Lessons That Last
Some of the most lasting memories from University of Wisconsin Law School are tied to the faculty and staff who challenged, encouraged and inspired alumni when they were students. Their influence and guidance helped shape career paths as lawyers and leaders.
This year, we asked alumni to share stories about the professors, instructors and staff who made a meaningful impact on them during their time at UW Law. Below is a sampling of the responses.
Note: Some submissions have been condensed for space.
Abigail Rubeor ’21: Lanny Glinberg
I was lucky enough to work as an Academic Enhancement Program (AEP) discussion group leader for Professor Glinberg’s Criminal Law course as a 2L student. My experience in that role reaffirmed my interest in mentorship and working with student populations.
After practicing law in Chicago for a couple of years, I had the good fortune to transition to a staff role in UW Law’s Office of Admissions & Financial Aid, where I continue to share my law school experiences with prospective and current students.
Tony Lucchesi ’00: Everyone
After much thought, I found it impossible to zero in on any particular faculty or staff member who had an especially significant impact on me as a law student and lawyer.
I eventually realized that this was because what most impacted me as a law student at Wisconsin was the faculty and staff’s collective commitment to law in action and related approaches to lawyering and the study of law, such as legal realism and critical legal theory.
My Wisconsin law professors were invaluable in making me a more informed and broad-minded, citizen, voter and lawyer.
Kayleigh Cowan ’23: Ryan Poe-Gavlinski
Through the ROSA clinic, Ryan put a specific emphasis on trauma-informed lawyering and taught us how every person deserves compassionate representation. I fell in love with doing victim-centered work and found a job as crime victims’ counsel after graduation.
John Sagan ’83: Kenneth “Ken” Davis
Ken was a second- or third-year professor when I was a 30-year-old 1L, so we were relatively close in age. He was my “small group” professor, and he made Contracts fun and understandable in a way that I found really helpful.
Because of our age similarities, I felt I could talk to him about the trials and tribulations of being a married 1L with two kids living in married student housing. He was always prepared, organized and upbeat. In many ways, he became a role model for the kind of skills I wanted to have as a lawyer.
Bonnie Shucha ’14: Richard Monette
I had the privilege of taking a course on Tribal Law with Professor Richard Monette in 2012. That course was profoundly impactful for me, giving me a deeper understanding of tribal governance and sovereignty and the integral role of tribal law in the American legal system.
I was both a law librarian and a part-time law student at the time, and I had already noticed how hard it could be to find tribal law. It’s scattered across tribal websites, databases and print sources, and for many tribes, it isn’t published at all. I wrote a class paper exploring the challenges and benefits of publishing tribal law.
Professor Monette encouraged me to publish the paper. He worked with me through several rounds of edits, pushing me to think more carefully about what tribes themselves needed from a publishing effort.
The paper was eventually published, and it is my most downloaded and cited article. That experience working with Professor Monette ignited an abiding interest in tribal law and sovereignty that has shaped my career.
Professor Monette made me understand that tribal sovereignty isn’t a footnote to American law — it’s a fundamental part of it.
Ron Dean ’70: Ted Finman
I listened to him and said, “That’s the kind of lawyer I want to be.”
Elizabeth Gracie ’83: Charles R. “Chuck” Irish
Professor Irish was a dynamic teacher, generous mentor and gracious human being. He launched my 40+ year career practicing state and local tax law in Chicago.
As an English major, I was surprised to be energized by the classroom dynamic of Tax I. After Tax II, Professor Irish included me among the students he recruited to write articles for a publication of the Tax Section of the Wisconsin Bar Association, and he assigned me the challenging topic of the Unitary Tax.
Armed with that article as my writing sample and Professor Irish’s generous letter of recommendation, I found my niche in the boutique property tax firm where I have thrived since graduating in 1983.
Cecelia Klingele ’05: Michael Smith & Walter Dickey
Professors Michael Smith and Walter Dickey were among the best teachers and mentors I have known. They were wicked smart, attentive to every detail of law and cared deeply about justice, their students and about putting the Wisconsin Idea into practice. They formed lawyers who were “poised to learn” and eager to serve clients and the legal profession.
From encouraging me to apply for my first judicial clerkship when others had discouraged me from doing so to reading drafts of my early scholarship, Smith and Dickey helped me build the skills and confidence I needed.
Janice Wexler ’79: Zigurds “Zig” Zile
His teaching style made learning fun; he was approachable and had a great sense of humor. He taught me I could be successful notwithstanding a very mediocre grade in Torts.
Thomas Jacobson ’62: Willard Hurst
Legal history fascinated me as a law student. After graduation, I challenged pre-judgment garnishment. Hurst reviewed my legal challenges and counseled me on the applicable law. In the U.S. Supreme Court brief and oral argument, he provided advice that led to a successful constitutional challenge overturning prejudgment garnishment in 17 states.
