Speakers/Events
On the Issues: Marquette Law School Poll
Wednesday, October 29, 2025 - 12:15pm • TBDMarquette University Law School is pleased to bring you the results of a new statewide poll on Wednesday, October 29, in an in-person event featuring Charles Franklin, professor of law and public policy and director of the Marquette Law School Poll, and Derek Mosley, director of the school’s Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education.
The program, which will begin at 12:15 p.m. CDT in Eckstein Hall, is free and open to the public. Please register at law.marquette.edu to attend in person or virtually. A light lunch will be available. The program will also be livestreamed on the Law School’s website via the “Watch Now” button for those unable to join us in person.
The Marquette Law School Poll’s survey of Wisconsin considers the upcoming 2026 elections for Wisconsin Supreme Court and for governor. This far from the elections, which candidates are better known, and do voters feel like they know the candidates? The poll also measures approval of Pres. Donald Trump, Gov. Tony Evers, the work of the legislature and state supreme court, and favorability to Sen. Ron Johnson and Sen. Tammy Baldwin. It includes questions on K–12 education and school referenda, vaccines, the economy and cost of living, and other state and national issues.
Various poll findings will be synchronously noted on Twitter via the @MULawPoll account. A complete news release and poll data, including toplines, crosstabs, and slides from the discussion, will be available on the Marquette Law School Poll website, shortly after 1:15 p.m., following the event.
Contact: Hilary DeBloisBecome a Word Wizard: Tips and Tricks for Making Microsoft Word Work for You
Thursday, October 30, 2025 - 8:00am • TBAExplore the wonderful world of Microsoft Word with us! Join the Office of Student Affairs to learn how to use some of the hidden functions, shortcuts, and formatting options that can improve your work product and make your life just a little bit easier. Learn how to, among other things, create a table of contents for your outlines, undo some pesky autocorrects, and masterfully deploy shortcuts.
The event will happen on Thursday, October 30, from 8 - 8:45 a.m. with separate sessions for PC and Mac users. These sessions are open to students from all class years.
Please RSVP HERE to attend one of the sessions.
Students who RSVP will receive a confirmation email the day before their registered session with the room location and a Word document to use during the session. The Office of Student Affairs will provide a light breakfast to registered attendees.
Contact: Sarah DiStefano and Dean FodorSports Law Speaker Series: Alumni in College Athletics
Thursday, October 30, 2025 - 12:00pm • Lubar CenterOn Thursday, October 30, as part of the Sports Law Speaker Series, the Sports Law Alumni Association brings alumni from various parts of collegiate athletics discussing their work, career paths, and how participation in the Sports Law Program led to their current careers. Alumni participating in this panel include (more to be added):
- Melanie Aptaker, L'22, Athletic Compliance Coordinator, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
- Jessica Kumke, L’08, Associate Commissioner for Compliance, Governance and Legal Strategies, Horizon League, Indianapolis, IN
- Patrick McCormick, L'23, Director of Compliance for Eligibility, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- Ethan Sebert, L'15, Assistant Director of Athletics, Compliance, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
- Shane Drahota, Senior Deputy Director/Administration & Student Services, Minnesota State Athletics, Mankato, MN
This event will take place in room 144, the Lubar Center, starting at noon. Lunch will be provided to all attendees. Click here to register.
Contact: Prof. AndersonSports Law Program Collegiate Athletics Negotiation Competition Final Round
Thursday, October 30, 2025 - 5:00pm • Lubar CenterOn Thursday, October 30, Marquette's Sports Law Competition Board will host the final round of its Collegiate Athletics Negotiation Competition. The competition will run from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. in the Lubar Center, room 144, with a reception will follow.
The final round will feature Team 12: Nicholas Owczarzak and JD (John) Pirris, and Team 4: David Beira and Oliver Hayes.
The teams will negotiate a deal between College Volleyball Star, Harper Murray of Nebraska Volleyball and luxury fashion brand, Louis Vuitton. The negotiation will be argued before a panel of guests from college athletics, including:
- Melanie Aptaker (L'22), Athletic Compliance Coordinator, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ,
- Shane Drahota, Senior Deputy Director/Administration & Student Services, Minnesota State Athletics, Mankato, MN
- Jessica Kumke (L’08), Associate Commissioner for Compliance, Governance and Legal Strategies, Horizon League, Indianapolis, IN
- Patrick McCormick (L’23), Director of Compliance for Eligibility, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- Ethan Sebert (L’15), Assistant Director of Athletics, Compliance, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
The winners of the competition will receive an invitation to participate in a National Sports Law Competition during the 2025-2026 academic year. After the final round, the Sports Law Program will host a reception for all attendees. Register here.
Contact: Prof. AndersonLELS Presents: Wisconsin Employment Lawyers Association Mixer
Tuesday, November 4, 2025 - 5:30pm • Tory Hill CafeLELS is teaming up with attorneys from the Wisconsin Employment Lawyers Association (WELA) to host a mixer in the Tory Hill Cafe on Tuesday, November 4. The mixer will take place between 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., and heavy appetizers will be provided.
This fun event is a great way to begin building or continue growing your network in the local labor & employment community.
Please RSVP HERE by Tuesday, October 28. We hope to see you there!
