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Features

The Rapidly Changing Landscape of Commercial Contracting

A variety of approaches, from using cloud-based customer relationship management software and generative AI programs to setting up global service centers outside the U.S., can help in-house counsel better serve clients and customers.

By Kirk Harris Samson

Wisconsin Legal Trends 2024

Service to clients, through valued advice and guidance in various substantive areas of law, will still rule the day. In this article, we look at trends in 17 different practice areas, with insights from Wisconsin lawyers – many of them members and leaders of State Bar of Wisconsin sections.

By Joe Forward

Cy Pres Rule Can Boost Legal Aid Funding

The cy pres rule earmarks unspent funds from class action settlements for legal aid organizations, including half to the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation. But these residual funds can go unawarded if lawyers and judges don’t know about the rule.

By Ed Finkel

Opinions, Voices & Ideas

President's Message
Moving the Profession Forward – Honoring a Lawyers' Lawyer
Dean Dietrich celebrates the lives of three State Bar past presidents who died in 2023, and the achievements of Lavinia Goodell, who became Wisconsin's first woman lawyer 150 years ago this year.

Your State Bar
Guardians of the Rule of Law
An overseas visit brought home to Larry Martin the significance of our own democratic rights and how important and fragile democracy is.

Ethical Dilemma
Charging Electronic Payment Fees
Recent changes in the trust account rules allow lawyers to expand client payment options and pass along the fees to clients. Tim Pierce explains what you need to know before charging clients fees for electronic payments.

Solutions
Thinking Like an Executive: General Counsel as Business Partner
Basil Buchko says that rather than thinking like a lawyer, he needed to change his perspective to become an effective organization leader. Here's what he learned.

Reflections
International Humanitarian Law and Armed Conflicts
Ngosong Fonkem says a balanced approach when discussing wars requires an informed understanding of international humanitarian law as it applies to armed conflicts.

Technology
Artificial Intelligence: How It Can Target Your Cybersecurity Defenses
AI is bright and shiny; it is also lethal to law firm security. Sharon Nelson, John Simek, and Michael Maschke provide tips to use AI safely.

Nuts & Bolts
Building an In-House Legal Department
Successful leadership by an in-house legal team requires effective planning, execution, and maintenance. Christopher Ashley describes how one in-house department built a great team.

Managing Risk
In-House Counsel's Due Diligence for Contracts with Technology Vendors
Matt Beier explains that a key aspect of risk management for in-house counsel is ensuring that products and services provided by third-party technology vendors are appropriate, cost effective, and secure for the organization.

Practice Pulse
Practice Management and Legal Technology Trends to Watch
Brent Hoeft is keeping an eye on developments around artificial intelligence tools, cybersecurity threats, and succession planning for solo practice and small firm lawyers in 2024.

Blogs of the Month
Keeping Recipients in Poverty: Problems with Supplemental Security Income Asset Limits
The Supplemental Security Income program has the strictest asset limits of any federal program. Kelsey Brown discusses debated topics regarding the limitations the program puts on recipients.

Final Thought
Sponsorship: The Art of Advancing Others
Deanne Koll explains that sponsorship, unlike mentorship, is when someone who has influence uses that influence to advance someone else, not only themselves.