University of Wisconsin Law School Gargoyle Alumni Magazine

VOLUME 31 NO 2 SUMMER 2005

Several law schools wanted Nina and Ben.

They chose Wisconsin.

Nina McIntyre was working on Wall Street in New York when she decided to apply to law school.Ben Imhoff was in his native Wisconsin, ready tocombine his undergraduate degree in engineeringwith expertise in patent law. Both had offers fromother law schools. They chose Wisconsin because of its atmosphere and the offer of scholarships.

“I came to the LEO Banquet as a prospectivestudent,” McIntyre says. “I was amazed to see howmany people of color — prominent people fromaround the state — were supporting the students in the Law School. Then the scholarship offer sealed the deal.”

For Imhoff, too, “The scholarship has been agreat bonus. It gave me confidence, and I felt that

I had to set a high standard for myself because I wason scholarship from the School.”

Both Imhoff and McIntyre will be third-yearstudents this fall. Imhoff ’s Intellectual Propertycourses and summer internship have confirmedpatent law as his career path; McIntyre will pursueher long-time interest in public interest law.

The Law School is committed to helping talented students like these achieve their goals.Scholarships are crucial in the competition to recruitoutstanding students from around Wisconsin andaround the country.

For more information on contributing to or creating a scholarship fund, call Ann Flynn at (608) 263-2202.

PHOTO: BOB RASHID

Use the Alumni Directory at www.uwalumni.com to find“lost” classmates and make sure they can find you.

Just a few minutes on the Web to update your contact information will ensure thatyou keep receiving the Gargoyle and the newsletter, Law in Action.

Remember to include your e-mail address for valuable UW-Madison informationthroughout the year.

Law School friendships— too valuable to lose. Stay in touch.

PHOTO: BOB RASHID

Why Gargoyle?

In 1962, when the existing Law School was demolished to make way for a newbuilding, Law School Dean George Young

found and rescued a sandstone gargoyle fromthe rubble. This figure and its departed twinhad sat on the roof of the 1893 building foralmost seventy years. While one of the pairhad perished in its fall, the second one hadlanded unscathed.

That rescued gargoyle, which is now permanently installed in the Law School’satrium, gives its name to this magazine,representing the indomitable strength andspirit of our University of Wisconsin LawSchool and its many graduates.

For an illustrated history of the Law School’s gargoyle, seewww.law.wisc.edu/lore/gargoyle.htm.

Gargoyle22 How I Got Here

Professor Stewart Macaulay, known internation-ally for his groundbreaking study of contracts,might have become a sports announcer instead ofa legal scholar. Macaulay takes a lively look backat the influences and chance events that broughthim to Wisconsin and a career in teaching.

28 Bioethics on the Cutting EdgeProfessor Alta Charo is a world-renownedbioethicist and gifted speaker who exudes energy,intelligence, and humor when she analyzes today’smost controversial issues in biotechnology.

36 Count the WinnersWhen a Law School alumnus won a large consumer class-action suit in California, every-one came out a winner. He donated a generousportion of the unclaimed proceeds to fund aposition for Attorney Sarah Mervine at theConsumer Law Litigation Clinic.

2 A Dean’s View

4 Student Life

8 Awards

10 Commencement

14 News

39 Profiles in Giving

40 Class Notes

41 In Memoriam

42 From the Editor

44 Mystery Photo

Summer 2005Volume 31, No. 2

The Gargoyle is the alumni magazine of the University of Wisconsin Law School,975 Bascom Mall, Madison, WI 53706-1399.It is funded by private donations.

Please stay in touch:Editor: Edward J. [email protected](608) 262-8554

Managing Editor: Dianne SattingerContributing Writer: Valerie Vidal

Campus Advisor/Art Direction:Niki Denison/Colleen O’HaraWisconsin Alumni Association

Cover photo by Paskus Studios: ProfessorStewart Macaulay has been engaging in ani-mated discussions like this one for almost fivedecades at the Law School. His conversationpartners here are students Kate Edwards andRene de la Cruz. See “How I Got Here” (page 22).

Back cover photo by Bob Rashid

2 GARGOYLE Summer 2005

A DEAN’S VIEW

— Dean Kenneth B. Davis, Jr.

This is going to be a particu-larly busy year for the LawSchool. In addition to

welcoming a terrific new class andproviding a quality education forcontinuing students, working onthe goals we identified in the 2005Strategic Plan, recruiting new fac-ulty, and continuing our efforts toconnect with alumni and involvethem in the life of the Law School,we will also be preparing for thevery important re-accreditationprocess required for us to remainan ABA-approved institution.

Since 1952, the American BarAssociation (actually, the council totheir Section of Legal Educationand Admissions to the Bar) hasbeen the U.S. Department ofEducation’s recognized nationalagency for the accreditation of U.S.law schools. Every seven years, anaccredited law school goes throughan extensive evaluation in order tobe re-accredited. Our seven-yearevaluation will be in March 2006.

An ABA site evaluation is notsomething that schools necessarilylook forward to. It is time-consum-

ing and requires a large investmentof staff resources. Nevertheless, it isan interesting, thought-provokingexperience that, like our recentstrategic planning process, will giveus an opportunity to review ourresources, programs, services, andfacilities in light of our mission and goals. It will also result in anoutside view of our strengths andweaknesses, and identify opportu-nities for ways to improve.

For those of you who areinterested in how the re-accredita-tion process works, here’s the basicprocedure.

We give in-depth answers to questions about how the LawSchool is meeting the ABA standards, which describe therequirements a law school mustmeet to obtain and retain ABAapproval; complete a detailed,Web-based, statistical questionnairesimilar to the annual one every lawschool answers each fall; andengage in a self-study that culmi-nates in a comprehensive reportaddressing the current status of thelaw school. The self-study, like ourstrategic plan, covers topics rangingfrom faculty and students to

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We are confident that

the ABA re-accreditation

process will confirm and

highlight our strengths

and also bring us helpful

suggestions on ways in

which we can continue to

improve the Law School.

AccreditationRedux

A DEAN’S VIEW

curriculum and the library. Thereport not only reviews recentprogress, but also identifies institu-tional aspirations for futurechanges and issues that must beaddressed. This information is givento each member of the site evalua-tion team approximately twomonths prior to the visit.

The visit itself takes three days— usually from a Sunday afternoonthrough a Wednesday morning. Theteam chairperson is always an expe-rienced site evaluator and often acurrent or former law school dean.The evaluation team usually consistsof one or two academic law schoolfaculty members, a law librarian,one faculty member with expertisein professional skills instruction(clinical, simulation skills, or legalwriting), one judge or practitioner,and one university administrator whois not a member of a law faculty.Nancy Rogers, dean of the OhioState University-Moritz College ofLaw, will be the chair of our sitevisit, and the other members of theteam will be named shortly.

During the visit, the teammeets with the president, chancellor,and other university administrators.The team also meets with me,other leaders of the faculty, and theLaw School administration. And,ideally, one member of the teammeets individually with everymember of the faculty. The teamalso visits as many classes as possibleduring its visit, in order to makejudgments concerning the qualityof instruction. It will also hold anopen meeting with students andmeet with student leaders. In addi-tion, the team meets with membersof the bar and judiciary who arefamiliar with the school.

At the end of the visit, theteam meets with me and the chan-cellor to provide an oral report ofthe team’s findings. Shortly afterleaving the school, the team drafts

and finalizes an extensive writtensite evaluation report, covering allaspects of the school’s operation. It includes faculty and administra-tion, the academic program, thestudent body and their success onbar examinations and in placement,student services, library and infor-mation resources, financial resources,physical facilities, and technologicalcapacities. The site evaluation teamdoes not decide whether the schoolcomplies with the ABA standards;its role is to provide a factual reportthat accurately describes the situa-tion of the school and provides a comprehensive basis for theAccreditation Committee and thecouncil’s judgments.

The completed site evaluationreport is sent to the Law School,which is given an opportunity toprovide written corrections of anyfactual errors. The AccreditationCommittee reviews the report, andif it concludes that the school fullycomplies with all the standards, wereceive a letter telling us we willremain on the list of approvedschools. If it finds that we need todo some more work to complywith all of the standards, the committee will send an action letter specifying the standard orstandards with which the schooldoes not comply and asking uswhat steps we will take to comply.When the school takes those steps,it earns its re-accreditation andremains on the list of approvedschools.

We are confident that the ABA re-accreditation process willconfirm and highlight our strengthsand also bring us helpful suggestionson ways in which we can continueto improve the Law School.

* * *As you will read elsewhere

(see pages 15 and 42–43), this is ahistoric issue of the Gargoyle: it isthe last time we will see Ed Reisnerlisted as editor. Ed is retiring thisfall, after thirty years of devotedservice to the Law School. He haspresided over this magazine in acontinuing labor of love. His regular “From the Editor” columnhas brought readers a series ofenlightening and humorous essays,filled with knowledge of the LawSchool’s history and its individualgraduates.

When Ed was not busy withthe Gargoyle or the myriad otherprojects that more than filled hiswork week, he was also an ambas-sador for the school. He and I haveclocked many a mile as we paid visits to alumni throughout thecountry in the last several years. I have learned from Ed andenjoyed his company immensely.Nobody I know is more devoted to this Law School.

In his typically modest way,Ed has told us that he does notwant a retirement party. However,if anyone would like to celebrateEd’s work at the Law School or thebeginning of his next chapter, youmay want to make a contributionto the scholarship fund he hasestablished in memory of his parents. (Contact Ann Flynn, 608-263-2202 or [email protected].)

Ed will be missed enormouslyby all of us here in the law buildingand by the many alumni who haveknown him and looked forward toseeing him here or in their ownhome territory. I have a strong feeling, however, that we will notlose Ed from sight. I feel sure thathe will continue to be a devoted alumnus (Class of ’72) and an activemember of the Law School family.

www.law.wisc.edu/alumni GARGOYLE 3

Ideally, one member ofthe team meets individu-ally with every memberof the faculty.


STUDENT LIFE

KaShia Moua ’07

The first member of her familyto be born in the U.S., KaShiafound herself cast in the role ofpioneer. At age 22, she createdand directed a program forHmong youth that is now flourishing nationally. Her lawdegree will help her continue to educate and advocate.

Hometown: Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Undergraduate Institution:Carleton College

Undergraduate Major: Sociology and Anthropology

KaShia Moua has always been apioneer, literally from birth:

she was the first member of herfamily to be born in the UnitedStates. Her parents were among thefirst few Hmong families inWisconsin and the only Hmongfamily in Eau Claire when theyarrived in 1976.

When Moua and her twoolder brothers were growing up,there was no strict differentiationbetween family and community.“When other Hmong familiesarrived, they would live with us. Younever drew lines or said, ‘We onlydo things for just certain people.’ ”

Moua reflects, “My brothersand I have exceptionally progressiveparents. They couldn’t even con-ceptualize what skiing was, butthey would sign the permissionslip; they just had to trust thatpeople would take care of theirchildren. My parents said, in effect,‘You go out and explore this countryand tell us what it’s about.’ ”

And explore she did. She wentto Carleton College in Minnesota,took “every elective possible,” andmajored in sociology and anthro-pology. “Because of my upbringing,I really liked studying how peopleinteract in different cultures.”

Moua started a senior thesison Hmong and higher education,but the results were unexpected.“All the research I found about theHmong in America was about gangviolence, homicide, depression. Atfirst I thought, ‘This isn’t my topic,’but there came a day when I real-ized, ‘This is everyone’s concern.’ ”

As a result, when she graduatedin 1999, Moua moved to St. Pauland became a pioneer again. At theage of twenty-two, she received aninternationally respected EchoingGreen Fellowship for SocialInnovators and created the HmongWomen’s Circle. “I hadn’t picturedmyself graduating and starting up

a girls’ program, but I realizedthere was a need.”

The program is still flourish-ing in Minnesota, Wisconsin, andCalifornia. With the help of HmongNational Development, Inc., anonprofit organization inWashington, D.C., she has beenable to replicate it, now includingprogramming for boys as well asgirls. “I hire and train Hmongfacilitators, in partnership withschool districts. We have a set curriculum called Like a Bamboo,focusing on leadership, health, andeducation.”

Moua had been working withthe program for five years in St.Paul and Washington when a conversation with her mentor, aneducation professor at Carleton,sparked a new idea. “I had neverever imagined going to law schoolin my entire life,” she says. “Butafter he listened to everything Iwas doing in D.C., he said, ‘Youneed to go to law school.’ A lawdegree is probably one of the mostversatile degrees out there — it helpsin policy, politics, and advocacy.”

Advocacy is one of Moua’s talents: in 2002, she was campaignmanager for Senator Mee Moua,the first Hmong person in theUnited States to be an elected offi-cial. At the Law School this spring,she was elected president of theAsian Pacific American and SouthAsian Law Students Association.

This summer, she is workingin Washington with the SoutheastAsia Resource Action Center and the National Asian PacificAmerican Women’s Forum on aproject she designed to investigatechild trafficking (mail-order bridesand prostitution).

At the age of twenty-eight,Moua has accomplished an impressive amount of pioneering.With law degree in hand, she willbe equipped to do even more.

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STUDENT LIFE

Curt Clausen ’07

Curt was working in governmentin North Carolina when heresolved to win a place on the1996 Olympic team in racewalking, a sport he has excelledin since high school. ThatOlympics experience led to others, and in 1999 he placedthird internationally. Now he’s aUW law student, combining hisexpertise in governmental workwith a growing knowledge ofthe law — and still competing in the Olympics.

Hometown: Stevens Point, Wisconsin

Undergraduate Institution: Duke University

Undergraduate Major: Public Policy

Graduate Degree: Master’s in Public Administration,North Carolina State University

Curt Clausen missed the firstfew classes of his law school

career in August 2004, but he hadan excellent excuse: he was repre-senting the U.S. at the Olympics in Athens.

Clausen grew up in StevensPoint and still thinks of Wisconsinas home. “As a child, I tried everysport you can imagine,” he says.He learned about race walking thesummer after seventh grade. By thetime he was a high school senior,he was the national champion forhis age group.

When he went to college,however, “Walking took a backseat. My focus was on academics.”He graduated with a B.A. in publicpolicy from Duke University, buthe did not drop race walking: herepresented Duke in the Olympictrials and ranked in the top six inthe nation.

After graduation, Clausenearned a master’s degree in PublicAdministration. “I needed a practical focus to go along with the policy work I had done as anundergrad. Then I got a job withthe North Carolina Legislature —my first full-time job — doingredistricting.”

He next became an analyst forthe town of Chapel Hill, NorthCarolina, and started thinkingabout law school. “I realized that ifI was going to stay in government,working with the legislature, itwould be a huge advantage to bean attorney.” He took the LSAT in1994, but it would be ten yearsbefore he entered law school.

“In 1994 my grandfather died,then my father died, and it mademe realize that life is really shortand precious,” he says. “I decidedto make the big change from gov-ernment administration to focuson walking again. I rememberthinking, ‘If I’m ever going to dothis, I’d better do it now.’ ”

Clausen made a New Year’sresolution for 1995 to make the

1996 Olympic team. He met hisgoal and enjoyed the Olympics somuch that he decided to pursuefull-time training. For seven years,he trained in California, living on ashoestring. In 1999, he brokethrough internationally, placingthird in the sport’s world champi-onship. A prize of $20,000 helpedto keep him going.

