Thomsen brings steel background to practice

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When the Indiana steel mill that Mark Thomsen was working at closed in 1984, he had a decision to make: find another factory job or pursue a new career.

Thomsen was 28 at the time, married with a young daughter. He decided he wanted to find a fulfilling job with a sturdy future.

So the family packed up everything they owned into the back of their 1976 Buick and drove to Wisconsin, where Thomsen attended Marquette University Law School.

After graduating in 1987, Thomsen was hired by Brookfield-based Cannon & Dunphy SC. He has been with the personal injury firm ever since.

He now handles everything from nursing home abuse cases to dog bites, and feels he chose the right career path.

Thomsen reflected on his humble beginnings in this week’s Asked & Answered.

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

Mark Thomsen: How best to avoid a dogmatic approach to the law by thinking out of the box. Too often lawyers read a case or a line of cases and conclude that their client cannot win the issue.

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

Thomsen: Trusts and Estates. It always amazed me how much time and money people spend and waste trying to control wealth from beyond the grave. Life is short like a Wisconsin spring; enjoy it now.

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

Thomsen: Being a good husband and father. Without my family, my professional success and accomplishments would have no real lasting meaning.

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

Thomsen: My daughter’s artwork. Artists, like my daughter Sonja, would say that art is not a luxury item because it goes to the core of what it means to be human. Regardless, I now need to often look and ponder her work. It is amazing what your children do.

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

Thomsen: Life is a one-way street. There are no do-overs. Try to spend your time doing what you love.

WLJ: What is the first concert you went to?

Thomsen: Creedence Clearwater Revival in Omaha in late 1968.

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

Thomsen: My wife, Grace. I would like to know how she sees me and how it feels to walk in her shoes.

WLJ: What is your motto?

Thomsen: I like to tell my younger partners to listen to the refrain to Chumbawamba’s song “I Get Knocked Down” — “I get knocked down, but I get up again. You’re never going to keep me down.” Persistence is a powerful thing.

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

Thomsen: “Cool Hand Luke.” Although not directly about lawyers, it is about the criminal justice system in particular and the human condition in general. How do we preserve personal integrity while under duress? Luke, played by a young Paul Newman, states: “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” It is part of our job as lawyers to help people listen to each other.

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

Thomsen: I did live life as a steelworker from 1976 to 1984 and a union representative from 1982 to 1984 handling worker grievances, arbitrations and involved in contract interpretation and negotiations before becoming a lawyer. I truly enjoyed the work and challenge.

Jack Zemlicka can be reached at [email protected].