Justice Ann Walsh Bradley

Former Chief Justice Ann Walsh Bradley began her judicial career as a circuit court judge. For the last 26 years she has served on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, having first been elected to the position in 1995 and twice re-elected in statewide elections. She currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Managerial Trustees of the International Association of Women Judges and is a founding member of the Global Network on Electoral Justice.

Prior to her legal career, Justice Bradley was a high school teacher and she has continued her interest in teaching throughout her judicial career.  She has served as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Judicial Academy and as an international lecturer for organizations including the Academy, the American Bar Association’s Asia Law Initiative, the U.S. Department of State, the International Law Development Organization, and the International Finance Corporation.  She also taught at the Wisconsin Judicial College and   served as an Associate Dean of the College.

Among other organizations, Justice Bradley is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and on the Board of Visitors of the University of Wisconsin Law School.  Formerly she served as a Commissioner of the National Conference on Uniform Laws. 

Justice Bradley and her husband, Mark, live in Wausau, where they raised their four children.

Justice Rebecca Frank Dallet

Justice Rebecca Frank Dallet was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 3, 2018 and took office Aug. 1, 2018. Before joining the Supreme Court, she was elected as a judge to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 2008 and was re-elected in 2014. She served as a member of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference’s Criminal Jury Instruction Committee, as an associate dean of the Wisconsin Judicial College, on the board of the Association of Women Lawyers, and is on the faculty of the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence. She is a member of the board of directors to the National Board of Trial Advocacy.

Prior to being elected to the judiciary, Justice Dallet was an assistant district attorney in Milwaukee County from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2002 to 2007. She was appointed the first female presiding court commissioner for Milwaukee County in 2007, serving in that role until 2008. Justice Dallet was a special assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin from 1999 to 2002 and taught Trial Advocacy as an adjunct law professor at Marquette University Law School from 2005 to 2008. Immediately after law school, she clerked for U.S. Magistrate Judge Aaron Goodstein in the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Justice Dallet received her B.A. summa cum laude with honors from The Ohio State University in 1991 and her J.D. summa cum laude from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1994, where she was an editor of law review.

Justice Dallet has been an active volunteer in her community for organizations such as the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, COA Youth and Family Centers and as a youth leader for Congregation Shalom in Fox Point.

Justice Dallet and her husband, Brad, have three children

Chief Justice Jill J. Karofsky

Chief Justice Jill J. Karofsky was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 7, 2020 and took office August 1, 2020.

Before her election to the Supreme Court, Justice Karofsky served as a judge on the Dane County Circuit Court to which she was elected in 2017.

Prior to becoming a judge, Karofsky was the executive director of the Office of Crime Victim Services for the state Department of Justice. She previously served as an assistant state attorney general and Wisconsin's first Violence against Women Resource Prosecutor, an adjunct professor at the UW Law School, the general counsel and director of education and human resources for the National Conference of Bar Examiners, and as an assistant district attorney and deputy district attorney for Dane County.

Justice Karofsky has served on a number of boards and committees, including the Governor's Council on Domestic Abuse, the Wisconsin Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board, the Wisconsin Crime Victims Council, and the Dane County Big Brothers/Big Sisters Board of Directors. She previously co-chaired the Attorney General's Sexual Assault Response Team. She also has served on the Wisconsin Judicial Education Committee and chairs the Violence Against Women STOP Grant committee.

Karofsky earned her bachelors degree from Duke University, her masters degree from UW-Madison, and her law degree from UW Law School. While at Duke, Justice Karofsky competed on the school's NCAA Division I cross-country and track teams.

Karofsky has received the "Outstanding Victim Advocacy by a Professional" award from the Wisconsin Victim/Witness Professional Association, the "Voices of Courage" award from the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and the "Significant Impact Award" from the Dane County Coordinated Response to Domestic Violence.

Justice Karofsky is an ultra-marathoner and has completed multiple marathons, ultra-marathons and Ironman competitions. She is the single-mom of two children.

Justice Janet Protasiewicz

Justice Janet Protasiewicz is serving her first term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, after being elected in April 2023.