By 2003, Clausen began toplan his next chapter: the lawschool degree he had put on hold.His choice of the UW Law Schoolwas not difficult to make. “Myfamily is in Wisconsin,” he says,“and when I came to visit theschool, I was sold.”

During fall semester, Clausendevoted himself to his studies, butthe day after Christmas 2004, hewent to Florida for training. Hewon the trials, qualifying for theAugust 2005 Olympics inHelsinki.

As focused as he is on hissport, Clausen is equally commit-ted to combining his expertise ingovernmental work with his growing knowledge of the law. This summer he is working at theBoardman Law Firm in Madison.“Their work with municipal law isa good match with some of mybackground,” he says. “I have abroad variety of experience in thegovernmental setting but not inlaw, so I wanted to work in a firmmy first summer.”

Reflecting on the ten-yeardelay he made in his career,Clausen expresses satisfaction thathe pursued his athletic goal. “It’s alot of fun seeing how good you canbe at something,” he says. “I didn’twant to be someone who says, ‘Icould have done that.’ ”

In signing on for his summerat the law firm, Clausen checkedwith his employer about competingin the Helsinki Olympics. “I toldthem I might have to disappear fora week in August,” he says. “Theyseemed pretty cool about it.”

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STUDENT LIFE


Gary M. Smith ’07

Gary’s two main activities inNew York City before he cameto law school took place in different worlds: he worked incorporate finance and volun-teered with the homeless. Hisfirsthand observations of prob-lems resulting from misguidedpublic policy led him to pursuea law degree.

Hometown: New York City

Undergraduate Institution:Virginia Commonwealth University

Undergraduate Major:Business Administration

Graduate Degree: M.B.A., Finance,Darden Graduate School of Business,University of Virginia

Looking back on his childhoodin Pennsylvania and Virginia,

Gary Smith can detect the earlysigns of a business entrepreneur. “I monopolized the paper routesand lawn-mowing business in myneighborhood,” he recalls.

His interest in business continued throughout college andgraduate school, where he earneddegrees in business administrationand finance, while participating instudent government and workingto pay his way through school.

With his M.B.A. in hand,Smith moved to New York City,where he devoted himself both to acareer in corporate finance and tovolunteering with organizationsthat help homeless people reinte-grate themselves into society. “Ihad always gravitated toward legal,political, and social issues,” he says.

After eleven or twelve years ofhis business career and ongoingvolunteer work, he began to thinkabout law school. “I had reached apoint in my career where I wanteda different set of challenges and tobroaden my scope of expertise,” hesays. “Also, throughout my career, Ihad been politically active and hadcome face to face with issues andproblems resulting from misguidedpublic policy. It was the combina-tion of those two factors that ledme to law school.”

He spent a year researchinglaw schools and found himselfattracted to Wisconsin because ofits reputation and its Law inAction approach. A visit duringAdmitted Students Weekendclinched his decision. “The wholeenvironment just felt right: thequality of the school, the qualityand philosophy of the teaching, thestudents and administrators I met.My values were aligned with thoseof the school — it was a psycho-logically comfortable fit.”

At the end of his first year atWisconsin, Smith confirms that his decision was a good one. “A lot of schools talk about collegialenvironments,” he says. “I was a bit skeptical before I came. But I’vebeen surprised how friendly peopleare here. People all the way throughthe 3Ls, as well as the faculty andadministration, have been veryhelpful, very supportive. That’ssomething I appreciate after comingfrom the corporate world.”

This summer, Smith is workingat the Wisconsin Attorney General’sOffice, where he appreciates theopportunity to see the legal profes-sion in action. “My first summer isan extension of my first-year cur-riculum. I’m getting the chance toobserve the real-world applicabilityof things I learned during the year.”

In the fall, he will have a judi-cial internship with Judge RichardNiess of the Dane County CircuitCourt. “I’ll be gaining hands-onexperience and learning the ins andouts of the judicial system,” hesays. “My career objective is to synthesize these experiences, myprofessional background in busi-ness, and my interests and skillsinto a practice area.”

Smith’s next career decisionwill involve what areas of law topursue in more depth. “The law issuch a broad discipline,” he says.“I’ve found several areas of interest.I still have an affinity for the cor-porate and business topics. I’ve hadthe opportunity in the past to workon deals from the corporate side,but a lot of these issues intrigue mefrom the legal perspective.”

Constitutional issues andinternational law are among his newinterests, Smith says. “Sometimesyou don’t know you’re interested in something until you’re exposedto it. That’s what has happened tome here.”

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STUDENT LIFE


Sarah Maguire ’05 learned justbefore graduation this spring

that she was named the recipient of a $10,000 Ford LeadershipAward, created by the Ford MotorCompany to recognize law studentswho demonstrate significant leader-ship skills and make a positive difference for the community.

Maguire served as editor-in-chief of the Wisconsin Law Reviewand was founder and chair of thenewly launched Wisconsin LawReview Alumni Association, whilestudying for a dual degree of J.D.from the Law School and master ofpublic affairs from the La FolletteSchool of Public Affairs.

She has won multiple StateBar Awards for highest achieve-ment in her law classes and hasbeen an award-winning participant

in Moot Court competition. Shehas been a summer associate withJenner & Block in Washington,D.C., a summer intern with thecommercial litigation branch of the U.S. Department of Justice,and a summer associate with Foley & Lardner.

Maguire grew up in Menasha,Wisconsin, and earned a B.A. fromUW-Madison in journalism andpolitical science with comprehen-sive honors. Her senior honors thesis was titled “Fighting Wordsand the First Amendment.”

“Free speech is really interest-ing to me,” Maguire says. “In college, I really liked constitutionallaw and First-Amendment issues,and in law school I was able to takea lot of theoretical classes involvingconstitutional law.

“I loved lawschool,” she says,smiling.

Beginning in September,Maguire will bein Chicago for ayear, serving as ajudicial clerk toRichard D.Cudahy of theU.S. Court ofAppeals, SeventhCircuit. GivenMaguire’s trackrecord in hands-on work and theoretical subjects, it should come as no surprise thatshe has two ideas in mind for herfuture in the law: practice and possibly teaching someday.

Brent Denzin ’05 has beennamed a recipient of an

Equal Justice Works Fellowship.The two-year fellowship programprovides financial support tolawyers working on projects thatbenefit traditionally under-servedpopulations and causes in theUnited States.

Denzin will work withMidwest Environmental Advocateson a project that he and theorganization formulated together.The project focuses on the envi-ronmental and economic impactthat sprawl development has onWisconsin communities. Denzinwill work on building a coalitionof affected communities, maximiz-ing public participation in devel-opment strategies, and increasinggovernment accountability fordevelopment decisions.

One of the exciting aspects ofthe project, Denzin says, is that

land development is an environ-mental issue that incorporatesmany legal areas, such as labor andland-use regulation law. “There area lot of sub-issues that play intolarge corporations’ impacts onlocal environments and econo-mies,” Denzin says. He is excitedto help bring local Wisconsinenvironmental groups the infor-mation they need to help “savesmall towns in Wisconsin.”

During his law school career,Denzin was a founding member ofthe Wisconsin Environmental LawAdvocates, a nonprofit organiza-tion that works to protect waterand air through citizen lawsuitsand free legal research for existingenvironmental organizations.

Denzin gives high marks tothe Law School’s faculty, recallingthat when he and other studentsbegan a dialogue with professors ata “Coffee and Donuts” session

regarding the racialand economic dis-parity that plaguesMilwaukee, thefollowing semester,Professor ArthurMcEvoy offered aclass on environ-mental justice,addressing the veryissues in which thestudents hadexpressed interest.“The faculty iswilling to offercourses on topicsthat expand the interests of stu-dents and push them to do tangi-ble things with their education,”Denzin says.

After his two-year fellowshipconcludes, Denzin intends to con-tinue his career in environmentallaw, specifically incorporatingland-use regulation.

Maguire Wins Ford Leadership Award

Denzin’s Environmental Advocacy Honored

Sarah Maguire ’05

Brent Denzin ’05

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AWARDS

Students Garner AwardsFor Scholarship, Service

The Law School’s 2005 Honors and AwardsBrunch in May recognized an impressive arrayof student achievements:

American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers: Karen KeithFor dedication to Family Law and exhibiting the qualities that the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers wishes to promote in the practice of Family Law

American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Leonard Loeb Award:Jennifer GrissomFor excellence in the study of Family Law and dedication to communityservice

American Bar Association/Bureau of National Affairs Health LawAward: Rebecca Estelle, Chance HodgesFor the highest grades in Health Law courses

American Bar Association/Bureau of National Affairs IntellectualProperty Award: Joshua Gildea, Scott Paler, Ryan PorterFor the highest grades in Intellectual Property courses

American Bar Association/Bureau of National Affairs Labor and Employment Award: Joshua Gildea, Nicholas Infusino,Amy QuackenbushFor the highest grades in Labor and Employment Law courses

American Bankruptcy Institute Award: Nicholas InfusinoFor the highest grade in Bankruptcy courses

Association of Women Lawyers: Cecelia KlingeleFor academic excellence and outstanding service to the Law School andgeneral community

Gordon D. Baldwin Scholarship Award: Sydne FrenchFor excellence in Criminal Justice Law

Bruce F. Beilfuss Memorial Award: Carrie Benedon, Joyce Chang,Michele Crymes, Elizabeth Herman, Amanda Lowerre, Craig Powell,Stacey Reding, Greg Renden, Anthony Rodriguez, Richard SchusterFor outstanding service to the Law School

Bercovici Prize for Jurisprudence/Legal Philosophy: Fitzgerald Bramwell, Andrew Parrish, Scott Peitzer, Ryan SteffesFor excellence in the study of Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy

Bernard Berk Memorial Award: Erin Freiberg, Sommer SpectorFor outstanding contributions to the economically disadvantaged

Abner Brodie Award: Joshua Gildea, Maureen O’ConnorFor outstanding achievement in legal study and practical application of law

Ray and Ethel Brown Award: David Connally, Bonnie Cosgrove,Susan Kurien, Nina McIntyre, Tony RelysFor character, leadership, and service by first- or second-year students

Barbara B. Crabb Award: Samantha Webb KadingFor promoting the ideals of honesty, fairness, and equality

Salmon Dalberg Award: Cecelia KlingeleTo an outstanding member of the graduating class

Joseph Davies Award: Katie MasonFor outstanding service to the Wisconsin Law Review by a second-year student

Jefferson Davis Award in Constitutional Law: Bryan Cahill,Lucy Kronforst, Derek NeatheryFor excellence in the study of Constitutional Law

Ruth B. Doyle Award: Nathan LundbyFor student contributions to the Law School community

Sonnet Schmidt Edmonds Award: Mark Dahlby, Gozie OnyemaFor excellence in the study of Energy Law

Equal Justice Works Fellowship: Brent DenzinFor outstanding work on projects that benefit traditionally underservedpopulations and causes in the United States

Leon Feingold Memorial Award: Ethan CarrierFor outstanding commitment to the Law School and greater community

Ford Motor Company Leadership Award: Sarah MaguireFor academic excellence, outstanding leadership, and initiative

Melvin J. Friedman Memorial Scholarship: Shelley FiteFor exemplary work with the Wisconsin Innocence Project

Daniel H. Grady Award: Brian LarsonTo the top-ranking student in the graduating class

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Commencement was a proud moment for new graduates Krista Buchholz and Nathan Lundby.


AWARDS

James J. & Dorothy T. Hanks Memorial Award: Daniel GhocaFor excellence in the study of Corporate Law

Symposium Editor for Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy: Peter TempelisFor election as Symposium editor

Katherine Held Memorial Award: Margaret Hillman, Jessica LevieFor outstanding contributions to Wisconsin Women’s Law Journal

George Laikin Award: Patrick MuellerFor best article on a general topic in the Wisconsin Law Review

Legal Defense Program Award: Preston SmeadFor outstanding service to the clients of the Legal Defense Program

Catherine Manning Memorial Award: Jennifer Grissom,Cecelia KlingeleFor outstanding contribution to the Legal Assistance to InstitutionalizedPersons Program

Mathys Memorial Award for Appellate Advocacy: Stuart Bray,Tim Cruz, Patrick Harrigan, Tony Relys, Jacob ThrideTo outstanding oralists in Moot Court competition

Mathys Memorial Award for Appellate Advocacy: Mariam MokriFor outstanding service to the Moot Court Board

National Association of Women Lawyers Award: Ann LaatschFor commitment to advancing issues and concerns of women

Don A. Olson Memorial Award: Tania NachreinerFor an outstanding student leader from Wisconsin

Vicki and Brent Orrico Scholarship: Lori HickmanFor leadership, character, initiative, and service

William Herbert Page Award: Matthew WhiteFor best student article on a specific topic in the Wisconsin Law Review

Mary Kelly Quackenbush Memorial Award: Cara CoburnFor the outstanding student article in the Wisconsin International Law Journal

Andre Saltoun Prize: Laura Dickman, Nathan Kipp, Jeffrey Marx,William E. RosalesFor special contributions to the Wisconsin Law Review

Abe Sigman Award: Larry Konopacki, Brian LarsonFor scholarship, character, and contributions to the Law School

Skadden Fellowship: Samantha Webb KadingFor exceptional promise in the field of Public Interest Law

Gwynette E. Smalley Law Review Prize: Lola Velazquez-Aguilu,Laura SchulteisFor scholarship and service to the Wisconsin Law Review

State Bar of Wisconsin Environmental Law Essay Award: Kate DavisFor the best student essay on Environmental Law

Julie Strasser Scholarship: Stephanie Caucutt, Jennifer Molina,Annie SmithFor demonstrated concern for the needy and work to benefit society

Frederick C. Suhr Award: William E. RosalesFor dedication to community service and equal access to the law

Wisconsin Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company: Theresa AndreFor the top-ranking student in Professional Responsibilities

Wisconsin Public Interest Law Foundation’s Jackie Macaulay Award:Stacia Conneely For demonstrating exceptional commitment to Public Interest Law

New Orleansattorney KenyaSmith ’99 (right)came back toMadison for thegraduation ofhis niece, TanyaSmith (left). Here they arejoined byProfessor RalphCagle.

Cameras were clicking nonstop as students celebrated the completion of master’s degrees as well as J.D.’s.


COMMENCEMENT

Congratulations,Class of 2005!Photographs by Empire Photo

Members of the University of Wisconsin LawSchool Class of 2005 received their J.D.degrees on Friday, May 13, at the university’s

commencement exercises at the Kohl Center. Thekeynote speaker was U.S. Representative TammyBaldwin, a 1989 graduate of the Law School.

By tradition, the Law School heldits own Presentation of the Colors ceremony that Friday afternoon atMadison’s Monona Terrace. The facultyspeaker was Adjunct Professor andMadison attorney Stephen Hurley, andformer Dean of Admissions BethKransberger was the keynote speaker.Both speakers were chosen by the graduating class.

The class also elected three studentspeakers — Davion Ford, NathanLundby, and Gozie Onyema — andmaster of ceremonies RandolphReliford.


COMMENCEMENT

Clockwise from left: keynote speaker, former Dean of Admissions BethKransberger; faculty speaker, AdjunctProfessor and Madison attorney StephenHurley; students enjoy the 2005 com-mencement address; student speakersNathan Lundby, Gozie Onyema, andDavion Ford.

