Welcome to the first issue of Wisconsin Lawyer^™ for 2013, with a fresh look and content mix. It is the result of a two-year redesign process undertaken by the publications staff and the editorial board. And, it is a product I hope you value reading and contributing to.

If you had asked me two years ago what a redesign meant, I would have answered: “an updated look, perhaps prettying things up.” But it is so much more! As with much legal work, the end product is a deceptively simple reflection of the required effort.

The magazine is consistently well rated as a member benefit. Then why tinker with it? It’s been more than a decade since the last comprehensive evaluation of the magazine’s design, content, and structure. One incentive was to keep pace with changes in the publishing industry – and your expectations of this publication.

I have since learned that a magazine redesign encompasses a top-to-bottom evaluation of the publication’s content, searching for ways to enhance readers’ experience, right down to the paper, fonts, swirls, swishes, and colors. In today’s digital world, it’s also about how we connect with you online. Check out the new WisBar.org for recent improvements to the online Wisconsin Lawyer.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank the publications staff – Joyce Hastings, Karlé Lester, and Ben Oehmen – and editorial board members for delivering an interesting magazine month after month. Special thanks to attorney members Marna Tess-Mattner and Susan Schaubel for their many ideas for improving existing and creating new columns, and for interjecting a bit of humor in the publication. (See the new book review ratings in the “Shelf Life” column.) And, thanks to Marquette Professors Dan Blinka and Tom Hammer, court holdings are easier to discern in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals digests.

We’ve also added several new columns to our lineup. Get to know a bit more about our authors through the “Our Contributors” column. Through “10 Questions” and “Final Thought,” meet some of Wisconsin’s legal innovators and thought leaders. The “101” column offers how-to information likely not taught in law school.

The magazine’s mission – to inform, involve, inspire, and build community – guides our content. We want you to turn to the Wisconsin Lawyer, its readers, and contributors as a valued source for practice insight. But, this is a two-way street, we also want your content ideas, article contributions, inspiring stories, and practice advice.

And, we want you to join us online at www.wisbar.org/wislawmag to continue a dialog. Your practice is our purpose.

We’re having technical problems with the Add a Comment feature at the moment. While we work on the problem, please submit your comments about this article or feedback to the Wisconsin Lawyer editors to wislawmag@wisbar.org. Thank you.