role throughout Bennett’s life.  In 1925 she graduated from Viroqua High School, and in 1928, she graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Wisconsin.  After taking time following her undergraduate studies to work at a local bank, she returned to her studies four years later.  After spending a semester at the Madison Business School, Bennett enrolled at the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison, Wisconsin.  In 1935, she graduated from law school and was admitted to the state bar.

Upon graduating, Bennett served as a law clerk for State Supreme Court Justice John D. Wickham for five years.  Following this clerkship, she went into business with her father, who was also an attorney.  Together they ran the Bennett and Bennett law firm.  Before being elected to serve as a judge, Bennett held various positions in the legal community, including serving as the first female city attorney of Viroqua.

Although one might have expected that a larger county in the state, such as Madison or Milwaukee, would have been the first to elect a female county judge, it was small Vernon County with a population of only 28,000 that holds this title.  In April 1969, Bennett ran and was elected to the bench in Vernon County (courthouse pictured above at left), defeating incumbent County Judge Larry Sieger who was appointed by the governor in 1968.  In 1970, she took the oath of office and became the second woman to serve as a judge in Wisconsin.  

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