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U.S. Senator from WisconsinRuss Feingold delivered the

17th Fairchild Lecture in April,speaking on a topic of great rele-vance to his last few years in theSenate: “Upholding an Oath to the Constitution: A Legislator’sResponsibilities.”

Feingold told his overflowaudience, “When I was sworn in

as a U.S. senator, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution, butnever could have dreamed of theways in which that oath wouldchallenge me and put me in conflict with people I admire.”

Feingold discussed the experi-ence of being the only Democrat to vote against dismissing theClinton impeachment case before

all evidence hadbeen submitted,as well as theonly senator to vote againstthe USA Patriot Act.

“An oath

binds us in unexpected ways,” he said.

Referring to the fact that hewas re-elected after his controversialvotes, Feingold said, “I’m deeplygrateful to the people of this state.People in Wisconsin want a senatorto take his job seriously and be trueto his oath, even if they disagreewith him.”

The annual Thomas E.Fairchild Lectureship was establishedat the Law School in 1988 as atribute to Judge Fairchild by hisformer judicial clerks. Fairchild is a1937 graduate of the Law Schooland a former Justice of theWisconsin Supreme Court.

The Fairchild Lecture always reunites Judge Fairchildwith his former clerks and other colleagues. Seated infront row, from left: Eleanor Fairchild, Judge Fairchild,Jane Hazen; second row: Diane Liptak, William Conley,James Klenk, Joan Lefkow, Shirley Newsome, MargaretMurphy, John Skilton; back row: Michael Zimmer,Matthew Flynn, Michael Wilcox, Ann Hilton-Fisher,Renate Michaelis.

Senator Russ Feingold (left) gives an animated account of the unexpected challenges he faced when he cast lonedissenting votes on controversial national issues. After a rigorous series of questions from Professor James Jones(right), Feingold remarked, “Now I really feel like I’m back in law school.”

Senator Feingold: Upholding an Oath to the Constitution

FAIRCHILD LECTURE 2005


CAREER SERVICES

Far-flung alumni: Can you advise studentsabout practice in your area?by Assistant Dean Jane Heymann,Director of Career Services

The Office of Career Serviceshas good news to share: the

legal job market is showing signs ofimprovement. After three years ofextraordinarily competitive condi-tions, this upturn will make the job search easier for our currentstudents.

If you are an alum or a friendof the school living in another partof the country or the world, you canbe of critical assistance to our currentstudents in three important ways:

1. Encourage your organiza-tion to interview Universityof Wisconsin Law School students.If your firm or organization hiressummer law clerks, or will be hiring third-year students for entry-level positions, please let us knowabout those opportunities so thatour students can apply for them.

We can put you in touch withour students in a variety of ways:by scheduling on-campus interviews;by collecting resumes from interestedstudents and forwarding the groupof resumes to you; or by posting adescription of your position andadvising students to submit

applications directly to you. All ofthese services are provided free ofcharge to employers.

2. Offer your knowledge andexpertise to students.The next time you are in Madison,for business or pleasure, please letus know. Students benefit greatlyfrom a practitioner’s perspective. If you can spare a few hours whileyou are here, we would love toarrange for you to make alunchtime presentation, and/ormeet with students who have a particular interest in your practicearea or your area of the country.

3. Join our Law AlumniCareer Network.We continue to seek UW Lawalumni across the country andaround the world who are willingto provide information, advice, andencouragement to law students.There is a particular need for alumniin small- and medium-sized lawfirms, government agencies, andnonprofit organizations on the Eastand West Coasts. If you are willingto give a few minutes of your timeto chat with a law student when

contacted, please e-mail me at [email protected] or call me at(608) 262-6413.

By the time you read this,another academic year will bebeginning, and the fall recruitingseason (which starts earlier and earlier in August every year) will bewell under way. From early Augustuntil the end of October, many ofour students will take advantage ofinterview opportunities offered byone or more of the ten off-campusjob fairs and recruitment programsin which we participate. Many ofthem will also interview for summeror permanent jobs with employerswho come to the Law School toparticipate in our fall on-campusinterview program.

About 40 percent of our students will find their jobs byresponding to job postings or bymaking self-initiated contact withemployers.

For more information aboutthe way the Office of CareerServices helps match students withemployers, see our Web site atwww.law.wisc.edu/career/.

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Law School Professor and Class of 1971 alumna Cheryl Rosen

Weston was named EntrepreneurialWoman of the Year in April by theWisconsin chapter of the NationalAssociation of Women BusinessOwners (NAWBO). She is convinced that her law school classmates will never believe it.

“There’s a great irony here,”Weston says. “If my classmates readthis, they’ll think I would be theleast likely to make any money andbe involved in business.”

Her law school focus was radical politics, she says. “I used to tell people I went to law schoolbecause all my friends kept gettingarrested.”

Nothing in Weston’s childhoodwould have forecast her future asCEO of The Douglas StewartCompany, a provider of computerand school supplies with 130employees and sales of $212 millionlast year. Nothing, that is, exceptthe dire financial straits that taughther the importance of work at ayoung age: her father died unex-pectedly at age forty-three, leavinghis wife with four young childrento support. “That was when Ilearned about work,” Weston says.

She took her first job at theage of fourteen to help her mothersupport the family. “I have workedever since,” she told her audienceat the NAWBO award ceremony.“It made me feel good that I washelping out at home; I learned thatI loved the recognition I got forbeing a hard worker.”

The hard work continuedwhen Weston came to UW-Madisonas an undergraduate: “I was inMadison for three years before I real-ized that the campus was on a lake.”

After graduating from lawschool, she began as a private practitioner, later choosing colleagues

to form the firm that is nowCullen, Weston, Pines & Bach. Itwas as counsel for The DouglasStewart Company that she beganher journey into the businessworld.

At one time married to CraigStewart, son of the company’sfounder, she took over the reinsafter they were divorced in 1998and her ex-husband wanted tomove out of Wisconsin. They hadintended to sell the company, butit was not prospering and theycould not find a buyer. “To mygreat surprise,” Weston says, “heasked me to buy him out. Nothingwas further from my mind — ormy wishes.”

She decided to keep the businessfor a few years, stabilize it, thenfind a buyer. She planned to returnto the law firm and to teaching at

the Law School, where she hadbegun by teaching a wide array ofcourses for faculty who were onleave, and subsequently became afull professor.

Just as Weston was beginningto consult with her accountants,bankers, and lawyer, she had anothershock: “I stopped in one day for myannual physical and learned that Ihad cancer.”

Plans were put on hold as sheand her doctors waged a strenuousbut successful battle against colorec-tal cancer. When she returned toDouglas Stewart, she was grateful forevery day of being alive. Not onlydid she stabilize the company, butshe put it on a course of growth and profits.

After three years, Weston wasready to sell, but she realized thatby selling the business, she wouldjeopardize the future of heremployees. “I decided I couldn’t doit, and that the only way I knew tokeep the company going was tomake it grow. So now I am a seriousentrepreneur — a risk-taker. Saleshave more than doubled. We haveexpanded operations into Canadaand Europe. The plan is notCheryl’s exit strategy, but DouglasStewart’s future.”

Weston thus found herself awoman with two full-time jobs: herthriving business and Law Schoolteaching. She has no intention ofabandoning either of them. “Mostpeople change careers,” she says. “I just add them.”

Teaching at the Law School isa special part of her life, Westonsays. This fall, she will be teachingCivil Procedure I and II. Herrepertoire also includes Family Law,Legal Ethics, Torts, ConstitutionalLaw, and Legal Process.

“I love this place,” she says.“This is my love job.”

Professor Cheryl Rosen Weston NamedEntrepreneurial Woman of the Year

Cheryl Rosen Weston, whosecareer as a law student in the late1960s focused on radical politics,enjoys the irony of being honoredfor her entrepreneurship. As CEOof The Douglas Stewart Company,she presides over a firm whosesales totaled more than $200 millionlast year. She divides time betweenher company and teaching at theLaw School, a balance she enjoys.


NEWS

Ed Reisner, who has served theLaw School for thirty years in

multiple capacities, will retire thisSeptember. Reisner, a graduate ofthe Law School’s Class of 1972, hasbeen involved in alumni relationsfor the entire span of his LawSchool service, and has been editorof the Gargoyle for twenty-six years.He worked in career services for allbut seven of his thirty years, andserved as building manager in threeseparate “tours of duty,” totalingalmost twenty years.

In an e-mail informing theLaw School faculty and staff ofReisner’s upcoming retirement,Dean Kenneth B. Davis, Jr., wrote,“For three decades, Ed has been theface of the University of WisconsinLaw School for students, alumni,and the bar. Walk into any lawfirm or courthouse in the state ofWisconsin with Ed at your side,and you will be greeted with awarm welcome.”

When asked which of hismany Law School projects wasmost challenging and fulfilling,Reisner cites the $16.5 millionremodeling and addition periodfrom 1993 to 1996. In addition toserving as building manager duringthat period, Reisner helped raisethe $6 million required fromdonors to finance the renovations.As a way of demonstrating to othersthe need to adapt and be flexibleduring those years, Reisner movedhis office ten times, reducing hisbaggage to one filing cabinet andhis computer.

Reisner’s role in alumni rela-tions changed over time as well:Dean Orrin Helstad initiated amore aggressive outreach programearly in his deanship, and Reisnerstarted organizing trips to visitalumni at events to involve them inthe Law School. Helstad, Reisner,

and various faculty members —particularly Stuart Gullickson andGeorge Young — began crisscross-ing Wisconsin to connect with LawSchool alumni. This patternexpanded dramatically duringDaniel Bernstine’s deanship.Reisner calculates that he mademore than one hundred trips byplane and logged tens of thousandsof miles in cars to seek out andconnect with alumni.

The editorship of the Gargoylewas conferred upon Reisner in1979 when his predecessor, RuthDoyle, retired. At that time,Reisner wrote many of the articles,took many of the pictures, workedwith the printer pasting up pageproofs, and managed to put outfour issues per year until financialresources called for a cutback in the1990s. He continued to serve asexecutive editor until his retirement.

For many readers, a highlight

of each Gargoyle was Reisner’s Fromthe Editor column, with its accom-panying Mystery Photo. (Reisner’sfarewell column appears on pages42–43 of this issue; his culminatingMystery Photo is on page 44.) Thecolumns display his encyclopedicknowledge of the school’s historyand its graduates.

Over the years, Reisner hasalso found time to serve the broaderuniversity, his profession, and hiscommunity. He was one of thefounders of the Alumni RelationsCouncil, a forum for exchanginginformation with his counterpartsin other university departments;and he served on five State Barcommittees. He has also been anarbitrator for the State ofWisconsin’s Better BusinessBureau’s Auto-line program.

From the time he entered theLaw School as a student in 1969until his retirement, approximatelytwo-thirds of the 13,000 livingalumni graduated. Reisner helpedmany find their first or subsequentjobs, and many became his friends.

“It is impossible to catalog allthe things that Ed quietly doeseach and every day to make thisLaw School a better, and better-functioning, place,” Dean Daviswrote in his e-mail. “Without exaggeration, it is difficult to imagine the school without him.”

Ed Reisner has requested thatthere be no formal event held by theLaw School in honor of his retire-ment. He has created a Law Schoolscholarship fund in memory of hisparents, Mary and Edward W.Reisner. Anyone wishing to contributeto mark this occasion may contactAnn Flynn at (608) 263-2202 [email protected].

Assistant Dean Ed Reisner Announces Retirement

For three decades, Edhas been the face of theUniversity of WisconsinLaw School for students,alumni, and the bar.

— Dean Kenneth B. Davis, Jr.

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Law School Dean KennethDavis, Jr., was selected to be

the featured speaker at the UW’sFounders’ Day event in Chicagothis April. Dean Davis delivered atalk entitled “Corporate Gover-nance: Be Careful What You WishFor.” The event, sponsored by theWisconsin Alumni Association, washeld at the law firm of Gardner,Carton and Douglas.

The Wisconsin AlumniAssociation’s Founders’ Day eventcommemorates the founding ofUW-Madison. Each year, localalumni clubs, such as the one inChicago, bring Badger gradstogether and feature a UW-Madison faculty member, dean, orother distinguished university per-sonality. The very active Chicagochapter of the alumni association isone of the largest in the country.

Animated conversations aboundedat UW Founders’ Day this spring.Above right, from top: Dean KenDavis always enjoys hearing whatalumni are thinking. Joining him are(from left) Mike Reiter ’67, MikeBoykins ’90, and Vernon Francissen’95. Middle photo: Mike Rosenbaum’87 (left) and Deanna Wilson ’98catch up with Dean Ed Reisner.Bottom photo: Tonya Wilkes ’01(left) and Sue Provenzano ’95 com-pare notes with Jeff Wendorf of theWisconsin Alumni Association.

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Two Scholarshipsto Honor Frank J.Pelisek ’58

Two Law School scholarshipswill bear the name of alum-

nus Frank J. Pelisek, who died in2002 after a distinguished legalcareer.

The Frank J. PelisekMemorial Scholarship, established

earlier this year, was created tohelp support Wisconsin residentsattending the Law School.Criteria include superior academicperformance in undergraduatestudies, rural Wisconsin roots,and public service, with prefer-ence given to students who aremembers of the first generation intheir family to attend college.

A second scholarship to carry Pelisek’s name is the Rath

Foundation’s Frank J. Pelisek LawScholarship. The Rath Foundationoriginally set up the scholarship in1998, when Pelisek himself wassecretary. Rath Foundation schol-arships are determined solely onthe basis of academic merit, withpreference given to Wisconsin res-idents who attended Wisconsinschools prior to the Law School.

Dean Davis Delivers Keynote atUW Founders’ Day in Chicago


NEWS

Elder Law ClinicSteps in to HelpWith Living Wills

The UW Law School’s Elder LawClinic organized an opportunity inApril for students, staff, and facultyat UW-Madison to completeimportant health care advancedirectives, including living willsand health care powers of attorney.

Past and present student par-ticipants of the Elder Law Clinicset up tables in the atrium of theLaw School to provide one-on-one

counseling and help with fillingout forms.

The life and death of TerriSchiavo thrust the importance of documenting advance healthcare directives into the nationalspotlight.

Wisconsin does not have a“family consent” law. Therefore, if a person in Wisconsin becomesmentally incapacitated, familymembers and spouses do not havethe automatic right to make healthcare decisions for loved ones.

Attorney Betsy Abramson,assistant clinical professor and

director of the Elder Law Clinic,says the initiative received a strongresponse from the university com-munity. More than 120 individualsfilled out power of attorney forhealth care forms, while 67 livingwills were completed.

More information and forms can be obtained from theWisconsin Department of Healthand Family Services Web sitewww.dhfs.state.wi.us/ or at theCoalition of Wisconsin AgingGroups at www.cwag.org.

This spring, UW law professorMartha E. (Meg) Gaines ’83

was named a 2005 Woman ofDistinction by the YWCA, one of six women from the Madisoncommunity to receive the high-profile honor in recognition ofcommunity service, professionalachievement, integrity, leadership,and dedication to the lives of others.

Gaines is Director of theCenter for Patient Partnershipsbased at the Law School, whichhas received nationwide attentionfor the success of its innovativeinterdisciplinary program thatassists people with cancer andother serious illnesses to advocatefor their own health care.

