Dec. 17, 2025 – Top stories of 2025 followed the professional paths of State Bar members as they sought to serve their clients in changing circumstances from technology and new federal rules. Some of the old challenges remained – of technology, civil legal aid, and persuading a jury.

State Bar members benefited from real-time information about those topics honed by author practice experience that appeared in the State Bar’s publications including Wisconsin Lawyer, InsideTrack Weekly, State Bar section blogs, and WisLawNOW.

Below are the year’s most visited articles, as well as editor’s picks.

15. The Jurors Spoke. I Listened. Here's What I'll Do Differently Next Time (Litigation Blog, Nov. 10).

From trial preparation to verdict, Heather L. Nelson, shareholder and president of Everson, Whitney, Everson & Brehm, S.C. in Green Bay, shared “what I found to be the most significant take-aways from my discussions with … jurors.”

Insights included, “it’s not what you wear – it’s how you present yourself,” creativity can go over the top, remember to give jurors the basics, expert witnesses are important, “they want honesty, not avoidance,” and don’t waste their time.

Jurors read the jury instructions. They may do their own investigations, in spite of being told not to. Group dynamics shape discussions, Nelson described.

In summary, “In addition to the ‘big picture’ there are many ‘little picture’ things we can focus on that will help us put our best case forward when representing our clients at trial.”

14. Trial Prep for the Modern Lawyer (Litigation Blog, Aug. 4).

Cristina M. Kerr, shareholder with Bye, Goff & Rohde, Ltd., in River Falls warns that “the modern litigator is now faced with the reality that civil jury trials – i.e., opportunities to practice and hone courtroom skills – are few and far between.”

“[N]ot only may a litigator’s skill set oxidate by the time of their next trial, but the courtroom itself may change drastically with respect to its technology and presentation setup.

“Now is as important a time as ever for litigators to seek out tools and resources to stay sharp in the courtroom.”

Preparation may be as simple as “the trial notebook or box” to presentation software.

“Technology advances so rapidly that the products outlined in this blog post may be outdated by the time of publication,” Kerr advised, but “[i]n the era of decreasing civil jury trials, the need to plan and prepare – from a substantive, logistical, and technological standpoint – is at an all-time high.”

13. Special Immigrant Juvenile Status: Predicate Orders Demystified (Wisconsin Lawyer, April).

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) “is a pathway to legal status for immigrant minors who have been abandoned, abused, or neglected by one or both of their parents or who have experienced maltreatment from one or both of their parents that, under state law, is similar to abandonment, abuse, or neglect.”

Jennifer Lyn Binkley, associate clinical professor and the director of the Family Court Clinic at U.W. Law School, and Sara T. Ghadiri, pro bono counsel at Chapman & Cutler LLP, Chicago, provided guidance for attorneys who would like to take SIJS cases.

“The federal overlay onto state law can lead to confusion in the application of Wisconsin law to cases that are requesting SIJS findings. However, Wisconsin law does grant circuit courts and commissioners the power to make SIJS findings in a number of different case types, as long as the court has the statutory authority to make decisions about the dependency or custody and care of minors.

“As a result, attorneys should not shy away from taking on these cases, and judges should feel comfortable that the statutory authority exists for them to make these findings according to the facts of each case.”

12. The Myth of the Match: Pattern Matching in Cases Involving Firearms Evidence (Wisconsin Lawyer, February).

The prosecution of Luigi Mangione, charged with murdering a health insurance company executive in New York City in December 2024, offered Emily J. Prokesh, lecturer of law at Columbia Law School in New York, “an opportunity to bring into public view scientific critiques of pattern matching relative to firearms evidence.”

“As a public defender for over a decade,” Prokesh wrote, “I have spent much of my career litigating forensic evidence and fighting against the misuse of science and surveillance both in individual criminal cases and at the systemic level. I can speak firsthand to the struggle public defenders face in the courtroom combatting the misconceptions held by judges and juries alike that forensic evidence is objective, reliable, and infallible.

“This is why it is so troubling to see these claims of a ‘match’ in Mangione’s case perpetuated by not only the media but defense lawyers as well.

“Reporting these forensic opinions as facts dangerously overstates the reliability and strength of the pattern-matching evidence and is uniquely misleading to jurors.”

Prokesh reinforced that “[f]orensic evidence should be held to the same rigorous scientific standards as other disciplines, ensuring accuracy, reliability, and transparency. … It is imperative to challenge entrenched myths and advocate for reforms that safeguard the integrity of justice.”

