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Ciepluch enjoys the benefits of her job

Ciepluch enjoys the benefits of her job

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Amy Ciepluch (Staff photo by Kevin Harnack)
Amy Ciepluch (Staff photo by Kevin Harnack)

Serendipity helped Amy Ciepluch find her legal focus.

After graduating law school, Ciepluch said, she joined a law firm focused on transactional law, and she was not sure where that would take her. But six months later, the employee-benefits specialist left and the firm’s partners asked Ciepluch to take over that role.

“That was a blessing in disguise,” said Ciepluch, who now is a partner with Quarles & Brady LLP, Milwaukee, and focuses, among other things, on employee benefits and executive compensation. “At first, I wasn’t happy, but it turns out that I really enjoyed it, and it was a great fit for me.”

After a few years with that smaller firm, she took a job with Quarles & Brady. Employee-benefits law covers a lot of different areas, and Ciepluch works on the tax side of things for employee compensation as well as on how the Affordable Care Act affects health plan offerings.

“The ACA,” she said, “has been a huge impact on my practice as I work with companies to make sure their offerings are compliant with the new regulations.”

Ciepluch said employment benefits are more complex than most people realize, and businesses often need help putting packages together for employees. The rules also frequently change.

“It can be complicated, and it’s sort of like putting a puzzle together, which is what I really like about it,” Ciepluch said. “You’re helping companies offer the benefits they want without running afoul of the law.

“I tend to work with the same core group of clients, and that brings familiarity and you can really see how you’re helping their business over time. It’s very gratifying.”

Wisconsin Law Journal: What was your least-favorite class in law school?
Amy Ciepluch: Criminal law. It was my very first class in law school, and the professor made each student stand up and recite a case. He went in alphabetical order, and my maiden name is Algiers. That made me the first person on the first day.

WLJ: What career would you have chosen if you hadn’t become an attorney?
Ciepluch: Geneticist. I find all things gene-related fascinating.

WLJ: What was the first concert you attended?
Ciepluch: Motley Crue and Tesla at Alpine Valley. It was a sea of big hair. Mine was no exception.

WLJ: What app can’t you live without?
Ciepluch: The Weather Channel. I’m obsessed with the hourly forecast.

WLJ: Who is someone you admire?
Ciepluch: Kim Johnson, chair of my firm. She is an excellent example of successfully managing a career and family.

WLJ: What is your favorite vacation spot?
Ciepluch: Puerto Rico. My husband and I honeymooned there and returned a few years later. It is beautiful, the people are lovely and the food is fantastic.

WLJ: What activity could you spend hours doing outside of the office?
Ciepluch: Running, boot-camp workout, anything active.

WLJ: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Ciepluch: I’d love to be funnier.

WLJ: What was your favorite toy as a child?
Ciepluch: I can’t think of a toy, but I loved the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ books. In my mind, I was Laura Ingalls. I remember a kick of eating baked potatoes with salt because that’s all the Ingalls family had one long, cold winter.

WLJ: What is your most prized possession?
Ciepluch: Unfortunately, my kids would probably say my iPhone.

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