Gaines’s reason for beginningthe Center in 2001 could nothave been stronger: she herself isa cancer survivor whose ability toadvocate for herself saved her life.In 1994, then a clinical law pro-fessor at the Remington Center,she was diagnosed with advancedovarian cancer and subsequentlytold by a physician to “go homeand think about the quality,rather than the quantity” of herremaining days. Instead, the

strong advocate within her emerged:she plunged into research thatfound excellent doctors whobelieved that her life could be savedand worked tirelessly with her tosave it.

After her recovery, supportedby a generous grant from Howardand Linda B. Stern (UW ’61), she and her hand-picked team of experts (including Dr. JulianSchink, her own physician) createdthe program that teaches futuredoctors, lawyers, nurses, socialworkers, and pharmacists to worktogether to become better advocatesfor their patients. The studentsare grouped in multi-disciplinaryteams to work with individual

patients recently diagnosed withlife-threatening illnesses.

Now, four years later, theCenter has helped more than sixhundred patients and their families,has taught dozens of future professionals how to advocate forpatients, and has worked in part-nership with community organi-zations such as the AmericanCancer Society, The Don &Marilyn Anderson Hospice CareCenter, and the Leukemia &Lymphoma Society. (In 2003 theCenter won a UW-MadisonChancellor’s Award for Universityand Community Partnerships.)

“I am deeply moved to beincluded on the phenomenal listof women who have received thisaward before me,” Gaines toldthe group gathered at the YWCAaward ceremony in May. “As peo-ple have asked me how I feelabout receiving this award, Inotice that I feel a little guilty —because my work, helping peoplewith life-threatening and seriouschronic illness navigate the worldof illness and health care, isreward enough for many lifetimesin itself.”

Gaines is YWCA Woman of Distinction

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Andrew WangWins SteigerFellowship forWork in ConsumerProtection

AndrewWang, who

will be a third-year UW law stu-dent this fall, hasbeen named oneof the inauguralrecipients of the

Janet D. Steiger Fellowship.The fellowship is part of

an effort by the American BarAssociation Section of AntitrustLaw and the National Associationof Attorneys General to provideunique training opportunities tolaw students interested in a career

in public service. The fellowship is a full-time summer program that places students within the consumer protection department of state attorney general offices.

Wang says he cultivated aninterest in consumer protectionand antitrust issues while workingas a research assistant for UWProfessor Peter Carstensen.“Professor Carstensen not onlyteaches the law, but typifies the law-in-action approach, creating reasoned, practical applications of the law to real world situations.”Wang’s research for Carstensen alsoimpressed upon Wang a concernfor protecting consumers throughregulation of corporate practices, he says.

Wang earned his B.A. indiplomatic history from theUniversity of Pennsylvania beforecoming to law school.

Ajoint learning experience forfour UW law students and

their professor began in spring2005, when the Law School’sexchange program with DiegoPortales University in Santiago,Chile, brought adjunct professorCharles B. Schudson to Santiago toteach introduction to the legal sys-tem of the United States. Second-year students Jamie Flather, JuanUreta, and Kristin Bohl, along withthird-year student Ben Wesson,were UW law participants in theexchange. Schudson also assistsDiego Portales Professor JaimeCouso with a children’s rights semi-nar in which UW law studentsFlather and Bohl are enrolled.

Continued on page 19

UW law students and adjunct professor Charles Schudson shared an inter-national learning experience by participating in the Law School’s exchangeprogram in Santiago, Chile, this year. From left: Jamie Flather 2L, JuanUreta 2L, Ben Wesson 3L, Charles Schudson, and Kristin Bohl 2L.

Students, Adjunct Professor Share Learning,Friendships on Exchange Trip to Chile

There’s Still Time to Sign Up for Reunions

Don’t wait until the October 7 deadline!

Homecoming Weekend 2005 will be the back-ground this year for the Law School’s class reunions,set for October 21-22. An all-class cocktail recep-tion followed by individual class dinners and a freeCLE ethics program are set for Friday. Saturday willfeature a tailgate brunch preceding the Wisconsinvs. Purdue game.

Classes with reunions this year are those endingin –0 and –5: 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980,1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000.

It’s not too late to sign up and encourage yourclassmates to do the same. Football tickets are stillavailable, although they are limited in number. Formore information, or to register on-line, go towww.law.wisc.edu/alumni/reunion.


LEO BANQUET 2005

Justice LouisButler ’77 GivesLEO Keynote

The Law School’s 36th annualLegal Education Opportuni-

ties (LEO) banquet in April fea-tured a keynote speaker whoalready had a strong tie to LEO:Justice Louis B. Butler, Jr., an LEOalumnus and graduate of the LawSchool’s Class of 1977.

Butler is the first African-American justice to be named tothe Wisconsin Supreme Court. He exhorted his young listeners tomake the most of their talents and

seize the opportunities to make adifference that come their way.

Special guest Randolph N.Stone ’75, now a clinical professorat the University of Chicago LawSchool and formerly publicdefender in Cook County, Illinois,spoke to the group about theimportance of humanitarian valuesin the law.

Banquet organizers this yearwere the hard-working students ofthe Black Law Students Association.

Above: Justice Louis Butler ’77delivers the keynote address at the LEO banquet. Also speakingwas special guest Randolph N.Stone ’75 (right).

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Chile (continued from page 18)

“Chile is in the process ofimplementing new legal codes inmany areas, including family andcriminal law,” Schudson says. Forthe first time in Chilean history,divorce is available. Chile was oneof only three countries in theworld that had not yet legalizeddivorce, the other two being Maltaand the Philippines. The changinglegal environment in Chile hascontributed to the popularity ofSchudson’s course, with enrollmentclimbing from twenty students toforty-one.

This is the third timeSchudson has taught law when apost-dictatorship country lookedto the U.S. legal system for amodel. He also taught in Russia in 1996 and Spain in 2004. “Oursystem, to be sure, is far from per-fect,” Schudson says. “Still, itembodies so many of the idealsothers seek.”

The UW exchange studentshave assisted Schudson with hisclass, presenting a special session inthe course this semester to help aidthe Chilean students’ understand-ing of the process of legal educationin the U.S. “I am tremendouslyimpressed with our UW studentshere. They are excellent, conscien-tious students who represent ouruniversity and our country withgrace, dignity, and good humor,”Schudson says. “We’re all verypleased with our experiences andhave become good friends witheach other, and with our very, verydelightful Chilean hosts.”

The UW Law School has con-ducted student exchange programsin Latin American countries forover a decade: The Diego Portalesprogram began in 1993, and anexchange with Catholic Universityin Lima, Peru, began in 1996.


NEWS

ALaw School tradition wasrevived this June when an

end-of-the-year dinner for theentire faculty and staff centered onhonoring three professors who arebeginning their retirement.

New retirees John Kidwell,David Trubek, and FrankTuerkheimer each heard a closecolleague speak about them andthen took the microphone torespond. Reminiscence, humor,and warmth filled the library’s Old Reading Room.

Dean Davis told the gathering,“We have come here to honorsome people who have helped toshape this Law School over the last

few decades. They have made marvelous contributions.”

First to be honored was JohnKidwell, who stepped down asassociate dean for student and aca-demic affairs. He listened as KevinKelly, assistant dean for curricularaffairs, who was a student ofKidwell’s in the 1980s and hasworked closely with him in admin-istration, told the assembled groupthat Kidwell is the quintessential“gentleman and scholar.” Kellyadded, “Study is not only what hedoes, but who he is. He is alwayslearning.” Kelly drew laughs with afine-tuned imitation of Kidwell’svoice and a description of Kidwell’s

penchant for aphorisms. Kidwell took the floor to

respond, concluding his remarkswith three aphorisms, “because thatis what I do.” Kidwell will returnin the fall to teach both Contractsand Intellectual Property, havingpassed his dean’s cap to incomingAssociate Dean Walter Dickey.

Professor Stewart Macaulayspoke about David Trubek, recall-ing that he met Dave and LouiseTrubek when they were all teachingin Santiago, Chile, in 1971. “Davehas contributed so much to thisLaw School in the course of thirty-two years,” Macaulay said. Hedescribed Trubek as an institution

Kidwell, Trubek, Tuerkheimer Take Emeritus StatusReminiscence and humor are key at dinner honoring three retiring professors.

From left, Professors John Kidwell, Frank Tuerkheimer, and David Trubek were honored guests at a dinner celebrating their contributions on the eve of their retirement.

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builder and prolific writer, adding,“You would never describe Dave aslaid-back.”

Trubek next took the micro-phone and thanked the Law School“for letting me do it my way.” Heelaborated, “This has always been alaw school that tolerated difference,both intellectually and personally.They allowed me to do what Iwanted in legal education; I don’tthink any other school would havelet me.” Trubek, like Kidwell, willcontinue as a member of the LawSchool community, in what DeanDavis described as the Wisconsin

sense of retirement. “You will haveme to kick around,” Trubek toldthe group.

Professor Emeritus GordonBaldwin offered comments aboutFrank Tuerkheimer, noting thatwhile law professors usually laborprofessionally outside of academia,Tuerkheimer has been exemplary in his “credentials burnished byexperience in what is called the real world.” Baldwin notedTuerkheimer’s service as a prosecu-tor in the Watergate hearings, aswell as in the Southern District ofNew York and Western District of

Wisconsin. “As Frank takes emeri-tus status,” Baldwin said, “thewages he has earned include ourpraises.”

Tuerkheimer told the groupthat he “left the hustle and bustleof New York City for sereneMadison, Wisconsin — only toarrive within a week of the SterlingHall bombing.” He added, “LikeDave, there was nothing I taughtthat I could have taught that wayat another law school. I was free toinnovate; no one has ever suggestedthat there was something wrongwith what I was doing.”

David Trubek, Voss BascomProfessor of Law and a senior fel-low at the Center for World Affairsand the Global Economy (WAGE),joined the law faculty in 1973. Hewas dean of International Studiesfrom 1990 to 2001, and director ofWAGE from 2001 to 2004.

He has written extensively oninternational and comparative law,addressing topics such as the roleof law in development, humanrights, and European integration,and the impact of globalization onlegal systems and social-protection programs.

Frank Tuerkheimer joined the lawfaculty in 1970 and has taught evi-dence (for which he created thefirst electronic evidence textbook),criminal law, trial and appellatepractice, and trials of the Holocaust. Since 1985 he has been of counselto the Madison law firm ofLaFollette & Sinykin, representingprivate clients and pursuing numer-ous pro bono cases. Formerly aWatergate prosecutor and U.S.Attorney for the Western District ofWisconsin, he is often called uponas a special prosecutor in discipli-nary cases.

John Kidwell joined the law facultyin 1972 and took on the additionalposition of associate dean for aca-demic affairs in 2002. His teachingspecialties include contract law,remedies, copyrights, patents, andtrademarks. Co-author of the case-books Contracts: Law in Actionand Property: Cases and Materials,he has published in the fields ofcontracts, torts, and intellectualproperty. He has received twoawards for teaching excellence,including the WLAA Teacher of theYear Award.


“What brought you toWisconsin and thislaw school?” We

ask this question of students in theStudent Life section, and we asked itin the Spring/Summer 2004 coverstory, “Why Wisconsin?”, which profiledtwelve of the Law School’s newer faculty. Now, with this article byProfessor Stewart Macaulay, we begina series of occasional features inwhich our long-established facultylook back at the workings of reasonand chance that brought them to the

study of law, the teaching of law, andthis particular law school.

Stewart Macaulay, who has taughtat the Law School for almost fivedecades, is known internationally forhis groundbreaking work with contractsand how they operate in reality asopposed to “on the books.” In thereminiscence that he shares here withGargoyle readers, he tells how hecame to teach at Wisconsin and writethe article that brought a Law-in-Action approach and a significant newdirection to the field of contract law.

How I Got Here

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By Stewart Macaulay,Malcolm Pitman Sharp HilldaleProfessor and Theodore W. BrazeauBascom Professor of Law

It is almost forty-eight yearssince I arrived in Madison toteach at the Law School, and

Dean Davis has asked me to reflectabout how I became a law professorand spent a career at this school. Ihope that readers find at least partsof my story interesting and amusing.The story certainly emphasizes therole of chance and luck in how Ispent my life.

Wisconsin was not an obviouschoice: my late wife was born inRacine, but I was an uprootedCalifornian who knew very littleabout the state. When we movedto Madison, I thought we wouldstay only until someone offered mea better job. Today I don’t thinkthat there was or is a better jobanywhere for me.

Early days as a sportsannouncer

I was born in Atlanta, Georgia,in 1931. My father was a GeneralMotors accountant, and he hadgone south to audit the Chevroletplant in Atlanta, where he met and married my mother. We leftGeorgia when I was eleven monthsold, moved a few times, and, in1941, settled in Sierra Madre,California, then a small town nearPasadena.

In Pasadena at that time a student took the last two years ofhigh school and the first two yearsof college at the same school. Afterjunior high, I went to John MuirJunior College for four years. Ibegan writing a column on jazzrecords for the school newspaper,and then I was a sports reporter,covering the high school footballteam for several years for thePasadena Star News.

I’ve always thought that myexperience as a sports reporter writing

under a deadline helped me laterwhen I had to write law exams.High school football was played onFriday night, and the Star News wasa morning paper. I learned to startsketching my story at the begin-ning of the fourth quarter. I also learned that a sports story has a form or a structure. Later Ilooked for the form or structure to law examinations. This helpedme turn them out under great time pressure.

In my college freshman year at Muir, I took over the radio pro-gram The Sports Parade. EverySaturday I had to present a fifteen-minute program on junior collegesports. I enjoyed interviewing thestars of the various teams. I neverknew just what they would say, andyou had to be quick to put thingstogether and avoid words thatshould not be said on the radio.

I remember trying to plan acareer or at least a job. My fatherhad always hated his job. It paidwell, and he knew that he waslucky to have a good job during theDepression. Nonetheless, he didnot like the politics needed to getahead in large organizations. He con-tinually stressed that I should lookfor a job that I really enjoyed. Hepointed out that you spend most ofyour waking life at work, and hethought that it was pointless to pileup money while living an unsatisfy-ing life.

What does a lawyer do?I had done well as an actor in

student productions, and one ofthe engineers at the radio stationsaid that anyone could see I was anatural as a radio announcer. But

being a cautious Scot, I investigatedwho made how much money.Obviously, a few stars could make agreat deal in film or on the stage,but most actors, disc jockeys, andsports announcers made surprisinglylittle. I remember getting theUCLA catalog and looking at therequirements for various majors. All of them required more mathand science than I wanted. Theoptions seemed to be somethingsuch as theater at USC, film atUCLA, or, as a friend of the familysuggested, law.

However, I really didn’t knowwhat lawyers did beyond what Ihad seen in the movies. My fathertried to help. He got Sierra Madre’sone lawyer to spend about forty-five minutes with me, explainingwhat law practice was about. ThenDad started taking me to variouscourt proceedings and trials. I’msure that some image of Perry Masonwas floating around in my head.

After Muir, I went to Stanfordfor my junior year. I took pre-legalcurriculum, which I now know wasa real waste of an opportunity. Yet I did very well, and it did serve to get me into the Stanford LawSchool. Stanford ran on the terror


I’ve always thought thatmy experience as a

sports reporter writingunder a deadline helpedme later when I had to

write law exams.

