Cameli strikes the right balance

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By Steve Schuster

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For most practicing attorneys, the average day involves many hours spent managing caseloads and talking to clients, judges and opposing lawyers.

The responsibilities do not end there for Milwaukee attorney Mark Cameli.

“When he’s here, he moves at warp speed,” said Allen Schlinsog, chairman of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren SC’s litigation department. “And somehow he finds a way to break away to his pro bono work.”

Balancing work, family and volunteering is not always easy, but Cameli said, “it just requires careful planning and some discipline.”

Cameli’s success finding the correct balance has led to pro bono work with the U.S. Attorney’s Project Safe Neighborhood Selection committee, for which he assists in awarding federal grants to gun prevention and anti-gang programs.

Before shifting to the private sector, Cameli was a state prosecutor and an assistant U.S. attorney for 11 years in both civil and criminal divisions.

Cameli’s private sector work includes representing people in industries such as health care and defense. When he steps away from his day job, his attention turns to groups such as The Neighborhood House, a Milwaukee inner-city community center.

Cameli said he was influenced at a young age to get involved in his community.

“My parents always found time to be involved in volunteer projects,” he said.

Cameli also served as a faculty member for the

Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.

His colleagues at Reinhart pay attention to his involvement and commitment to organizations and people outside of his typical workday.

“Mark is one of the most kind and intellectually honest people I know,” Schlinsog said. “He’s a mentor for all of our young lawyers,”

For Cameli, being a leader means constantly juggling responsibilities, but, he said, he would not want
it any other way.

“I feel like life is lived by day-to-day tradeoffs,” he said, “so that balance implies you’ve made thoughtful decisions.

I’ve never viewed (volunteering) as a sacrifice. If anything I’ve viewed my work life, pro bono activities and volunteering as being fortunate.”