Wood carves out successful DUI practice

By: Jack Zemlicka, [email protected]//June 17, 2011//

Listen to this article

When it comes to drunken driving defense, Madison attorney Tracey Wood wrote the book.

In fact, the partner at Van Wagner & Wood SC has authored several publications on the subject including “Challenging Prior Operating Under Influence Convictions” and “Wisconsin DUI Defense The Law & Practice.”

Wood has defended more than 2,000 people charged with DUI during her nearly 20-year career and she was the first lawyer in Wisconsin to be certified as a Standardized Field Sobriety Test Instructor.

While drunken driving defense accounts for about 80 percent of her practice, Wood also has successfully taken on other high profile cases, including a 1997 trial in which her client was acquitted in a case that involved theft of 153 military vehicles from Fort McCoy.

Wood takes the spotlight in this week’s Asked & Answered.

Wisconsin Law Journal: If you could develop one CLE course for credit, what would it be about?

Tracey Wood: How to have a successful small firm practice. I see a lot of great attorneys really struggling in this economy and haven’t really seen any courses addressing how to actually financially do well in this business. I’ve toyed with this for awhile, but it keeps being put off to a day “when I have more time.”

WLJ: What was your least favorite course in law school and why?

Wood: Trusts and Estates. I took it pass/fail because I planned to get into criminal law and thought I could relax a bit. Trusts and Estates turned out to be my second highest grade that semester, and it didn’t count.

WLJ: What do you consider your biggest achievement to date and why?

Wood: Raising healthy, happy and all-around wonderful kids.

WLJ: What is the one luxury item you cannot live without?

Wood: My Blackberry. It’s actually sort of creepy the amount of time I spend with it as compared to my husband and children.

WLJ: What is one thing attorneys should know that they won’t learn in law school?

Wood: Being smart will only get you so far. What you really need in this practice is a sense of humor, an ability to connect with people and a lot of luck. Oh, and a great website helps too.

WLJ: What is the first concert you went to?

Wood: The World Series of Rock in Milwaukee starring REO Speedwagon, April Wine, Blackhawk and the Michael Stanley Band. I was in seventh grade at the time, and my mom drove us. We thought ourselves to be very cool.

WLJ: If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would it be and why?

Wood: Pretty much anyone in Italy right now. My favorite place in the world.

WLJ: What is your motto?

Wood: I don’t have a motto. A bit too Jack Handy for me.

WLJ: What is your favorite movie about lawyers or the law and why?

Wood: “Primal Fear.” I don’t want to spoil it for anyone reading this, but if you haven’t seen it, watch it this weekend.

WLJ: If you hadn’t become a lawyer, what career would you have chosen?

Wood: Probably a child psychiatrist. I was actually pre-med in college and took a year off after where I took both the MCAT and the LSAT. After looking at the scores, I decided I should probably go to law school instead. Another possibility was to go into acting, but I was never that great at waiting tables.

Jack Zemlicka can be reached at [email protected].

Select Region or Brand

Upcoming Event