Stanford law student, 1952

system, and failed about one-thirdof its first year class. I was convincedthat I would be lucky just to pass.When the grades came back, I haddone well: I was third in my class.

What was I going to do withmy law degree? This was the timeof the post-World War II anti-Communist movement. I haddreams of working for the ACLUand defending civil liberties. I hadvague ideas that I might like to gointo politics. However, it was justassumed at Stanford that if youwere on the Law Review, youwould go to work for one of thelarge corporate law firms.

Maybe a professor?However, I was seeing (and

later married) Miss JacquelineRamsey. She was not impressed byjust making money. Her father hadbeen the CEO of Johnson’s Wax inRacine, and he had been highlycritical of much of the leadershipof American business. She hadgone to school in Europe and loved

the arts and literature. She was farmore sophisticated and cosmopolitanthan I was, and thought that oneshould do something meaningfulwith one’s life. She asked me what Ireally wanted to do.

As I thought about it, I real-ized I really enjoyed studying lawand writing law review articles. Icautiously suggested to Jackie that I might like to be a law professor.She was very pleased, but sheunderstood that at that point itseemed something far beyondreach. I liked her reaction. PleasingMiss Ramsey at that point was oneof my major goals. It was far from

clear that we were to spend forty-five years together. (About thirtyyears later, she became a lawyer anda litigator, but we couldn’t haveforeseen that in 1953.)

After graduation, I took jobswith Chief Judge William Denmanof the U.S. Court of Appeals forthe Ninth Circuit and as a BigelowTeaching Fellow and Instructor at

the University of Chicago LawSchool. Both were steps toward ateaching career. Both came almostaccidentally.

Judge Denman had selected aclerk from Berkeley as he usuallydid, but this young man was calledinto the armed forces. The judgeasked whether there was anyone atStanford. I had taken labor lawfrom Professor Keith Mann, and Ihad been his research assistant for atime. Keith suggested me to thejudge. After an interview, JudgeDenman offered me the job. Theyear with Judge Denman was veryvaluable, and he was a wonderfulrole model. I worked very hard anda got a lot out of the experience.The judge was eighty-four when Iworked for him, and he changedmy views about age.

My major task as clerk was towrite what Judge Denman called apre-hearing memo on each casethat he was to hear. It was to be adraft of an opinion for the court,written his way. Each argument oneach issue for both sides had to beconsidered.

Once I submitted a memo, hewould meet with me. First, I wouldargue the case for the appellant,and he would challenge my analysisbased on his long experience.Second, I would argue for theappellee, and he would throw myarguments back at me. We wouldraise our voices and get veryinvolved. His secretaries teased meabout fighting with the judge.

It was a wonderful, one-on-one postgraduate course in legalanalysis. Judge Denman wrote hisown opinions, often drawing passages from my memos. As theyear went on, he would take moreand more. Finally, several of hisopinions were fairly close to what Ihad written, and I was delighted.

My next position, as a BigelowTeaching Fellow and Instructor,was equally the product of chance.


Almost five decades’ worth of notes, articles, and journals equip StewartMacaulay’s compact office in the Law Building.

PA

SK

US

ST

UD

IO

Dean Edward Levi of Chicago hadvisited Stanford, looking for legalwriting instructors. Keith Mannonce again suggested my name. As a Bigelow Fellow, I worked forNicholas Katzenbach, who laterbecame an assistant attorney general and an Undersecretary ofState under John Kennedy andLyndon Johnson. Nick representedthe United States government inthe great confrontation withGovernor George Wallace when he tried to block integration of the University of Alabama.

Both Jackie and I were a littleintimidated by the University ofChicago. I found myself posing asa teacher, of sorts at least, at aschool where everyone but me, itseemed, had read Aristotle as wellas the great books. The Universityof Chicago was a serious place, andit brought home to me how muchI had to learn if I wanted to be alegal scholar.

Travails of job-seekingMy father-in-law, Jack

Ramsey, had gone to the Universityof Wisconsin and knew MalcolmSharp, Professor of Law at theUniversity of Chicago, when theywere both students in Madison.When Jack visited us, we reunitedhim with Malcolm. As a result,Malcolm took an interest in meand become another of the impor-tant mentors in my career. (WhenI received a research professorshipfrom the University of Wisconsin,I named it after him.) Wilber Katz,

a former dean ofthe University ofChicago LawSchool, was agood friend ofSharp’s, andSharp asked Katzto help me get ateaching job. Myname was spreadaround to thoselooking to hire.

Shortly afterthe New Year, theAssociation ofAmerican LawSchools met atthe old Edge-water BeachHotel on LakeMichigan on theNorth Side ofChicago. I leftJackie and babyMonica eachmorning forthree days, andwent to the hotelseeking inter-views for a teach-ing position. Itdidn’t go well. Schools didn’t seem to want a twenty-five-year-oldwith limited experience. But then a chance occurrence determinedmy future.

On the last evening, I metNick Katzenbach in the hall. Hesaid that I looked like a man whocould use a free drink, and told meto go to a certain room at the hoteland join the Yale cocktail party. Hesaid to use his name. It was a meas-ure of how tired and discouraged Iwas that I crashed a party.

I went to the room and, feel-ing out of place, got a free drinkand circulated. At this point theworkings of chance took over: I met Jack Ritchie, dean of theUniversity of Wisconsin LawSchool. Ritchie saw my name tag,and said in his Virginia voice,

“Why Mr. Macaulay, I’ve heard alot about you.” We retired to a cor-ner and talked. I came away fromthe party thinking that Ritchie andI had had a nice talk. I talked withWilber Katz and Malcolm Sharp,and both said very good thingsabout the UW Law School andWillard Hurst. I had never heardof the Wisconsin tradition, but myStanford mentor, Keith Mann, hadtaught at Wisconsin and always hadpositive things to say about the place.

Visit to Wisconsin

On January 18, 1957, Ireceived a letter inviting me to visitthe UW Law School. I flew up fromMidway Airport to Truax Field, andwas met by Professor Bill Foster. TheLaw School building was very old,


Stewart Macaulay as a sports announcer, 1950. “Thiswas the publicity shot for The Sports Parade. Ofcourse it was staged; I didn’t wear a tie when I was onthe radio. Can anyone ever have been that young?”

Judge Denman wrote hisown opinions, often draw-

ing passages from mymemos. Finally, several of

his opinions were fairlyclose to what I had written,

and I was delighted.

but the campus was beautiful, andI liked the people. Jackie and I wereboth excited because now our dreamof a teaching job at a good lawschool didn’t seem so impossible.

On January 28, we received atelephone call from Jack Ritchieoffering me a position as an assis-tant professor. We, and it was we,accepted the Madison offer. DeanRitchie assigned me courses in contracts, restitution, and legalwriting. I was on the way tobecoming a professor.

That summer in Chicago,before we moved to Madison,another chance occurrence had asignificant impact on my career.Nick Katzenbach was teaching contracts during the summer quarter at Chicago. Grant Gilmore,Yale’s great commercial-law expert,was teaching commercial law.

I sat in on Nick’s class andtook lots of notes because I hadbeen assigned to teach contracts atWisconsin. Nick was teaching outof the Kessler and Sharp casebook,which, for its day, was the radicalphilosophical book. After class,Nick and Grant would have coffeeand talk contracts and commercial

law. I would tagalong and stealand borrow ideasso that I wouldhave somethingto teach when Igot to Madison.

The under-study goeson

After a fewweeks, Nickcaught the flu.He called me andsaid that theunderstudy wasgoing on tomor-row morning. It

seemed like the plot of A Star IsBorn, but I had to perform andgain the applause to complete theplot. I worked around the clock.These were University of Chicagostudents, and what did I know?

I was extremely overpreparedfor class, and, while a star wasn’tborn, it seemed to go well. Nickwas out for about ten days, and Igot basic training in law schoolteaching. A month or so later Iwould be very thankful that I hadhad a chance to teach a few classesbefore I had to perform at Madison.

At Wisconsin I began teachingcontracts and restitution, whileHenry Manne and I supervisedlegal writing. I had a real case ofthe impostor syndrome. I wastwenty-six and teaching peoplewho weren’t that much youngerthan I was, if they weren’t older. Ialways felt as if I were just a stepahead of the class.

The three older professors onthe contracts staff were a greathelp: Bob Bunn had been part ofthe American Law Institute effortthat produced the UniformCommercial Code; Bill Rice hadbeen a pioneer in labor law and

international law; and Bob Skiltonhad done empirical studies in commercial law.

The restitution class wasanother story. It filled gaps in allthe other common law courses, andso I had to run around the curricu-lum, trying to remember or learnhow the restitutionary part fit intothe substantive part. There was noone person on the faculty I couldturn to. Moreover, the results inthe cases didn’t fit together.

I was asked to review a newcasebook in restitution, and I usedit as the opportunity to develop ananalysis that I had been working onfor class. The Virginia Law Reviewliked my “Restitution in Context,”and it published it as a lead articleinstead of a review. I later reworkedand refined that analysis for myarticles on the contracts decisionsof Justice Roger Traynor and myempirical study of the attempts ofcredit card issuers to impose liabilityon cardholders in the name ofchoice. Duncan Kennedy cited thisanalysis in one of his articles thatdrew a great deal of attention. Healways scolded me for burying it inan article on credit cards.

Learning about contractsI spent a great deal of time

reading the greats in contracts —Fuller, Llewellyn, Patterson,Havighurst, Sharp, and others.Trained as a law student and not asa future professor, I had never readthis material. I pored over thesearticles, annotating them and oftenoutlining them in detail.

Not long after I arrived at theLaw School, I had my first lunchwith Willard Hurst. He askedabout my research interests, mademany suggestions for reading, andurged me to establish a plan for myfirst ten years. Hurst also readdrafts of what I had written. He


At Stanford with future wife, Jacqueline Ramsey. “The Senior Prom in 1953.People tend to laugh at this.”

did this with most of the beginningfaculty. We would get back three-tofive-page, single-spaced comments,typed on his old typewriter. Otherson the faculty also were willing toread drafts and offer comments.

In the late 1950s and early’60s, another stroke of chance ledto the article that became the foun-dation of my career: my father-in-law, Jack Ramsey, the retiredGeneral Manager of S.C. Johnsonand Son in Racine, asked me toexplain my contracts course.

Jack found it hard to believewhat I told him about the Fullertextbook. He thought that much ofit rested on a picture of the busi-ness world that was so distortedthat it was silly. The problem wasnot Fuller’s scholarship but thegenerally held academic picture ofcontract at that time. Jack arrangedappointments with several of hisfriends who also managed large andmedium-sized corporations. I didnot know it at the outset, but I hadstarted down a road that I am stilltraveling.

I was confused and slightlythreatened by this dissonance. Ilacked experience in the practice oflaw and the conduct of business. I also lacked an education in the

areas that might help me deal withthe gap between what I was teach-ing and what I had begun to learnfrom conversations in Racine.

Fortunately, I was teaching atthe UW Law School, with its Law-in-Action tradition. My senior colleagues were studying such topics as police practices and howvarious laws played out in dealingwith natural resources. WillardHurst had received several founda-tion grants to help develop thesocial study of law. If Willardapproved, a young law professorreceived a research leave and somehelp in beginning a process of self-education in matters nottaught in law schools.

I began a period of intensereading. When I read BronislawMalinowski’s Crime and Custom inSavage Society, I was reassured thatI had found something in myinterviews with business peoplethat was not then stressed in legalculture. I was delighted to drawanalogies between the behavior of Trobriand Islanders —Malinowski’s “savages”— andAmerican business executives.

I followed Malinowski’s analysis of long-term continuingrelations as I interviewed business

people. My interviews and readingprompted my paper, “Non-Contractual Relations in Business:A Preliminary Study,” published in the American Sociological Reviewin 1963.1

The article has had a longshelf life. In a survey of articles bylaw professors, it was the fifteenthmost-cited article of all time. It hasbeen translated into many languages,and it has been replicated byEuropean and Asian scholars whoreach much the same conclusions.The study served to make me a law and society scholar as well as a student of contract law.

I have had wonderful mentorswho helped a beginner, and won-derful colleagues and friends whohave made my job something toenjoy. I wish I had space here toname them all. I can’t even estimatehow many students have taken myclasses, and today’s students oftentell me something such as, “Myfather had your class in 1962.” Ihope that I’ve made some contri-bution to my former students’lives. They have certainly taughtme much and made a real contri-bution to mine.

1 S. Macaulay, “Non-Contractual Relationsin Business: A Preliminary Study” (1963) 28American Sociological Review 55. I reconsid-ered this article at a conference marking itstwenty-first birthday. See S. Macaulay, “AnEmpirical View of Contract,” 1985Wisconsin Law Review 465.


“The silver fox.” UW Law School professor, 1969–70.

An Interview with Professor

Alta CharoBy Nicole ResnickReprinted with permission from theWisconsin Academy Review, Spring 2005

Bioethics and Law Professor Alta Charo before a backdropof stem cells as they differentiate into specialized cells.

Photo by Zane Williams


f life were like “Star Trek,” Alta Charo’s job might not be so challenging. The way Charo sees it, “Star Trek” epitomizes aworld inhabited by “techno-optimists,” or those, like herself,who think of technology and science as making society more

interesting, more creative, and, most of all, a better place. IYet in real life there’s a fundamental divide,and techno-optimists intermingle with“techno-pessimists” — those who shy awayfrom and are wary of scientific advancement.The constant tension between these twogroups provides the energy that fuels Charo’swork. The resulting conflict is what givesCharo the opportunity to make such animpact and ultimately influence the way thatscience is conducted in today’s society.

We’re talking about the most controver-sial and high tech science — embryoresearch, cloning, stem cells — and Charothinks, discusses, and writes about theseissues on a daily basis. She is not a white-coated scientist growing cells in a laboratory.Nor is she a patient desperately advocatingfor the continuation of such research in thehopes of benefiting from a cure. Nor is shean elected politician trying to convince con-stituents of the need to restrict or regulatescientific and medical progress.

Rather, Charo is a world-renownedbioethicist — a role that often puts her atthe epicenter of conflict between vastly different interest groups. She is a facultymember of both the law and medical schoolsat the University of Wisconsin, where she isthe Elizabeth S. Wilson-Bascom Professor ofLaw and Bioethics as well as associate deanfor research and faculty development at thelaw school. Her knowledge base in dual dis-ciplines translates into an impressive grasp ofthe legal and scientific issues that are theessence of today’s bioethical dilemmas.

That is why Charo is often called upon todissect and analyze the controversy, and thenadvise national leaders and consult withother international experts in developingworkable guidelines.

Not your average job, but then again,Charo is far from your average person. Mostpeople who hear her speak about bioethicswalk away impressed. She exudes energy,passion, intelligence, and humor. Most ofall, she moves her listeners to think, consider,and perhaps even react. And that is howCharo best accomplishes her goal.

Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director ofthe Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation(WARF), said it best when he introducedCharo as the keynote speaker at a BioethicsSymposium last spring. “She’s a gifted speaker,and she speaks very fast — so you’d better listen fast!”

While it can be a challenge to keep upwith Charo, most audience members trytheir hardest. Because whether or not youagree with her views about issues as loadedas stem cell research, therapeutic cloning,and the government’s role in regulatingmorality, you have to agree she makes acompelling argument.