Contact: Madeleine HutchingsLaw School Mass
Wednesday, November 5, 2025 - 12:15pm • Campion Chapel, 4th FloorPlease join us as we celebrate Mass in the St. Edmund Campion Chapel (Eckstein Hall, 4th floor) starting at 12:15 p.m.
Future Mass Dates
- November 19
- December 3, last Mass of the semester to be followed by lunch in room 432
On the Issues: Calvin Duncan, The Jailhouse Lawyer
Wednesday, November 5, 2025 - 12:15pm • Lubar CenterPlease join us on Wednesday, November 5, for "On the Issues: Calvin Duncan, The Jailhouse Lawyer."
The Law School’s Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education, Andrew Center for Restorative Justice, and Public Interest Law Society are pleased to welcome Calvin Duncan to Eckstein Hall. Our guest served 28½ years at the Angola Correctional Facility in Louisiana for a crime he did not commit. With the assistance of the New Orleans Innocence Project and Sister Helen Prejean, he was exonerated of the crime.
During his time in prison, he became self-taught in the law, providing assistance to fellow inmates. Since his release, Mr. Duncan has obtained his J.D. from Lewis and Clark University and founded the Light of Justice program to expand access to the courts. This event promises to be an engaging and thought-provoking experience for anyone interested in justice reform or civic engagement.
The program will begin promptly at 12:15 p.m. in Eckstein Hall. Please register here to attend. A light lunch will be available.
Contact: Hilary DeBloisHow to Get Kids "Reading for Their Lives"
Wednesday, November 12, 2025 - 12:15pm • Eckstein HallWe hope you will join us on November 12th as we welcome Maya Smart, author of Reading for Our Lives, to the Lubar Center. The book’s subtitle is A Literacy Action Plan from Birth to Six. The program will focus on what should go into a plan for parents and caregivers to get young children on the path to being good readers.
Few life skills are more important than the ability to read, yet reading achievement has not improved in Wisconsin over the last 25 years. Join us as Alan Borsuk, Marquette Law School's senior fellow in law and public policy, speaks with Smart, a writer, parent educator, and early-literacy advocate. They will discuss Smart's findings about the critical role parents play in unlocking their child's reading potential.
The program will begin at 12:15 p.m. in Eckstein Hall. It is free and open to the public; however, registration is required.
We have partnered with Boswell Book Company, which will offer Reading for Our Lives for sale at this event; you can also order copies by clicking here.
This program is presented by Marquette Law School's Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education, in collaboration with the Marquette University College of Education.
Contact: Hilary DeBlois2025 Barrock Lecture: The Place(s) for Localism in Criminal Law and Enforcement
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 5:00pm • Lubar CenterPlease join us for the 2025 Barrock Lecture: The Place(s) for Localism in Criminal Law and Enforcement, delivered by Ron Wright, the Needham Yancey Gulley Professor of Criminal Law at Wake Forest University Law School.
- Thursday, November 13, 2025
- 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., immediately followed by a public reception
- Marquette University Law School, Ray and Kay Eckstein Hall, Lubar Center
The event is complimentary; however, registration is required HERE.
This lecture will survey topics, times, and places when localism influences criminal law and enforcement. Then it will evaluate the scene, noting the levels of government best positioned to shape the variations with an eye to delivering public safety and legitimacy.
Here’s the basic situation: Actors at different levels of government—national, state, and local—shape the criminal law. The result is a fragmented landscape, with some practices being the same everywhere and others showing great variety from place to place. Consider, for example, constitutional search warrant requirements, which apply uniformly to police working in very different urban and rural contexts, and, by contrast, the ability of local prosecutors to select charges that look completely different from the charges preferred by prosecutors in another district in similar cases. For many observers, fragmentation is troubling—a source of inconsistency, even hidden defiance of shared values. Others welcome the local variety as a source of creative experimentation and needed flexibility in a pluralistic society.
This lecture series remembers George Barrock, L’31, and Margaret Barrock.
Contact: Christine Wilczynski-Vogel, Associate Dean for External RelationsFairness on Trial—Exploring the Power of Diverse Juries
Friday, November 14, 2025 - 11:30am • Lubar CenterPlease join us at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, November 14, for “Fairness on Trial—Exploring the Power of Diverse Juries.” Marquette Law School’s Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education, in collaboration with Common Ground, is pleased to highlight this important topic.
American juries are often less diverse than the communities from which they are picked. In many criminal cases, defendants of color may well wonder if a jury of their peers is indeed judging them fairly. Diverse juries can help reassure litigants of the fairness of the justice system. Additionally, research suggests that diverse juries deliberate more carefully, make fewer factual errors, and are more motivated to avoid bias than non-diverse juries.
In this program, we will examine some of the reasons why juries may fail to reflect their communities and explore possible reforms that could increase representativeness. The program will include a 22-minute documentary, Judging Juries, which describes the problem and recent reforms in San Francisco. View the trailer here. The program will also feature a brief presentation from Professor Ronald Wright of Wake Forest Law School, who has researched jury diversity in North Carolina and other Southern states, as well as information on jury diversity in Milwaukee and Wisconsin. The program will conclude with a moderated panel discussion.
The documentary will be shown promptly at 11:30 a.m. The program will begin at noon and conclude by 1:00 p.m. in Eckstein Hall. Please register here to attend. A light lunch will be available.
Contact: Hilary DeBlois