11. 'In the State' but Out of State: Wisconsin Employment Law for Remote Work (InsideTrack Weekly, Aug. 20).

If an employee feels wronged by an employer, and Wisconsin law offers better results, does it apply to the remote worker physically working outside of Wisconsin? The answer now might be, “maybe.”

While such disputes are likely developing, no Wisconsin appellate cases have addressed whether Wisconsin law applies to out-of-state remote workers connected to their Wisconsin employer primarily by Zoom or Teams. Federal district court decisions say state law could apply but without citing Wisconsin case law as support.

In contrast, recent cases in Minnesota and Massachusetts demonstrated analytical frameworks for minimum contacts with the employer’s state.

10. Expungement and Pardons in Wisconsin: A Brief Overview (InsideTrack Weekly, April 9).

“While the terms ‘expungement’ and ‘pardon’ are often used interchangeably to refer to the process of removing a criminal conviction, the eligibility criteria and the effects of pardons and expungement are very different,” wrote Christina E. Balistreri of Webb Law Services, LLC in Milwaukee.

“According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, Wisconsin is the only state in the nation where judges are required to order expungement at sentencing instead of at the completion of someone’s sentence. Wisconsin also limits expungement to people under the age of 25, making it one of the only states that limits expungement to young offenders.

“Unfortunately, there are very few people who qualify for pardons or expungement. This reality can leave a lot of people feeling hopeless, with no pathway for relief.”

Balistreri’s article outlines eligibility requirements, nuances, and legal effects that practitioners should be aware of when advising their clients.

9. Critical to Civil Legal Aid in Wisconsin, Legal Services Corporation Could Face Elimination (InsideTrack Weekly, July 9).

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) – created by and historically receiving bipartisan support – faced in July a proposal in the Appendix to the Technical Supplement to the 2026 Budget that would wipe out its budget, going from about $560 million in each of the last two years to $21 million, the amount needed to close the LSC.

That means fewer Wisconsinites will have access to the means of protection against domestic violence, to keep housing, to get a job, or to receive veterans’ benefits – a cost borne both by those least available to afford it and by governments and courts.

Eliminating the LSC has been proposed before. The question now is whether the political climate has changed sufficiently that traditional bipartisan support remains.

The appropriation process to create the 2026 federal budget began with hearings in July to create a federal budget, explained Ronald Flagg, LSC president.

8. Supreme Court Increases PILSF Fee (InsideTrack Weekly, March 19).

In March, the Wisconsin Supreme Court approved Rule Petition No. 24-05 to increase the annual lawyer fee for the Public Interest Legal Services Fund (PILSF) by $50 in two increments.

Eight organizations providing public interest legal services sought the fee increase to pay for civil legal aid by amending Supreme Court rule (SCR) 13.045. Under the rule change, the first increase will be $25 per year effective July 1 followed by a second increase of $25 a year effective July 1, 2027, when the PILSF fee will cost a lawyer $100 a year.

It’s the first increase in the mandatory fee since the supreme court created it in 2005.

The State Bar of Wisconsin shared with the court its members’ views (largely in opposition) to the petition and argued that only the Wisconsin Legislature can properly fund civil legal aid. To that end, the State Bar planned to pursue further legislative funding.

7. Seventh Circuit: U.W.'s Blocking 'Off Topic' Comments Violated First Amendment (WisBar Court Review, Aug. 18).

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s (UW) removal of Madeline Krasno’s comments on its Facebook and Instagram posts violated the First Amendment because its policies were not reasonable or content-neutral, a 2-1 majority on a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit panel held in Krasno v. Mnookin, No. 22-3170 (Aug. 1, 2025).

“In short, [UW’s] inflexible and context-blind keyword filters do not reasonably further its ‘off-topic’ justification when there is no way to know before a post is created whether a given phrase will be on- or off-topic in relation to the post,” wrote Judge Doris L. Pryor, joined by Judge Ilana Diamond Rovner.

Judge Frank H. Easterbrook dissented, arguing that the cases the majority relied upon could not be reconciled with fundamental U.S. Supreme Court precedent and that the facts here are not so different from other university publications for which UW can control reader responses.

“Moving from a site under [UW’s] control to a private one (Facebook) should curtail the rights of the general public to compel [UW] to include what it deems anti-University speech,” Easterbrook wrote.