Norman Fost, a professor of pediatricsand the history of medicine at UW–Madison and director of the program inmedical ethics, has been a valued friend andcolleague of Charo’s since she joined theUW faculty in 1989. “I remember when Ifirst met her — I had the same reaction as

everyone else,” he says. “She’s just a remarkable person.She combines extraordinary intellect and creativity,humor, wit, and insight that make you want to bearound her. She has this effect on everyone.” Quitecomplimentary, especially given that Charo considersFost to be one of the most influential mentors in herown rise to prominence.

From the Beltline to the Beltway—And Back

A crowning achievement in Charo’s long list ofcareer accomplishments was her participation as amember of the U.S. National Bioethics AdvisoryCommission under the Clinton administration. Shehad been serving on the National Institutes of HealthHuman Embryo Research Panel in the mid-1990s,where she helped develop guidelines for the proper useof discarded embryos for scientific research. Charo’sname rose to the top when in 1996 President Clintondecided to appoint a bioethics commission. Over thecourse of five years the commission ultimately draftedsix different reports on topics that included cloning, stemcell research, research involving human participants, and

international policy regarding clinical trials in develop-ing countries. Charo recalls that as an overwhelmingphase in her life, marked by constant travel between her UW faculty office and the commission’s headquartersin Washington.

The pressure reached a frenzy level in early 1997when the news broke that Scottish scientist IanWilmut had created a sheep named Dolly through the process of cloning. Within days of the officialannouncement, President Clinton instituted a ban onfederal funding related to attempts to clone humanbeings using this new technique. He then asked therecently appointed commission to address the ethicaland legal issues that surrounded the subject of cloninghuman beings. Their deadline? Ninety days.

Kathi Hanna, a science and health policy consultantin the Washington area who served as the commission’sresearch director and principal writer, remembers thestress they all felt. She frankly describes that time asbeing “pretty hellish,” yet she cannot say enough aboutthe role that Charo played in drafting that particularreport. “Alta was extremely helpful. She ended updoing a lot of the writing and editing, and she workedwith me at all times — over weekends and late at

night, or when-ever I called onher to help.”

Beyond thetime commit-ment, her intel-lectual contribu-tion was notable.“The clarity ofher thinking isamazing,” saysHanna. “Andshe’s also veryinnovative —she thinks ofthings in a waythat no one elsedoes, and she’snot afraid to bewrong. Alta isvery courageousin terms ofthrowing thingsout there, and


Her knowledge base in dual disciplines translates intoan impressive grasp of the legal and scientific issuesthat are the essence of today’s bioethical dilemmas.

Charo’s name rose to the top when in 1996 President Clinton decided to appoint a U.S.National Bioethics Advisory Commission.

we’ve alwaysappreciatedthat.”

In the end,the panel votedfor a three-yearmoratorium onany effort to usecloning to con-ceive a child —or reproductivecloning. WhileCharo makes itclear that she has never votedto ban or evenplace a moratori-um on basic science researchthat usescloning, in thiscase the issuewas about repro-ductive cloning,and she firmly believed that at that time the scienceand technology was manifestly unsafe for humans.

Despite the rigorous demands and the controversyassociated with that particular report, Charo says ifgiven the chance to do it again, she would — “in aheartbeat.” That is no surprise considering how these areprecisely the challenges that energize and exhilarate her.Not to mention the reward of knowing that what shehelped to create had a critical and favorable impact onscientists, legislators, and the future of cloning research.

“The vast majority of government committeesproduce nothing but reports that sit on shelves collect-ing dust. But every once in a while your work will riseagainst the general noise level and help crystallize apublic debate,” says Charo. “Our cloning report is anexample of that. At the time, this topic [cloning] wasall over the news — there were calls for immediatecriminal penalties and bills introduced into legislaturewithin weeks of the announcement.

“We produced a report that was calming, sobering,and returned public discussion to facts rather than fan-tasy,” she continues. “It served to slow down and stoplots of energy on Capitol Hill for draconian criminalmeasures. It gave the president room to submit a bill

to Congress that would ask for a moratorium, not aban, on any effort to do human cloning research untilthe science was better understood. Yet it provided protection for scientific research, and although the bill didn’t pass, we helped enormously to stop whatappeared to be an unstoppable train.”

Enter Stem Cells

While issues surrounding embryo research andhuman cloning were keeping bioethicists busy, thingsonly got hotter when it was announced in 1998 thatembryonic stem cells had for the first time been grownin a laboratory. The promise of stem cell technologyprovided more fuel for politicians butting heads, pro-lifers and pro-choice supporters, and especiallyadvocates for what until then had remained the mostelusive medical cures. The world was crying out forrational and informed minds to sort through the mess.

How fortuitous that the UW–Madison laboratoryof James Thomson — the place where it all began —is only a short walk across campus from Charo’s facultyoffice. Thomson, a UW professor of anatomy, was the


The pressure reached a frenzy level in early 1997 whenthe news broke that Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut had

created a sheep named Dolly through the process of cloning.

Doing a presentation on new reproductive technologies with Vice President Al Gore.

first to successfully coax these cells to grow in a petridish, and in doing so opened the door to using stemcells as powerful tools in the development of treat-ments for a wide variety of devastating diseases.

It is also fortunate that Thomson was as sensitiveto the intellectual issues tied to his research as he wasto the biological needs of these magnificent cells.“Jamie understood the explosiveness of this discoveryand all the ethical issues, and he spoke with Alta andmyself long before beginning the research and submit-ting his protocol to the IRB [Institutional RegulatoryBoard],” says Norm Fost. “He completely predictedthe issues that would arise.”

Charo and Fost, working with the UW BioethicsAdvisory Committee, participated in the rathermomentous decision of whether to let the groundbreak-ing research move ahead and under what conditions.“The UW was way ahead of the pack in developing theguidelines, and Alta was essential to all this,” says Fost.“As part of Clinton’s committee on embryo research,she had a deep understanding of the issues; she hadbeen through these discussions, so she was that muchmore valuable.”

Thomson couldn’t agree more. “I was extremelyfortunate that Alta Charo happened to be on this campuswhen I decided to attempt to derive human embryonicstem cells,” he says. “Alta made herself available early inthe process when I was just considering this line of

research, and it certainly increased my comfort level thatI was not doing this in an ethical vacuum.”

Once the code behind the science of growing and manipulating stem cells was cracked, the ensuing controversy — now highly emotional and political —stole the limelight. The 2004 presidential election wasmarked by the stem cell debate as a hot-button topic.In state elections in California that same day, voterspassed Proposition 71 to provide $3 billion in statetaxpayer money for stem cell research. The voteunleashed a competition among states to support andretain stem cell research.

Charo acknowledges that California’s Proposition71 represents a challenge for the state of Wisconsin.“In a field characterized by an absence of federal funding and the presence of political controversy,California provides a nearly unique combination ofpolitical and state government funding,” she says. Yetshe is encouraged by a new initiative announced byWisconsin Governor Jim Doyle last November, justtwo weeks after California passed its groundbreakinglegislation.

State and private dollars will be used to build a$375 million research facility on the UW campus —the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery — specificallyfor the purpose of centralizing stem cell and otherresearch aimed at curing diseases such as Alzheimer’s,Parkinson’s, and diabetes. Construction of the institute

is slated to beginthis year andwill proceed inthree phases over the course of a decade.“GovernorDoyle’s initiativegoes a long waytoward keepingWisconsin com-petitive,” saysCharo, “butthere’s no doubtthat California isnow a force tobe respected.”

But compet-ing forces onlyinspire Charo.


Iwas extremely fortunate that Alta Charo happened to be

on this campus when I decided to attempt to derivehuman embryonic stem cells, says pioneering

researcher James Thomson.

Meet the colleagues: The UW’s bioethics team is made up of (standing from left) DirectorNorman Fost, Alan Weisbard, Pilar Ossorio, and Dan Hausman. Sitting from left: Charo, Linda Hogle, and Rob Streiffer.

With every opportunity to enlightenthe public, provide her expertise onbioethics panels, and champion thepositive potential of stem cells, shesends a passionate message. Sheviews stem cell research as the trueticket to developing therapies for awide range of debilitating illnessesthat include Parkinson’s disease,juvenile diabetes, spinal cord injury,and heart disease. She is deeplytroubled about the prevailing politi-cal attitudes and legislative obstaclesthat may stand in the way ofadvancing science, and ultimatelymedical cures. The “criminalization”of state-by-state legislation that nowmakes it illegal to conduct stem cellresearch is an issue about which shelectures frequently.

It is not only stem cell research,but also the combination of stemcell and cloning technologies that Charo advocates ifeffective medical therapies are ever to be developed. Toillustrate this, Charo uses breast cancer, or more specif-ically, the way in which scientists can elucidate howbreast cancer often develops from a single gene muta-tion called BRCA 1. First, scientists must utilize thetechnique called therapeutic cloning to clone embryosthat carry this particular genetic mutation. A singlecell taken from a breast cancer patient carrying theBRCA 1 mutation is inserted into an egg whose nucle-us has been removed. The egg will begin to developinto an embryo whose cells all contain that exact sameDNA and thus carry the mutation of interest.

Once the embryo has divided to about 100 cellsin size, scientists remove the stem cells and use stemcell technology to manipulate them into becomingbreast tissue. With a uniform supply of breast cells —all containing the BRCA 1 mutation — researcherscan carefully observe how, when, and why these cellsderail from the normal process of breast cell develop-ment and instead turn cancerous. With the power toinvestigate breast cancer genetics in this fashion scien-tists hope to eventually figure out the best way to haltthe process.

“That’s why we want to do cloning,” says Charo.“Not to make babies, but to make tissue, and touncover the secrets of genetic disease.”

Up from Flatbush

Charo’s rise to prominence in her field is onlyenhanced by the story behind her family’s humble startin this country. As liberal, nonreligious Jews with aninherent appreciation of political and religious freedom,Charo’s immigrant parents instilled in their daughter a spark to make a difference.

Her father was from a Polish town near theRussian border. Her mother’s family fled Russia nearthe border of Finland. “My parents came here becauseit was infinitely better than where they came from,”Charo says. “Something about their experiences gave methe impression that my job was to keep improving thisplace and to do something that is bigger than yourself.”

While they may have been new to America,Charo describes her parents as being very progressiveand “science-oriented.” Charo also was influenced bythe era in which she was growing up, the 1960s and1970s, which she calls the “age of science andprogress.” Yet she also recalls a childhood that was farfrom easy. She, her parents, and her two older brothersshared a cramped three-room apartment in theFlatbush section of Brooklyn. During times when herfather’s TV repair business was struggling, Charo’smother supported the entire family on her salary as amiddle and high school math teacher in the public


While doing volunteer work with the Sierra Club inBoston, Charo witnessed how a law degree couldbe more valuable than a degree in biology if she

pursued a career in environmental activism.

Talking head: Charo’s wide-ranging expertise and ability to explain scienceto a general audience make her a media favorite.

schools. Charoremembers goingthrough a rebel-lious stage, andher insatiableintellectualcuriosity movedher to try outvarious religioussects the waymost teens dur-ing that timewere exploringthe effects of cer-tain mind-alter-ing chemicals.

Charo wasbrilliant. Herexcellent gradesand insuppress-ible intelligencelanded her a fullscholarship toHarvardUniversity.There sheearned her bach-elor’s degree inbiology with anemphasis onbehavioral ecolo-gy and evolu-tionary theory.She planned to

apply to graduate school to continue these studies aftergraduating from Harvard in 1979 but then questionedher decision as friends urged her to consider lawschool. They thought law school might better fit herpersonality, and they knew she hoped to pursue acareer in environmental activism. Moreover, whiledoing volunteer work with the Sierra Club in Boston,Charo witnessed how a law degree could be more valu-able than a degree in biology if she pursued that field.

In the end, she took entry tests for both law andgraduate school; her test results provided the answershe was looking for. “My GRE score in biology was

respectable but not stellar; my LSAT score was nearlyoff the charts,” she recalls. “I guess that told me some-thing about my strengths and weaknesses, so I chose toapply to law school.”

Interestingly, all three Charo siblings rose to theirfull potential (there’s something to be said about goodgenes), and applied their early respect and passion forscience toward impressive careers. One brother is currently a medical researcher at the University ofCalifornia at San Francisco, while her other brother isan engineer and works on satellite-surveillance projectsfor the National Academy of Sciences.

While earning her law degree from the ColumbiaUniversity School of Law, Charo took every courseavailable that combined law and science. After gradu-ating in 1982, she was hired as a legal analyst for thenow defunct Office of Technology Assessment, a feder-al agency responsible for reporting to Congress onissues of science and technology. This was followed by a short stint with the Agency for InternationalDevelopment, further whetting her appetite for thegrowing field of bioethics. Charo then began searchingfor a job in academia, and says she was surprised when the University of Wisconsin offered her a jointappointment in the law and medical schools. Finally,she was on a path that seemed more likely to provideher the opportunity to do something bigger and better.“The bioethics field is not just about the single conflictover whether you tell someone about your patient’sgenetic illness,” she says. “Rather, it’s about trying tofigure out a way to manage scientific and medicaladvances in a fashion that improves the world.”

A Symbiotic Relationship

With 15 years of teaching behind her, Charo isstill going strong. Her involvement with variousnational commissions and international advisory pan-els means that jet lag is a constant challenge. One ofher most important commitments is serving on theNational Academy of Sciences’ Board of Life Sciences,where she is working to develop national voluntaryguidelines for stem cell research. Then there are all theresponsibilities Charo tackles as a member of the UWfaculty. She has been a member of the UW Hospital


Charo touts the university culture—specifically the

highly interdisciplinary nature of the UW law andmedical schools—as helping her keep up with the

ever-changing medical technology and ethical views regarding scientific advancement.

Above top: Charo earned her bach-elor’s degree in biology at HarvardUniversity. Above bottom: Charotook every course available thatcombined law and science atColumbia University School of Law.

clinical ethics committee, the university’s InstitutionalReview Board for the protection of human subjects inmedical research, and the university’s BioethicsAdvisory Committee. Charo currently serves on theadvisory boards of the Wisconsin Stem Cell ResearchProgram and the WiCell Research Institute — a pri-vate organization created to provide human embryonicstem cells to academic scientists for research purposes.Her appointment in 2002 as the law school’s associatedean for research and faculty development requiresmore administrative duties than she would prefer, yetshe continues to teach, learn, listen, and think aboutthe most cutting edge bioethical issues.

“She has an enormous energy level, like theEnergizer Bunny. She just never seems to say no toanything,” says Fost. “She’s in the upper one percentileof UW members involved in everything — outreach,public policy, federal policy — where she brings her academic work to both the community and policy-making.”

Despite the demands, Charo continues to be adynamic teacher and lecturer, Fost notes. “This isbecause she combines a very deep understanding ofbiological issues — she understands the science, yetshe combines that with the nuances and understandingof the law, ethics, and politics to better illuminatethese complex issues.”

Charo’s commitment to the UW is balanced bythe less tangible benefits she gains by being part of theUW faculty community. When asked how she success-fully assimilates and keeps up to speed with the ever-changing medical technology and ethical moods andviews regarding scientific advancement, Charo toutsthe university culture — specifically the highly inter-disciplinary nature of the UW law and medicalschools.

“People here don’t exist in a silo,” she says. “I hearfrom others and spend much of my time attending sci-entific talks, working on committees, and collaborat-ing on papers with medical and science colleagues. Theresult is that I’m constantly exposed to the substantivecontent of science — I get to read, listen, and speak topeople about stuff not even published yet — so I’macutely aware of what’s really happening.

