Hostad and Abston: Aiming to Light Up Milwaukee

Mike Hostad and Ian Abston want to light up Milwaukee and its future.

One way that is so is literal. The two led the Light the Hoan project that, after five years of tenacious effort, brought multi-colored, frequently-changing lighting patterns to the Hoan Bridge at the mouth of Milwaukee’s harbor. The effort was sometimes criticized, but, once the lights went up in 2020, the project was a big hit.

Another way that is so is less literal: The two are leading a new effort called Forward 48 that recruits groups of 48 professionals between ages 25 and 35 and provides them training led by major community figures in what it takes to be leaders.

Hostad and Abson talked about both efforts during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program that was posted on Marquette Law School’s web site on Jan. 13, 2021.

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Moot Court Association Names Participants in the 2021 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition

The Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition is the appellate moot court competition for Marquette law students and is the capstone event of the intramural moot court program. Students are invited to participate based on their top performance in the fall Appellate Writing and Advocacy course at the Law School.

Congratulations to the participants in the 2021 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition:

Olanrewaju (Lanre) Abiola
Lauren Brasington
Carsyn Bushman
Zach Caley
Alexandra (Sasha) Chepov
Ashleigh Dickey
Ben Edelstein
Laura Federico
Jack Flack
Kyle Frank
Charlie Hoffmann
Rebecca Klongland
Josh Kundert
Kevin Landgraf
Josh Le Noble
Alex Lux
Morgan Minter
Natalie Mulvey
Greg Procopio
Matt Rademacher
Thomas Sucevic
Christopher Vandeventer
Taylor Van Zeeland
Zak Wroblewski

The Jenkins preliminary rounds begin March 20, 2021, with the winning teams progressing through the quarterfinals, then semifinals, to the final round. The final round will take place the week of April 5, 2021. All rounds will take place virtually. Stay tuned for more details.

Any questions about the competition should be directed to Kelsey Pelegrin, Associate Justice of Intramural Competitions.

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Remembering Shirley S. Abrahamson: Wisconsin’s First Woman Supreme Court Justice

Shirley Abrahamson with raised right hand, taking oath in 1976.
Shirley Abrahamson is sworn into the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1976 by late Chief Justice Bruce Beilfuss.

On Saturday, December 19, former Wisconsin Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson, died after battling pancreatic cancer. She was 87. Just two ways she was like another famous, short, tough, trailblazing Jewish jurist: Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Abrahamson, the daughter of Polish Jewish immigrants who arrived in the United States in the early 1930s, grew up in New York City. She graduated magna cum laude from NYU with her bachelor’s degree in 1953. Three years later, she graduated first in her class from Indiana Law School; she was also the only woman.

She met her husband Seymour in Indiana; they moved to Madison in the early 1960s, where Abrahamson earned her S.J.D. from UW Law in 1962. Thereafter, she became the first female lawyer at the Madison law firm La Follette, Sinykin, Doyle & Anderson. She was named a partner within a year. All throughout the time she was in practice, she also taught at UW Law.

In 1976, then-Governor Patrick Lucey appointed her to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’ she was the first woman to serve there.

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