Welcome to another exciting edition of the Gargoyle. I’m excited to share with you all the wonderful ways University of Wisconsin Law School’s faculty, staff, students and alumni are pushing boundaries and shaping the future of the legal profession.
The law changes with the world around us, and UW Law is committed to being on the cutting edge of innovation. With your support, we’ve expanded our faculty over the last several years so that we can meet the challenge of today and tomorrow.
The three most recent hires to our tenure-track faculty are great examples. This fall, we’re pleased to welcome Professors Benjamin Sobel, Jason Reinecke and Paul Connell, who are poised to advance UW Law’s leadership in the rapidly evolving fields of intellectual property and technology law, including the impact of AI. Their expertise will allow for collaborations with people across campus, accelerating the university’s commitment to interdisciplinary partnerships that will increase our research impact. Professors Sobel and Connell are both part of Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s Wisconsin Research, Innovation and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) Initiative, a campus investment made to address the complex problems and opportunities raised by AI and other developments. We’re excited to be part of this world-changing initiative.
This issue will also introduce you to Lawyers and Democratic Decline (LADD), a collaborative research project that brings together scholars studying the role of lawyers in countries experiencing democratic backsliding. The project is directed by our own Kathryn Hendley, Roman Z. Livshits & Theodore W. Brazeau Professor of Law and Political Science. Since its founding in 2023, LADD has already become a global network of scholars investigating the role of lawyers in resisting — and at times enabling — the rise of authoritarian regimes. Through collaborative research, comparative analysis and public events, LADD explores how legal professionals navigate repression, uphold democratic norms and negotiate their professional identity in times of political crisis.
Among the other gems in this edition are an exploration of the evolution of Legal Research and Writing here at UW Law as well as a dive into the work of our stellar faculty, including Kate Finley, director of the Frank J. Remington Center, and Joshua Braver, assistant professor of law. We also hear from several of our accomplished alumni, as well as a couple of our outstanding students. All are tremendous exemplars of our Law-in-Action mission.
We have so much more within these pages, but I’ll close by expressing our profound appreciation to Jeffry ’79 and Kristin Brown for their extraordinary commitment of $1 million to establish a new professorship. This gift represents not only a significant investment in the future of the Law School, but also a powerful endorsement of our mission to cultivate academic excellence, innovative scholarship and leadership in the legal profession. Their support will help us continue to strengthen our faculty — one of our highest institutional priorities — even in challenging times. Big thanks to Jeffry and Kristin for your partnership and belief in the pursuit of knowledge and the education of the next generation of lawyers and leaders!
And thank you to everyone else who supported the Law School over the past year. We depend upon the generosity of our alumni and other friends to keep the incredible opportunities we offer accessible to the next generation of lawyers — and help them become the leaders of tomorrow.
On, Wisconsin!
Dean Dan Tokaji