“One half of my life is spent with people keepingme immersed in the truthseeking and the modesty thatis science — and I listen to them and keep in mindthe realistic time frame of scientific discovery,” shecontinues. “Then I go back to the law school and hearabout the economics, the policymaking, and this givesme a much better ability to estimate what is reallygoing to be happening next. Also, there is a greatemphasis on service here, and this further exposes meto the politics of what’s really happening. So, it all

comes together: science, law, economics, and politics— and I see myself collecting all of this.”

It also helps that Charo is an avid collector ofnews, which she picks up every day, usually first thingin the morning, from the Internet, the vehicle ofchoice that feeds her insatiable need for information.She runs an informal bioethics news service for herselfand colleagues and scans every bioethics story that hasany connection to what she studies. This includesreading all the major international English newspapers,as well as a smattering of French and Spanish journals.

“I provide a clipping service to others, but I haveto read it all anyway,” she says. “It’s what keeps me upto speed, and it just makes it that much easier to beable to see a little further down the road.”

Pairing her gift of teaching bioethics and herundisputed obsession with “Star Trek,” Charo makesno secret of her dream to create what she says couldone day be this country’s most oversubscribed under-graduate course in bioethics. She calls it “BioethicsTrek” and describes it as an exploration of current andfuture bioethics topics through the narrative lens ofillustrative “Star Trek” episodes. These topics includenotions of personal identity, illness and health, repro-duction, medical research, resource allocation, deathand dying, overpopulation, bioterrorism, and immor-tality.

“Some of these issues and questions are incrediblydifficult to discuss and teach,” she says, “but by usingthese “Star Trek” episodes as a way to broach thesesubjects, it can be very liberating.”

Charo has figured out a way to apply her techno-optimist view of the world to her method of teaching.While it may help her students to more freely debatethe thorny issues intrinsic to the study of bioethics,Charo shouldn’t strive to make her field any moreblack-and-white. For then, the intellectual challengewouldn’t be quite so great, and Charo might not havethe chance to shine quite so brightly.

Nicole Resnick has a Ph.D. in molecular biology and was a researcher for many years. She is now a journalistspecializing in articles about science, health, and medicalresearch. Like Charo, she was born in Brooklyn—andalso like Charo, she has learned to love life in theMidwest.



It was a great year for theConsumer Law Litigation Clinic. Agenerous donation by a Law Schoolalumnus who had funds to distrib-ute from a consumer class-actioncase provided a two-year positionfor an attorney to assist ClinicDirector Steve Meili.

Meili could not be moredelighted, both with the financialgift and with the excellent work of his new associate, attorney Sarah Mervine, a graduate ofNorthwestern Law School withexperience in public interest law.The donor, a California attorneywho wishes to remain anonymous,is equally pleased with what mightbe called a win-win-win situationfor all three attorneys involved.

“Sarah has been phenomenalin the job, in two major ways,”Meili says. “She is an extremely talented attorney, which didn’t sur-prise me, given her academic recordand her previous work experience.The extra bonus is how naturallyshe’s taken to the role of clinicalsupervisor. She has an intuitive

sense for the balance between giving students enough direction so that they’re not floundering, andyet allowing them enough freedomso that they feel ownership of theircase. That’s a delicate balance,something most clinicians takeyears to master, and she’s achievedit right off the bat.”

Mervine, who earned herundergraduate degree in politicalscience from Duke University, wasdoing public-policy work at a smallnonprofit agency in Chicago whenshe realized how helpful a lawdegree would be. As a Northwest-ern law student, she worked onwrongful conviction cases and atthe Cabrini Green Legal AidClinic. After graduating in 2000and passing the Illinois bar exam,she clerked for Federal Judge

Rebecca R. Pallmeyer of theNorthern District of Illinois, andthen received a highly esteemedSkadden Fellowship for a two-yearproject in public interest law.

For her Skadden project, basedat the Legal Assistance Foundationof Metropolitan Chicago, sheworked to enforce the rights ofpublic-housing residents throughouta major relocation project, andafter her fellowship years, the foun-dation hired her as a staff attorney.“I did a project there with seniorcitizens,” Mervine says. “That’swhere I got my first experiencewith consumer scams.”

Bringing Mervine on boardhas had a measurable effect on theclinic’s ability to serve its studentsand clients. “This is the first position in the Consumer Law

Count theWinners

UW Law alumnus funds position in C O N S U M E R C L I N I Cfrom proceeds of class-action case.

That’s a delicate balance,something most clinicianstake years to master, andshe’s achieved it right offthe bat.

The beauty of it is thedirect link between thisdonor’s generosity andan expansion of the clinic’s mission.


CONSUMER CLINIC

Litigation Clinic that has been fullyfunded by a direct alumni contri-bution,” Meili says. “The beauty ofit is the direct link between thisdonor’s generosity and an expansionof the clinic’s mission: because wewere able to hire Sarah, we’ve beenable to train and supervise morestudents and, in turn, to servemore low-income clients in Dane County and throughoutWisconsin.”

Meili emphasizes that anotherimportant alumni contribution wasresponsible for the very existence ofthe clinic. When the clinic wasfounded in 1991, it was part of theCenter for Public Representation.William Shernoff ’62 made a five-year donation, part of which wasdesignated to create a consumer

clinic. “There wouldn’t be aConsumer Clinic here if it hadn’tbeen for Bill Shernoff ’s starting itoff,” Meili says.

The source of the funds thatcreated Mervine’s position is a storyin itself. The Law School alumnuswho contacted Meili with theunexpected news that a check was

in the mail was glad to talk withthe Gargoyle but asked that hisname not be used.

The donor was working inCalifornia as an in-house consult-ant for a computer company whenone of its employees approachedhim and asked for help. She hadcosigned on a loan for her daugh-ter’s boyfriend to buy a truck, andwhen the couple broke up, theboyfriend left town, abandoned thetruck in her driveway, and stoppedrepaying the loan. She was worriedthat she would lose her house if shehad to take over the payments.

“I agreed to negotiate some-thing with the bank,” the donorrecalls, “but when I called them,they wouldn’t budge. So I thoughtI would do a little research.”

When I had this moneycome in, I thought Iwould really like to dosomething good forWisconsin. I wouldn’thave been able to dothis if I hadn’t received a great legal education.

Consumer Law Litigation Clinic Director Steve Meili and Supervising Attorney Sarah Mervine have been delightedat the number of students they can teach and clients they can serve with funding for Mervine’s two-year position, a surprise donation by an alumnus who had funds to distribute after he won a large class-action suit.


HEADING

When he discovered that thebank was not complying with thelaw on repossessing vehicles, thedonor says, “I decided we wouldfight.” He took the case throughtrial and appeal, and eventuallywon a large settlement. “We recov-ered millions for consumers who hadpaid the deficiency claim,” he says.

When it came time to distrib-ute the settlement money, many ofthe would-be recipients could notbe located. “It was a ten-year-oldcase,” the donor says. “People haddisappeared, died, or gone backhome. So I ended up with a pot ofunclaimed money.”

In addition to distributing themoney to legal-aid societies inCalifornia, the donor thought ofthe UW Law School. “When I hadthis money come in, I thought Iwould really like to do somethinggood for Wisconsin,” he says. “Iwouldn’t have been able to do thisif I hadn’t received a great legaleducation.”

Because Wisconsin was not hishome state, he felt he had a specialdebt to repay. “I realized that as anout-of-state student, I was still sub-sidized by the state of Wisconsin,”he says. “I wanted to balance theaccount.”

His decision was clinchedwhen he contacted a professor ofconsumer law in California, men-tioning his interest in contributing

to Wisconsin’s Consumer Clinic.The response: the “UW’s got agreat program going.”

The idea of contributing tothe consumer clinic made sense,the donor says, because the fundswere the result of a consumer case.“If I can help the UW Law Schoolcreate consumer-sensitive attor-neys,” he says, “this will be a veryappropriate use of the money.”

************************

Although the donor was notacquainted previously with Meiliand Mervine, their joint project hasbrought them into contact, result-ing in a mutual respect. In separateconversations, Mervine and Meilireferred to the donor as “a greatguy,” while the donor comments,“I’ve been impressed with Steve. Heand Wisconsin are high on my list.And Sarah is a wonderful choice. Ithink she’s had a great year.”

Mervine echoes his assessment.“It’s a great job,” she says. “I loveconsumer law, and I love workingwith the students. It’s the best ofboth worlds: you get re-energizedevery day by working with stu-dents, teaching them things aboutcompassion, ethics, and goodlawyering skills, and you send thisnetwork into the world with asense of right and wrong, and aknowledge of how to treat a client,and how to treat opposing counsel.”

In the fall semester, Mervinejoined Meili to teach theConsumer Law Seminar held inconjunction with the clinic, whichthey both supervise. “The firstsemester, you teach,” Mervine says.“Then by the second semester, youare sitting back and listening to thebrilliance that comes out of your

students, watching them explainthings to clients they’ve been work-ing with. It’s fun to watch studentsbecome the lawyer in a case thatwouldn’t have a lawyer if we weren’tthere.”

Mervine is now midwaythrough the two-year fellowshipcreated by the donation. “I amhoping that we can keep her on,”Meili says, “because she hasbecome a tremendous asset to theConsumer Clinic. Unfortunately,that will be impossible withoutadditional outside funding.”

Meili adds, “The gift from thisdonor has helped us in so manyways. It has enabled us to take onsome cases that we simply wouldnot have been able to accept other-wise. This has had an impact onthe individuals involved and alsoon consumer law in Wisconsingenerally.”

Cases that Mervine worked onwith students involved predatoryloans, unfair debt-collection prac-tices, mandatory arbitration clausesin credit-card contracts, telecom-munications law pertaining toharassing phone calls, and bad-faithinsurance-claim denials.

“It’s a great learning experiencefor the students,” Mervine says,“and at the same time, we’re doingsignificant work on behalf ofWisconsin consumers.”

CONSUMER CLINIC

The idea of contributingto the consumer clinicmade sense, the donorsays, because the fundswere the result of a consumer case.

The first semester, youteach. Then by the second semester, youare sitting back and lis-tening to the brilliancethat comes out of yourstudents.


PROFILES IN GIVING

It was not easy to catch AllanSchneider at home for a phone

conversation early this spring. Hewas busy volunteering with set construction for the Bloomington(Minnesota) Civic Theatre’s pro-duction of Damn Yankees.

Schneider and his wife,Deborah, also happen to be keyfinancial donors to the theater. A few years ago, their major gift ledto the creation of the BloomingtonCenter for the Arts. “We always feltthat when things were going verywell for us, we wanted to givesomething back to Bloomington,”Allan says.

The contribution exemplifiesthe Schneiders’ philosophy of givinggenerously wherever they are needed.They are also longtime donors tothe UW Law School, where Allanreceived his degree in 1953. Debby,who earned her undergraduatedegree from the UW the same year, is a steady donor to the UW-Madison Integrated LiberalStudies program.

“We do try to make an annualcontribution,” Allan says. “It’s a wayof saying thanks to the school forhaving been wonderful for us, andwe keep seeing how they’re doingwonderful things for others, too.”Allan Schneider grew up in Superior,Wisconsin, when money was hard tocome by. He started working at age

fifteen with a paperroute.

As an under-graduate at UW-Madison, hemajored in businessadministration and

accounting. He found that he didnot enjoy accounting, but he

received an A in business law.Reluctantly, he took his father’sadvice and applied to law school.

“I found I just loved it,” herecalls. “I could hardly wait to briefmy cases and analyze them.” Hisgrades were excellent, and he waschosen for Law Review. After grad-uation, he practiced in Minneapolisfor about a year, but his low salarydid not pay the bills.

As it turned out, that seeminglyunfortunate situation was a fortunateone. His sister, steadily reading theTwin Cities want ads on his behalf,spotted an advertisement for acompany seeking lawyers who weregood at analyzing cases. Theemployer was West PublishingCompany in St. Paul.

“The editor there was veryimpressed with my record,”Schneider remembers. “The UWhad a very good reputation — evenback then — and I easily passedthe Minnesota bar exam, thanks tomy good education at the university.”

His starting salary was animpressive $375 a month. “Theywere anxious to get me,” he says,“and it turned out to be a type of

work I really enjoyed. As they say,the rest is history. I worked thereforty-one years.”

At West, Schneider excelled atthe work that required the mostanalytical ability: classification. Hehad exceptional skill in analyzing apoint of law and putting it in theright category in the West’s Digestsystem. His work was valued by theeditor-in-chief, and his salary roseaccordingly. Another contributionto his improving financial situationwas West’s policy of giving keyemployees the opportunity to buystock in the company. “That’s howI really benefitted,” he says.

The returns from that investment have found their way to several organizations that theSchneiders want to thank, with theLaw School high on the list.

Currently, the Schneiders aretechnically retired. Their days arefilled with multiple projects, andtheir two children and three grand-children live close by: son David is a physician, and daughter Elaineis an attorney in private practice, specializing in immigration law.She has been honored by theMinnesota Advocates for HumanRights for contributing 2,000hours of pro bono work. The ethic of giving back clearly runs inthe family.

Allan considers his annualcontribution to the Law School tobe a natural return. “My tuitionwas $150 a year. When you thinkof what that enabled me to earn, itreminds me of the credit-card ad:‘Some things are priceless.’ That’swhat we feel about our education,about having gone to a wonderfuluniversity.”

I could hardly wait tobrief my cases and analyze them.

Allan Schneider ’53:A talent for analysis and asister who read the want ads.

Allan and Deborah Schneider


1960sT. Dennis George ’66 has received anhonorary doctor of science degree fromNorthern Michigan University, where hewas keynote speaker at its May com-mencement. George received his bache-lor’s degree from NMU in 1960 and haspreviously received its DistinguishedAlumni Award. He practices in Seattle.

Charles W. Heft ’68, a partner in thePhoenix office of Quarles and BradyStreich Lang, has been recognized byThe Best Lawyers in America, 2005–06and by America’s Leading Lawyers forBusiness in 2004 and 2005. Heft practiceslabor and employment law.

1970sDavid Hildebrandt ’70 has joinedGreenberg Trauig in Washington, D.C., asa partner in the firm’s tax practice. He waspreviously a partner at White and Case.

Cheryl Rosen Weston ’71, CEO of TheDouglas Stewart Company in Madisonand a longtime teacher in various capac-ities at the Law School, has received theEntrepreneurial Woman of the Year awardfrom the National Association of WomenBusiness Owners-Wisconsin. (See article,page 14.)

Michael Christopher ’72, a partner inthe Madison firm DeWitt Ross & Stevens,has been appointed to the WisconsinJudicial Council.

David W. Marquez ’73 has beenappointed attorney general for the stateof Alaska by Governor Frank Murkowski.

Michael J. Remington ’73, a partner inthe Washington, D.C., office of DrinkerBiddle and Reath, has received the BelleCase La Follette Outstanding ProfessionalAward from the State Bar of Wisconsin.The award recognizes an outstandingcontribution to the advancement of thelegal profession.

Peter Sarasek ’74, a partner with theChicago office of Quarles & Brady,has been recognized in the ChambersUSA directory. Sarasek practices businesslaw with an emphasis on multistate conduit lending.

