Quarles Provides Pro Bono Assistance in Defending Madison Metropolitan School District Gender Identity Policy Leading to Lawsuit Dismissal

Madison, WI — Several members of the Quarles & Brady Madison office provided pro bono assistance in successfully defending a challenge to Madison Metropolitan School District’s (MMSD) gender identity policy.

The Quarles pro bono team consisted of partner Emily Feinstein and associates Adam Prinsen, Ryan Rainey, Zach Eastburn and Grace Stewart.

In 2020, several anonymous parents challenged the MMSD guidance that allows school officials, in some situations, not to disclose a student’s use of affirmed pronouns or names without the student’s consent. On November 23, 2022, a Dane Cook Circuit Court judge dismissed the case, ruling that the one remaining plaintiff does not have standing because her child's hypothetical chances of changing their name and pronouns without informing the plaintiff were too remote to justify any judicial intervention.

Quarles aided the national American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Wisconsin with their defense of the school’s guidance on behalf of three gender and sexuality alliances in the MMSD.