Joshua Lautenschlager Kaul (born February 2, 1981) is an American lawyer, politician and member of the Democratic Party who has served as the 45th Attorney General of Wisconsin since January 2019.

Early life and education

Kaul is the son of Peg Lautenschlager, an attorney and politician, and Indian immigrant Raj Kaul. His stepfather, Bill Rippl, worked as a police officer. He was raised in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac. Kaul graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

as a double major in history and economics. He earned his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

. While a student at Stanford, he served as president of the ''

Stanford Law Review The ''Stanford Law Review'' (SLR) is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president. The review produce ...

''.

Career

Kaul clerked for Michael Boudin in the

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maine * District of Massachusetts ...

. From 2007 through 2010, he worked for the law firm Jenner & Block, and worked as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office in Baltimore through 2014. In 2014, Kaul moved back to Wisconsin and joined the law firm Perkins Coie's Madison office.

Attorney General of Wisconsin

In the 2018 elections, Kaul ran for Attorney General of Wisconsin defeating incumbent Republican Brad Schimel. Kaul won by a small margin of just over 17,000 votes, but Schimel decided not to seek a recount and conceded defeat on November 19. Kaul became the state's first Democratic Attorney General since his mother's term in office. Kaul was reelected in 2022, defeating Republican Eric Toney. On June 4, 2024, Kaul announced he was bringing felony

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally consists of the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific mens rea, intent to wikt:defraud#English, defraud. Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be fo ...

charges against three operatives of Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign who were involved in the plot to produce fraudulent electoral college votes from Wisconsin. Those charged included Kenneth Chesebro, a Wisconsin native and the alleged architect of the national fraudulent elector plot, Jim Troupis, a former Wisconsin circuit court judge who represented Trump in 2020 litigation, and Mike Roman, a Trump campaign aide and former White House staffer.

Personal life

Kaul met his wife, Lindsey, at Yale. They have two sons.

Electoral history

References

External links

Wisconsin Attorney General's Office
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaul, Josh Wisconsin attorneys general Wisconsin Democrats Wisconsin lawyers American politicians of Indian descent Asian-American people in Wisconsin politics People associated with Jenner & Block Stanford Law School alumni Yale University alumni 1980 births Living people People associated with Perkins Coie 21st-century Wisconsin politicians