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The Climate Litigation Database
Litigation

Wisconsin Dairy Alliance, Inc. v. Kaul

Date
2025
Geography
Wisconsin
Part of
Wisconsin Dairy Alliance, Inc. v. Kaul

About this case

Filing year
2025
Status
Motion to dismiss denied.
Geography
Docket number
2025CV000022
Court/admin entity
United States → State Courts → Wis. Cir. Ct.
Case category
State Law Claims → Other Types of State Law Cases
Principal law
United States → Fourteenth Amendment—Due ProcessUnited States → Fourteenth Amendment—Equal ProtectionUnited States → Right to PetitionUnited States → Separation of Powers DoctrineUnited States → Wisconsin Statutes, Chapter 20, Subchapter X (General Administrative Provisions)
At issue
Action seeking to terminate a Wisconsin Department of Justice agreement with New York University providing for a Legal Fellow employed by an NYU School of Law center to work as a Special Assistant Attorney General.

Documents

Filing Date
Type
Action Taken
Document
Summary
08/08/2025
Decision
Motion to dismiss denied.
View
A Wisconsin Circuit Court denied the Wisconsin Attorney General and Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging an agreement with New York University regarding the employment of a legal fellow as a Special Assistant Attorney General. The court determined that the plaintiffs—an organization representing dairy farms, a milk marketing cooperative, and an individual resident and taxpayer—had standing and stated a claim upon which relief could be granted. The court’s decision noted that the plaintiffs appeared to be opposed to “both how the fellow was acquired and what she will do in her role” and that the fellow’s purposes included “enforc[ing] and prosecut[ing] environmental issues affecting Plaintiff’s members.” The court concluded that the plaintiffs had a legally protected interest to contest “what they believe is an illegal expenditure of taxpayer funds.”
02/20/2025
Complaint
Complaint filed.
View
A complaint filed in Wisconsin Circuit Court sought to terminate the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) agreement with New York University (NYU) that the plaintiffs alleged authorized a Legal Fellow employed by the NYU School of Law State Energy and Environmental Impact Center to work as a Wisconsin Special Assistant Attorney General (SAAG). The plaintiffs alleged that the SAAG was “paid exclusively by the Center and its special interest backers” and that the agreement required DOJ to use the SAAG’s services to further the Center’s goals of defending, enforcing, and promoting “strong laws and policies in the areas of climate, environmental justice, environmental protection, and clean energy.” The plaintiffs—an alliance of dairy farms, a milk marketing cooperative, and a Wisconsin resident who previously was a DOJ attorney and official—asserted that the agreement with NYU was ultra vires, unlawful, and unconstitutional.

Summary

Action seeking to terminate a Wisconsin Department of Justice agreement with New York University providing for a Legal Fellow employed by an NYU School of Law center to work as a Special Assistant Attorney General.