Tom Koss ’18: Gregory Wiercioch
[Professor Wiercioch] was an excellent instructor who modeled by example how attorneys should work for the greater good. [His] revisions and assurance taught me how to be a legal writer. Working with him reinforced the importance of public service.
Aaron Kornblum ’96: John Kidwell
Professor Kidwell was an artful and engaging storyteller and helped bring our contracts casework to life, drawing from his life experiences in South Dakota and onward. He instilled a perspective that has been a cornerstone of my career — from my early days as a military prosecutor to my current role serving as outside counsel for technology companies.
By teaching me to look beyond the four corners of a contract to the people and operations it governs, Professor Kidwell shaped how I advise clients.
Brian Bushaw ’04: Ralph Cagle
Ralph’s unwavering support for my career choices was amazing. He was surprised when I became a lawyer because he didn’t think that was what I wanted to do. He knew I was capable but simply thought I’d do something in the service industry. He supported that because he knew I was passionate about food and wine and teaching others about the same.
When he was serving as State Bar President and I was acting as Chair of the Family Law Section, he told me he was proud of my success.
Kris Goodwill ’95: Richard Monette
I use and remember the concepts I learned from Professor Monette to this day. Indian law became my passion. He helped me make sense of so many things that affected my tribe, family and my own life.”
Robert Wills ’91: Neil Komesar
He taught an approach to analyzing challenges and understanding options that has wide applicability for understanding law, politics, business and life. I use the tools all the time.
Lester Pines ’74: James Jones
[He was an] outstanding teacher and inspiring mentor. He helped me to understand that in my career I would be able to stand up against all forms of discrimination and not hesitate to speak truth to power.
Harry Ruffalo ’67: Ted Finman
First day of class of 150 people, Professor Finman called on me to tell about a case he assigned as preparation. He asked me to stand and report what I thought the case was about. He then asked me questions of clarification for the next 45 minutes.
It was like learning to swim, with no lessons, and thrown into the deep end of the pool. He made me a better student and practitioner!
Alan Bates ’75: Priscilla MacDougall
I wanted to take a civil rights course, but my schedule did not allow it. Then, I discovered Women and the Law. I learned about civil rights through the teaching and experiences of the instructor and the female students.
My eyes and ears were opened to issues I had never thought about. I became a cooperating ACLU attorney and a feminist.
Fred Boll ’93: Professors Clyde Spillenger & Barbara Cox
They both made Civil Procedure accessible and interesting, giving me a lifelong understanding of the value of procedure in all things. This helped me for years as a diplomat for the United States.
Leonard Wang ’78: Ruth B. Doyle
Ruth Doyle was the assistant to the dean at UW Law School during my student years. Her job, as far as I could tell, was to help anyone seeking help. She was always receptive, eager to help and kindly. Visiting her office was a refreshing change from the intense, competitive and not infrequently madhouse atmosphere of the Law School. . . .
I am deeply grateful for the kindness and wisdom she invariably gave me.
Thoms Janssen ’67: Richard Cates
[He] taught me the fundamentals of trial work. Two months after being admitted to the bar
(about mid-July 1967) I was appointed as defense counsel for an indigent man charged with felony burglary. The jury trial was held in March 1968.
The jury acquitted my client.
Shruti Pandey ’25: Megan McDermott
[She] always connected her classes to real world options and impacts and genuinely cared about all of her students. I learned the most under her teaching. She made me want to become a litigator and pick a job that would be in the courtroom (though I’m not sure if personal injury will ever be my calling, ha ha).
Perry Olson ’75: Robert Cohen
His view on complex issues was to decide the outcome you wished to achieve and then to figure out how to achieve it. It was a creative, open-ended approach I used in my career every day!
Rebecca Greenlee ’84: Stewart and Jackie Macaulay
[Their] focus on law and society and family law was up my alley. I focused on family law with an eye to sociological effects.
Chess Erwin ’87: Ann Althouse
She was an extraordinarily gifted scholar who was likewise a gifted and memorable “teacher.”. . . she brought out the best in students, perhaps even when they didn’t believe they had it in them!”
Charles Gross ’78: Gordon Baldwin
Professor Baldwin opened my eyes to opportunities in the law that were otherwise unknown to me. Professor Baldwin’s encouragement was a significant factor in my decision to become a military lawyer. That decision, in turn, opened doors to a career in public service that shaped my life.
Kyle Williams ’25: Multiple
I credit multiple faculty members for their significant impact on my experience as a student. … As a combination of their attributes, they engaged my legal thinking, exposed me to practical tools that I currently use in the real world and ensured that law school does not define you as a person, it simply is an impressive addition.
Ben Gonring ’95: Thomas Palay
To the extent that law school is about teaching you how to think like a lawyer, I give huge credit to Professor Palay for laying that foundation for me. He pushed us to think outside the box, apply precedent to differing facts and react on your feet.
Scott Hansen ’76: Willard Hurst
He has been a constant reminder that law exists to solve (or try to solve) problems, and that to understand a particular law you must understand the problems it was created to solve.