6. Why Estate Plans Fail – and How Attorneys Can Prevent It (Elder Law and Special Needs Blog, Aug. 11).

A common problem causes estate plans to fail, wrote Jeffery J. Drach of Drach Elder Law Center, LLC in Wausau. He suggested strategies to prevent the problem.

“In our firm, we explain that if we are going to do the estate planning work for the client, then, after the estate planning documents are signed (for which there is a separate fee agreement), we will transition into the ‘Implementation and Funding Phase’ (for which there is also a separate hourly fee agreement).

“I explain to our clients that we can devise the quintessential estate plan, and we can draft state-of-the-art estate planning documents. However, unless the asset transfers and beneficiary designations are properly attended to, the plan will not work.”

“I know from experience that giving the clients instructions and a set of forms to fill out to give to their financial institutions and financial advisor does not work. The clients don’t understand the forms, they get busy with other aspects of their lives, the bank or financial advisor fills out the form incorrectly, etc. After the client has passed away, it is too late.”

5. FinCEN's New Real Estate Reporting Rule: More Traps for the Unwary (Solo/Small Firm & General Practice Blog, Sept. 11).

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Jason G. Brash, partner with O’Brien & Brash Law Office LLC in Chippewa Falls, wrote, “is now back with a new proposed final rule that will have a significant impact on reporting requirements for title companies and attorneys involved in assisting with residential real estate transactions.”

Brash’s “article summarizes some of the key points of the new rule, which is titled ‘Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers’ (AMLR) and codified at 89 Fed. Reg. 70258 (Final Rule) published on Aug. 29, 2024, by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.”

Scheduled to take effect March 1, 2026, “this rule requires that residential property transferred to a legal entity or trust, without financing involved, be reported to FinCEN within a certain timeframe.”

4. New Reporting Requirements for Non-Financed Residential Real Estate Transfers (InsideTrack Weekly, Jan. 15).

Cheryl A. Hipenbecker, general counsel for Knight Barry Title Group in Milwaukee, also wrote about the final FinCEN rule and the implications for real estate transfers in a question-and-answer format.

The rule, effective Dec. 1, requires “certain professionals to report information to FinCEN about non-financed residential real estate transfers nationwide when the grantee on the transfer document is either a legal entity (corporation, LLC, partnership) or a trust.”

“Failure to understand when a FinCEN report is required could subject the lawyer (and potentially the lawyer’s firm) to civil penalties of up to $108,489 for a pattern of negligent activity and criminal penalties of up to 5 years' imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, or both for willful violations.”

3. Postmark Changes at the Post Office and Late Mail (WisLawNOW, Nov. 10).

“In August of this year, the US Post Office announced a new rule that included without much fanfare a MAJOR change in when letters are postmarked,” warned Victor Forberger, a labor and employment attorney in Madison.

“Under this new rule, most letters will no longer be postmarked on the day the letter is received by a post office but instead postmarked a day later when the letter is processed at a regional mail processing facility.”

“In the past,” Forberger explained, “the postmark represents the date the post office has received the letter. And, much state and federal law is based on this practice.”

2. Wisconsin Supreme Court Committee Recommends Strategies to Boost Lawyer Numbers (InsideTrack Weekly, Dec. 10).

The report of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Attorney Recruitment and Retention Committee documented that the number of lawyers in Wisconsin isn’t keeping up with the population – and in rural counties, decreasing numbers of lawyers make the problem critical.

Released in November, the report includes recommendations to increase the supply of lawyers, such as financial incentives to practice in “high-need areas” and a higher hourly rate for private attorneys who accept State Public Defender (SPD) case appointments.

The committee delegated proposals to committee members for further research before the full committee’s next planned meeting, in 12 months.

The Number One Story for 2025

By Nov. 19, more than 4,400 people had clicked on Drinking Behind Closed Doors, After Billable Hours: April Toy's Recovery Story (InsideTrack Weekly, April 23), an episode on the Listening to Lawyers Podcast.

Growing up on a rural California farm, Toy faced numerous challenges before finding her path to law. She discussed her early experiences with alcohol, the tipping point that led her to seek help, and her journey through Alcoholics Anonymous.

Toy emphasizes the importance of sharing her story to break the stigma surrounding alcoholism and hopes to inspire others facing similar struggles.

Listening to Lawyers is a special project of the State Bar of Wisconsin's Lawyer Assistance Program (WisLAP). WisLAP Program Manager Amber Ault hosts the podcast.