Sullivan succeeds at her many roles

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Most lawyers love the litigation limelight, but Sheila Sullivan would rather persuade by pen.

“I was always drawn to the research and writing more than anything,” Sullivan said. “I’m fortunate in my firm because they rely on me to persuade through motions and appeals.”

Her quiet strategy is effective. In her time at Madison’s Bell, Moore & Richter SC, Sullivan has earned a reputation for her formidable writing and her art of laying out complex situations in a clear, concise way. She is considered the “go-to” person when it comes to untangling complicated insurance issues.

Law is a second career for the Green Bay native, as she started out with a French degree and a job with the U.S. Department of Defense.

“I didn’t know women could be lawyers,” Sullivan said. “Where I grew up, the law was a pretty male-dominated field.”

But moving back to Wisconsin with her new husband and baby rendered that French training “not useful,” Sullivan said. She turned to law and completed her degree while juggling motherhood.

The calm, quiet, hard-working approach that serves Sullivan well in practice extends to her private life as well, said Patti Epstein, also a partner at Bell, Moore & Richter.

Case in point: Most people get nine months to prepare for an incoming child; the Sullivans got one week.

Receiving notice that their adopted son was available, the couple immediately jumped on a plane to Mongolia. The same scenario happened a year later when the Sullivans adopted a daughter.

“Sheila took all of this in stride; she didn’t skip a beat or seem stressed out at all,” Epstein said.

The couple decided to adopt “because we always wanted a big family, and there are just so many kids living in poverty who need homes,” Sullivan said.

She now helps others balance the needs of work and family through the Lawyer Moms Group and Baikal Regional Families Foundation for families of adoption.

Her legal career offers a “perfect situation because it allows you more flexibility than punching a time clock,” Sullivan said.

Successfully playing the many important roles Sullivan does is no small achievement, however, Epstein said.

“She is an amazing woman, who is quiet but strong, and a loyal mother, wife, law partner and friend to those who are lucky to know her,” Epstein said.