Wisconsin Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley officially retires

In Brief:

• Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley retires after nearly 11 years.
• First Wisconsin justice to serve at all three judiciary levels.
• Bradley appointed to Supreme Court in 2015 and elected in 2016.
• Justice Chris Taylor begins term as Bradley’s successor.

Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley concluded nearly 11 years of service on the Wisconsin Supreme Court on July 31, completing a judicial career that included service at each of the three levels of Wisconsin’s judiciary.

Justice Bradley was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2015 and elected to a full 10-year term in 2016. In September 2025, she announced that she would not seek another term.

She is the first justice in state history to have served as a circuit court judge, a Court of Appeals judge and a Supreme Court justice.

Justice Bradley began her judicial career in 2012, when she was appointed to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. She was elected to the position in 2013. In 2015, Justice Bradley was appointed to the District I Court of Appeals, based in Milwaukee. Later that year, she was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and sworn in on Oct. 12, 2015.

She chaired the Supreme Court Legislative Committee as the chief justice’s designee and previously served on the Supreme Court Finance Committee. Her court-system service included membership on the Wisconsin Juvenile Jury Instructions Committee and the Wisconsin Juvenile Benchbook Committee.

Before joining the bench, Justice Bradley worked in private practice from 1996 to 2012. Her experience included civil and commercial litigation, intellectual property law, and service as vice president of legal operations for a global software company.

Justice Bradley also served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and chaired the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Business Law Section.

Her professional service included membership on the State Bar’s Bench and Bar Committee and prior service on the Wisconsin State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the Milwaukee Trial Judges Association, and the Wisconsin Trial Judges Association.

A Milwaukee native, Justice Bradley graduated from Marquette University in 1993 with an honors bachelor’s degree in business administration and business economics. She earned her law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1996.

Justice Bradley’s term ended July 31, concluding nearly 14 years of service on the Wisconsin bench.

Justice Chris Taylor, who run the election to replace Bradley in April, officially began her term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Aug. 1. Her investiture ceremony will occur later this month.