Prior to her election, Justice Protasiewicz spent nearly a decade on the bench as a circuit court judge in Milwaukee County. Before her time as a judge, she served more than 25 years as Assistant District Attorney, where she prosecuted serious crimes, and successfully argued in front of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She earned her bachelor’s degree at UW Milwaukee and her law degree at Marquette University, where she later taught as an Adjunct Professor of Law.

Throughout her career, Judge Protasiewicz has been deeply involved in the community and has held many leadership positions. She served on the boards of the Association of Marquette University Women, the American Red Cross-Wisconsin Chapter, the Polish Heritage Alliance, and the Marquette University Law School Alumni Association. She belongs to the Association of  Women Lawyers, Professional Dimensions, Serjeants Inns of Court, Foley Inns of Court, and Fairchild Inns of Court. 

Justice Protasiewicz’s work has been recognized throughout the state. In 2017, she received the Community Involvement Award from the Association for Women Lawyers, and in 2018, the Wisconsin Law Journal presented her with the Women in the Law Award.

Justice Susan Crawford

Justice Susan M. Crawford was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2025. Justice Crawford previously served as a circuit court judge in Dane County, first elected in 2018 and reelected in 2024.

Before becoming a judge, Justice Crawford was a civil litigator in private practice for several years. She served as chief legal counsel for the Office of Governor Jim Doyle and in appointed positions in several state agencies. She began her career as an assistant attorney general, first at the Iowa Attorney General's Office and then at the Wisconsin Department of Justice, where she served as the director of the criminal appeals unit.

Justice Crawford grew up in Chippewa Falls. She earned her undergraduate degree from Lawrence University with honors, Phi Beta Kappa, and later obtained a master's degree in English from Indiana University. She graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law with high honors in 1994.

6:30 p.m. 
2025 Ruth Bader Ginsburg Notorious Servant Award

Our 2024 recipient, Nicole Marklein, will share how she distributed her prize funds to further the mission and life’s work of RBG - because if all of us are encouraged to do small great things we’ll turn this world around. 

The 2025 Ruth Bader Ginsburg Notorious Servant Award

Presented by Kristen S. Scheuerman
Weiss Law Office, S.C.

WAJ's Women's Caucus will recognize an amazing lawyer among us or who we know from our respective communities who has committed herself to her community, mentoring and encouraging other women, and bettering our profession through service. 

The recipient will receive $500 with the charge to commit the funds to something in the coming year that will further the mission and life’s work of RBG- because if all of us are encouraged to do small great things we’ll turn this world around.  Overview of Nomination: RBG Notorious Servant Award.pdf

Nomination Deadline: September 1 of each year with nominations going to bryan@wisjustice.org

Award will be presented during the annual Women’s Caucus Retreat / Seminar.  The previous recipient would be asked to share a little bit about what she did with the prior year’s award. 

Justice Rebecca Frank Dallet was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 3, 2018 and took office Aug. 1, 2018. Before joining the Supreme Court, she was elected as a judge to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 2008 and was re-elected in 2014. She served as a member of the Wisconsin Judicial Conference’s Criminal Jury Instruction Committee, as an associate dean of the Wisconsin Judicial College, on the board of the Association of Women Lawyers, and is on the faculty of the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence. She is a member of the board of directors to the National Board of Trial Advocacy.

Prior to being elected to the judiciary, Justice Dallet was an assistant district attorney in Milwaukee County from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2002 to 2007. She was appointed the first female presiding court commissioner for Milwaukee County in 2007, serving in that role until 2008. Justice Dallet was a special assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin from 1999 to 2002 and taught Trial Advocacy as an adjunct law professor at Marquette University Law School from 2005 to 2008. Immediately after law school, she clerked for U.S. Magistrate Judge Aaron Goodstein in the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Justice Dallet received her B.A. summa cum laude with honors from The Ohio State University in 1991 and her J.D. summa cum laude from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1994, where she was an editor of law review.

Justice Dallet has been an active volunteer in her community for organizations such as the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, COA Youth and Family Centers and as a youth leader for Congregation Shalom in Fox Point.

Justice Dallet and her husband, Brad, have three children

9:30 - 9:50 a.m. -  Morning Break with Sponsors and Exhibitors