On April 12 and 13, the UW Law School Indigenous Law Students Association will host the Coming Together of Peoples Conference, the longest-running student-led Indigenous law conference.  It is open to both in-person attendance and virtual participation via Zoom. Registration Information: The conference is free and open to the public. Registration is now available. Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits are currently pending for Wisconsin and Minnesota. Conference Highlights: Keynote Address: JoAnn Jones, a former Ho Chunk Judge and the tribe’s first female leader, will deliver the ..read more

Here is the latest faculty scholarship appearing in the University of Wisconsin Law School Legal Studies Research Papers series found on SSRN. Making Sense of 303 Creative: A Free Speech Solution in Search of a Problem Univ. Wis. Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1792 (2024) by DAVID S. SCHWARTZ, UW Law School 303 Creative purports to resolve a tension between freedom of speech and public accommodations laws as applied to “creative professionals” whose products or services are expressive. But this problem is largely theoretical. It did not really exist outside a small handful of gin ..read more

Last week in our Advanced Legal Research course at UW Law, we delved into the topic of legislative research including 50 state surveys.  Inevitably, there are a few students every year who have been tasked with compiling and comparing laws across states and spent hours searching the laws of each state. Then we show them the various 50 state survey tools and they shake their heads at the amount of time they could have saved if they had known about them.  50 state surveys are tools whereby an expert has already compiled the law from every state on a specific topic – or through which th ..read more

Last week, the University of Wisconsin Law School was recognized by Bloomberg Law in the 2023-24 Law School Innovation Program. The program recognizes law schools and their faculty and staff that have implemented and led innovative programs into their curricula that advance new methodologies and approaches to student instruction, legal technology implementation and usage, experiential learning, and other facets of legal education. The UW Law School was recognized in the “Beyond the Law” category for the Law Library’s Advanced Legal Research and Legal Technology Experiential Coursework and Cert ..read more

On Friday, April 12th, and Saturday, April 13th the Indigenous Law Students Association (ILSA) at the University of Wisconsin Law School will host the 38th Coming Together of Peoples Conference (CTOPC).  Registration is now available. This is an excellent conference and I encourage any attorneys, professionals, and students interested in Indigenous law to attend.  In-person and Zoom options are available.   ..read more

Here is the latest faculty scholarship appearing in the University of Wisconsin Law School Legal Studies Research Papers series found on SSRN. Unpacking State Legislative Vetoes Univ. Wis. Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1788 (2024) by DEREK CLINGER, UW Law School, and MIRIAM SEIFTER, UW Law School This report unpacks state legislative vetoes and aims to prompt renewed conversation on this largely overlooked state governance tool. Evaluating the significance, legality, and desirability of legislative vetoes must start with an understanding of the existing legal landscape, includin ..read more

Applications are now open for the Fall 2024 William H. Hastie Fellowship Program at the University of Wisconsin Law School.  The two-year fellowship, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, provides aspiring scholars an outstanding opportunity to prepare for a career in law teaching. Under the guidance of mentors and with faculty support, Hastie Fellows will: engage in intensive research and writing, participate in the hiring process of law schools, and gain teaching experience. Fellows pursue a scholarly agenda of their choice, typically prepare two pieces for publication, and ..read more

Since the release of ChatGPT last year, the development of new AI large language models has been fast and furious.  It’s been hard keeping up with all the new tools.  I’ve been using Open AI’s ChatGPT 4 for a while now and have recently added Google Bard and Lexis+ AI to my go-to list. Now there’s another LLM that’s made the list: Microsoft CoPilot.  And better yet, it’s free.  From what I’ve seen so far, it’s looking like I’ll soon be dropping my $20 per month subscription to ChatGPT. According to ZDNet, nine months after Microsoft launched its popular AI chatbot Bing Chat ..read more

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that typically occurs each year during fall and winter when there are fewer daylight hours. Fortunately, as the Mayo Clinic explains, the use of a light box or lamp can offer some relief. Don’t have one?  Try your local library.  HappyLights light therapy lamps, which mimic natural daylight, are now available at the UW Law Library as well as at all of Madison Public Library locations. The lights are just one of the many wellness resources and services available to students at UW Law School as described in a recent Gargoyl ..read more

The recent release of Netflix’s “The Railway Men,” a series centered on the 1984 gas leak at the American-owned Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India has reignited global interest in one of the most devastating industrial accidents in history. The lethal gas killed several thousands immediately and many more in the succeeding weeks and months. The series narrates the efforts of railway workers and others who played a crucial role in rescue operations during this crisis. The UW Law School Digital Repository collection, Bhopal: Law, Accidents, and Disasters in India explores the aftermath of t ..read more