Interpreting Wisconsin Administrative Law

Abstract

In this essay, I analyze the current state of deference that agency interpretations of statutes and rules receive from Wisconsin courts. My goal is two-fold. First, primarily for practitioners, I synthesize and clarify the law as it stands today, given the significant evolutions that have taken place in this area of law in the past few years. Second, for judges and scholars, my aim is to highlight the need for the Court to refound this body of law with a single landmark case setting forth a new, comprehensive treatment which both clarifies the doctrine and brings it into line with first principles.