The intellectual honesty of Professor Hurst’s approach to understanding law as a pragmatic tool has always impressed me and is a guiding principle.
Adisa Bakari ’98: James Thomas
[He had an] unyielding commitment to remedying historical inequities impacting communities of color by ensuring minority representation in the legal profession. I was not considering UW Law School until I met and spoke with Dean Thomas.
Margaret Odonnell ’80: Professor John Kidwell
He imparted his love of the law through interesting stories.
Nico Crocetti ’23: Erin McBride
Whether it was navigating my internships, law school or life, Erin was available with sage advice or just listening ears. … Erin understood and supported the areas of law and policy I wanted to research and work in.
To help me maximize my legal education, Erin taught me about UW’s options for directed research and reading. With these credits, I was able to deep dive into climate justice topics in Wisconsin and other more niche interests like the legalization of human composting.
Post-law school, she continues to mentor me, and I am grateful to call her a colleague.
Elisabeth Stockbridge ’09: Professor Frank Tuerkheimer
Professor Tuerkheimer was the kind of professor who showed not only an aptitude for the academic study of law but its practical application. His Evidence class was one of my favorite classes because I started to see how the subject matter came to life through the practice of using the rules.
Now that I am a trial attorney, I think fondly about his class when I win significant evidentiary objections or figure out a way to tell my client’s story through my presentation of the evidence.
Joen Grant ’76: Abner Brody & David Trubek
Professor Brody coached me in Moot Court, and Professor Trubek excited my interest in the economic influences on legal decisions.
Wayne Landsverk ’71: Frank Remington
I worked closely with him in the early days of the correctional intern program. He was brilliant, compassionate and widely respected. He was a great teacher and mentor.
Kelly Thimm ’96: Frank Tuerkheimer
He showed me that I could be whatever kind of lawyer I wanted to be.
Diane Pedulla ’90: Larry Church
He taught students to understand not just the law but also the personal and political issues that led to the legislation or court decision in question.
Thomas Wilson ’87: Arlen Christenson
Professor Christenson made local government law in Wisconsin a challenge for me. He taught the class in a way that gave you hope for local governments to effect positive change, and people at a community level being able to take action to help make larger changes on a bigger scale for good.
He also lived the life by doing the same on his own outside of the Law School in our community. … I have tried to emulate his wonderful community service and his faith in local government.
We were very fortunate to have this great soul teaching at our law school.
Rachel Fritzler ’10: Larry Church
I was randomly assigned to Professor Church’s Property class my first semester of 1L. He was widely rumored to be quirky, with his personal abridged versions of the cases, focus on policy arguments and strict word limits on his exams.
Most people (myself included) came into the class with a sense of impending boredom, but Professor Church had a way of bringing out the human and the universal in every case.
He was already approaching 70, and he delivered his lectures seated, his long legs crossed twice, hooking one ankle around the other, often with his hands folded in front of him. Despite this formal, genteel demeanor, he was also very funny, with wry jokes about the fates of foxes and hounds and the follies of NIMBYism (for those paying attention).
I realized that I would be a better lawyer if I could learn to think just a little bit more like Professor Church. So, I took every class that he taught, including his Supreme Court seminar, which he co-taught with his wife, the brilliant and formidable Fredericka Paff. He was fond of saying that a good lawyer can use any holding from any case in support of their position, if they know how to argue it.
His classes taught me how to argue creatively and persuasively, and how to dig into cases beyond the surface-level holdings.
Thomas Clark ’24: Robert Yablon
From the very start, Professor Yablon encouraged me to pursue my legal interests and provided me opportunities to do so.
When I expressed interest in political law, Professor Yablon found room for me to work as his research assistant. This allowed me to dive deep into the intersection of federal campaign finance law and scam PACs.
In all, I took three classes with Professor Yablon: Civil Procedure I, Law of Democracy and Federal Jurisdiction. They each rank in my top five favorite law school classes. Most importantly, though, Professor Yablon helped me secure a clerkship on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Professor Yablon wrote me a letter of recommendation that Justice Ann Walsh Bradley described as one of the most glowing letters she’d read.
Cindy Lee Stock ’82: John Kidwell
I took three courses from Professor Kidwell over my law school years. … He frequently joined my classmates and me for “Thursday Night Study Group” (no studying involved) and we sang together in “Mixed Nuts,” a madrigal group of mostly law students performing parodies of classic songs adapted by another law student and Kidwell.
And during the summer between my second and third year, he joined me in performing in “Guys and Dolls” for a local community theater group — fulfilling his long-time ambition to sing “The Fugue for Tinhorns.”
In other words, Kidwell showed me that practicing law would not mean that I would have to give up other things that truly brought joy into my life.
John Riley ’73: Sam Mermin
[His] approach to law was philosophical. [He] gave a deeper understanding of the underpinnings and societal impact of law [and helped] reinforce what I learned from my father and grandpa, both UW Law graduates. Law should be a helping profession, not primarily money driven.