Lawrence Stephenson ’74 has beenpromoted to senior managing director incharge of NorthMarq Capital’s elevenregional offices in the western UnitedStates.

Thomas Armstrong ’75 has joined vonBriesen & Roper in Milwaukee, where hewill focus on appellate advocacy andcommercial litigation. Armstrong hadpreviously been with Quarles & Brady.

Roy Froemming ’76, a solo practitionerin Madison, has received the 2004 ProBono Award for Private, Government, orCorporate Attorney from the State Bar of Wisconsin. His practice focuses onsupplemental-needs trusts, guardian-ships, and other planning issues forpersons with disabilities.

Carol Medaris ’76, who recently retiredfrom a career in legal services, hasreceived the 2004 Pro Bono Award for aLegal Services Attorney from the StateBar of Wisconsin. Medaris worked fornineteen years at Legal Action ofWisconsin and nine at the WisconsinCouncil on Children and Families.

Pamela Mathy ’78, a U.S. magistratejudge in the U.S. District Court for theWestern District of Texas in San Antonio,has been elected a Fellow of theAmerican Bar Foundation.

1980sCelia Jackson ’80 has been appointedSecretary of the Wisconsin Departmentof Regulation and Licensing.

John Hale ’82 has joined the Palo Altooffice of Cooley Godward as a partner inthe firm’s credit finance group. Hale hadpreviously been a partner at DLA PiperRudnick Gray Cary.

Irene Wren ’83, a partner in theMadison firm Wren & Gateways LawGroup, has received the 2004 GordonSinykin Award of Excellence from theState Bar of Wisconsin. The award wasconferred in recognition of Wren’s public-service work.

Steve Zach ’83, a partner in theMadison office of the Boardman LawFirm, has received the 2004 Law-Related

Education Attorney of the Year Awardfrom the State Bar of Wisconsin for hispromotion and support of public under-standing of the legal system.

David H. Nispel ’84 has been electedvice president of the Wisconsin MunicipalJudges Association and reappointed asvice chair of the Bench and BarCommittee of the State Bar of Wisconsin.Nispel is municipal judge for Middleton,Wisconsin, and deputy chief counsel forthe Wisconsin Department of EmployeeTrust Funds.

Mark Ehrmann ’85 has joined theMadison office of Quarles & Brady, wherehe will concentrate on corporate law.Ehrmann was previously with Godfrey &Kahn in Milwaukee.

JoAnn M. Hart ’85 has joined StaffordRosenbaum in Madison, where she willpractice labor and employment law andschool law.

Mary T. Novacheck ’86 has joinedBowman and Brooke in Minneapolis asan associate.

Thomas F. Cotter ’87 has joinedWashington and Lee University School ofLaw as a professor teaching intellectualproperty and antitrust law. Cotter hadbeen on the faculty of the University ofFlorida College of Law.

Michelle A. Behnke ’88, past presidentof the State Bar of Wisconsin, has beenelected to membership in the AmericanCollege of Real Estate Law. Behnke is asolo practitioner.

Dana J. Erlandsen ’88 has joinedStafford Rosenbaum in Madison, whereshe will focus on civil litigation.

1990sSaul C. Glazer ’90 has joined theMadison office of Wickwire Gavin, wherehe will practice construction, contract,and employment law.

J.B. Van Hollen ’90, former U.S. Attorneyfor the Western District of Wisconsin, hasjoined DeWitt Ross & Stevens inMadison, where he will work in the firm’slitigation practice group.

CLASS NOTES

JoAnn M. Hart ’85

Michael Christopher ’72

Dana J. Erlandsen ’88

Saul C. Glazer ’90


IN MEMORIAM

Solomon Ashby ’95 has joined Evertand Weathersby in Atlanta, Georgia,where he will focus on litigation. Ashbyhad been with Willcox and Savage inPortsmouth, Virginia.

Christopher Blythe ’95 has been namedan assistant attorney general for com-plex civil litigation in the WisconsinDepartment of Justice.

John D. Emory, Jr. ’97, managing director of Emory Business Advisors inMilwaukee, has been honored byWisconsin Governor James Doyle andthe Wisconsin chapter of theEntrepreneurs’ Organization with theGovernor’s Young Entrepreneur of theYear Award.

2000sMelissa A. Abbott ’02 has joined theMadison office of von Briesen & Roper, where she will focus on estateand tax work.

Grant P. Alexander ’03 has joined theLos Angeles office of Luce, Forward,Hamilton and Scripps. He will work onemployment-related litigation matters.Alexander was previously with JacksonLewis.

Winn S. Collins ’03, an assistant district attorney in Appleton, Wisconsin,has received the 2004 Charles DunnAuthor Award from the State Bar ofWisconsin. The award recognizes thebest article in Wisconsin Lawyermagazine during the year.

Chad R. Gendreau ’03 has joined theMadison office of DeWitt Ross & Stevens,where he will work in thelitigation practice group.

Martin B. Maddin ’03 has joinedMaddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth and Hellerin Southfield, Michigan, as an associate.Maddin will focus on corporate, transac-tions, employment and real estate law.

Stacia Conneely ’05 has received the2004 Outstanding Public Interest LawStudent Award from the State Bar ofWisconsin.

Chad R. Gendreau ’03

Grant P. Alexander ’03

Martin B. Maddin ’03

Melissa A. Abbott ’02

Please stay in touch:Editor: Edward J. [email protected]/alumni/

Gaylord Nelson ’42Remembered by Nation

Gaylord Nelson ’42, former U.S. senator and governorof Wisconsin, was one of the leading environmental-ists of the last century. He died Sunday, July 3, at theage of eighty-nine.

Nelson was known as the founder of Earth Day,which he organized in 1970 to call attention to envi-ronmental issues facing the nation. Some 20 millionAmericans participated in Earth Day activities thatfirst year. Earth Day has now grown into an interna-tional event, celebrated on April 22 annually inapproximately 174 countries.

In the Senate, Nelson sponsored or helped topass dozens of laws to conserve natural resources andprevent pollution, including the Wilderness Act. As atwo-term governor of Wisconsin, he won passage ofthe state’s landmark program to acquire and preserveopen space and recreational land.

In 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded Nelsonthe Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s high-est civilian honor.

Nelson was a member of a panel of Wisconsingovernors at the Law School’s Fairchild Lecture in2002. He was presented with the Law School’sDistinguished Service Award in 1999.

Obituaries and tributes to Nelson appear in theCapital Times and Wisconsin State Journal of July 4and 5, and in the New York Times of July 4, 2005.

In Memoriam

1930s William Torkelson ’32 in Madison

Paul S. Kuelthau ’36 in Boston, Massachusetts

1940s Gaylord Nelson ’42 in Kensington, Maryland

William W. Becker ’49 in Pocatello, Idaho

Paul E. Myerson ’49 in Washington, D.C.

1950s Pierce T. Purcell ’56 in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin

1970s Joan Bright Rundle ’77 in Madison


FROM THE EDITOR

Edward J. Reisner,Assistant Dean forExternal Affairs

This is my fifty-second andfinal Editor’s Note for the Gargoyle.At the end of September, I will bestepping down from one of mymost enjoyable duties at the LawSchool — indeed, I will be step-ping down from all my duties.With thirty years in the book, I amretiring and will be moving on tonew challenges.

I took over as editor in 1979when Ruth Doyle retired. Shetaught me what I needed to knowto produce a rather minimalist ver-sion of the Gargoyle, as comparedto the glossy publication we nowhave. Ruth and I worked at a timewhen we took the photos, wrotethe text, laid out the copy withscissors and tape, and deliveredeach copy by hand (well, maybenot that last part). Now most ofthe composition is done by com-puters far from the Law School,

and there is a very talented staff ofpeople here who put a lot of timeinto giving you all the news youneed from your school.

Over the years I have writtenabout my two daughters (nowgraduated from college and onemarried); about baby ducklingsthat, as building manager, I had torescue from the old courtyard eachspring; about the weather and howit sometimes affected us inside thebuilding; about the many comingsand goings of friends and fellowstaff; and about the many nuggetsof Law School history I uncovered.As I said in one column, when youare the editor, you can write aboutwhatever pleases you. I foundmuch to please me over the years.

I actually first set foot on campus in the summer of 1965, toregister for freshman classes — thatwas forty years ago. After graduat-ing from Law School in 1972, Iworked for the State Bar ofWisconsin until February 1976. I have worked for four deans andknown three others — more thanhalf of all the deans in this school’shistory. I have learned from each ofthem and hope that they feel, onbalance, that I have served them well.

I will always have vivid memories of great students andwonderful alumni. A few memoriesthat stand out:

• An hour with Judge John MinorWisdom, of the Fifth CircuitCourt of Appeals, in the parlor ofhis Garden District home in NewOrleans. Wisdom in a bathrobeand slippers. Judge Wisdom wrotemany of the groundbreaking civil-rights decisions to come out ofthe South in the 1950s and1960s. He once had a sack of rattlesnakes dumped in his frontyard as a reward.

• Escorting the Chief Justice ofWest Germany during a visit toMadison. One of his bodyguardsbroke his watch. I took it to ajeweler and had it repaired. Heoffered to send me a beer stein inreturn. I’m still waiting.

• Tom Palay and I spendingSunday morning during LaborDay weekend in 1996 shovelingdirt out of the student lockerroom to prepare for the openingof classes on Tuesday in the newlyremodeled Law building.

• While on a trip to thank lawyerswho volunteered to teach at theLaw School, Ralph Cagle and I buying raspberry pies at theNorske Nook in Osseo,Wisconsin. Ralph asked theFreight House restaurant in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, to refrigeratethe pies while we did a GeneralPractice Course dinner there.Imagine our surprise when ourpies were served to the wholegroup for dessert!

• Visitors including Ralph Nader;Lawrence Tribe; David Broder;Chief Justice William Rehnquist;Justice Sandra Day O’Connor;Senators Gaylord Nelson, HerbKohl, and Russ Feingold;Governor Tommy Thompson;and Sir John Mortimer.

• Dedication night for the new,remodeled Law building in April1997: more than six hundredhappy people filling the Atrium.

• Grabbing the dinner check froman alum, only to discover that hehad ordered a $250 bottle ofwine, and then a second!

All good things come to an end.


FROM THE EDITOR

• Grid Hall, the first person I knewwith AIDS, and seeing himcourageously but unsuccessfullyfight the disease.

• Early-morning coffee in the oldfaculty lounge with GordonBaldwin and Frank Remington.

• Trading jokes with JusticeAntonin Scalia, just the two of us,waiting for his speech to begin.

• Bill Morgan, who graduated in1992, walking up to me duringorientation and saying, “My dadsaid to say hello.” Bill’s Dad wasJim Morgan, a classmate of minein the Class of 1972. It was thefirst of many times that childrenof my classmates or of studentswho graduated after me came tothe School.

• Tear gas filling Larry Church’sProperty class in the spring of1970 during the Cambodian-invasion demonstrations, andstanding on the “porch” withGordon Baldwin and Bill Fosteron one of those evenings as thesounds of sirens and shoutingfilled the air — the same nightthat a rock broke a back windowof the Law Building as I walkeddown the stairs.

• The great e-mail fiasco: usingabout 1,400 e-mail addresses forour alumni borrowed from theState Bar, I innocently sent anotice that we were starting an e-mail news service. Unfortunately,our computer staff had set thereply function to “reply to all.”When alums began sending per-sonal e-mail replies to me, theyinstead went to all 1,400 on thelist and began bouncing back andforth, multiplying like MickeyMouse’s brooms in Fantasia.Thirty minutes after sending theoriginal message, I had thousandsof replies. We pulled the plug

minutes later. Nevertheless, thenext morning our server hadmore than 30,000 messages, andit was weeks before they finallystopped altogether.

It has been an incredible honorto walk this campus, to walk thesehalls, among these giants. To hearlanguages from around the world,to hear discussions of physics, his-tory, and current events.

The people here in the LawSchool have been part of my fami-ly: I was here in the building whenboth of my parents died. I workedhere when I was married, whenboth my children were born, whenboth of them graduated from highschool, when both of them gradu-ated from college, and when thefirst got married. When I firstentered the building as a new student, Richard Nixon was a newpresident. I was here when EricHeiden won his five gold medals inthe Olympics and when Challengerblew up. I was here on 9/11 andthrough many cycles of war andpeace. It will be hard for me to separate my memories of these peo-ple and events from my memoriesof this school. Perhaps there is noreason to even try.

Since I walked in the door as a1L, thirty-six years ago, more thannine thousand students have gradu-ated — about 75 percent of all ourliving alumni. Many have becomefriends and loyal supporters of ourschool.

It has been my role, over morethan twenty-five years, to operatebackstage. Now my role is going tochange. I have no interest in beingon the stage, but I am going tomove out into the audience andenjoy the show.

If I need some commemora-tion of my time here, let it be anadaptation of a lawyer’s obituary Iread years ago and saved:

Died, Feb. 6, 1899, IrvingBrowne, aged 58 years: Irving

Browne was not a great man asthe world counts such. He wastoo generous to ever becomerich, and he did not grow famousat the practice of law, simplybecause he had a bad habit ofconsidering the position of theother fellow. Irving Browne wasan excellent lawyer, but a poorpractitioner. “You cannot haveboth the law and the profits,” heonce said. And yet Irving Brownealways had all he needed, andperhaps that is enough. He madeno pretense of loving his enemies— he had none.I’ve never been blessed with

the gift of original ideas. As weconstantly build and rebuild theLaw School, physically andmetaphorically, I have never beenthe architect; rather, I have beenthe carpenter. While the buildingwouldn’t exist without both, Iknow that when the awards arepassed out, it is the architect whowill win the prize. But the carpen-ter gets the satisfaction of knowingthat, without him, the walls wouldnot stand.

Ever since I left the sandbox,things have been getting steadilymore complicated in my life.School was more complicated thanhome; work was more complicatedthan school; I began here as a singleman but leave with a wife, twodaughters, and a son-in-law — actu-ally a most pleasant complication.

Every day that I work here, I feel that my obligation to thisschool increases. But there comes atime when the obligation I have tomyself and my family weighs equal-ly heavily, and I know that thereisn’t enough time left in my life tofulfill all those duties.

I came here in 1969 to learn; I returned here in 1976 to work; I leave here now honored to havebeen a part of this institution.

An article about Assistant Dean EdReisner’s retirement is on page 15.


HEADING FROM THE EDITOR

MYSTERY PHOTO

In the last issue we showeda photo of five students in thelobby of the 1963 Law Building.Thanks to Paula Doyle ’80, KenAxe ’79, Terry Mead ’81, andKathy Zebell ’81, I can tell youwho four of the five students are:from left, John Beaudin ’81, BobKittecon ’81, Terry Mead ’81,and Maureen Komisar-Schatz’79. The person on the rightmay have been named John, butno one was sure. The date wasprobably fall 1978, just as theClass of 1981 was starting schooland before Maureen graduated.John Beaudin was a tribal judgefor the Menominee Nationbefore his untimely death in1993. Terry Mead was electedSBA president in 1978–79 as awrite-in candidate under thename “The Aluminum Bullet.”

* * *I offer this issue’s new MysteryPhoto without further comment,except to say, “Who is this?!”and “Weren’t the ’70s a mar-velous time!”

University of Wisconsin Law School Gargoyle Alumni Magazine

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