La Rose’s research skills play key role in attorneys’ success

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Most clients at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren don’t deal directly with Laura La Rose, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t playing an important role in their cases.

La Rose, a senior research specialist in the firm’s Milwaukee information resource center, helps attorneys find the information they need to help their clients. She searches for cases that may help or hinder a current one being worked on by an attorney, conducts research on individuals or businesses, develops topical points for attorneys preparing to make a speech or write an article and finds and shares articles of interest with attorneys. La Rose primarily works with attorneys in the firm’s health-care practice, but also deals with the firm’s practices concerning corporate and tax-exemption law.

“I really enjoy the intellectual challenge of my work,” she said. “I usually have an idea of what I’m going to do that day, but sometimes someone will come in and say, ‘Drop everything and do this.’ I really enjoy when someone tells me that something is obscure and I probably won’t find it, but I find it. There’s a lot of gratification in doing that.”

Heather Fields, a shareholder in Reinhart’s health care practice, praised La Rose’s ability to find information at a moment’s notice. She said La Rose’s knowledge of printed and electronic sources of information is unsurpassed.

“Laura is so integrally involved with our work that we have her attend our monthly practice meetings,” Fields said. “She’s an essential member of our team and I often tell her she’s our competitive advantage.”

La Rose initially pursued a career as a management consultant after college, but later met a career counselor who recommended a career in law or library sciences. She combined the two and received a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. While there, she served as an intern in a law firm’s library and discovered then a fondness for that sort of work.

“I enjoy helping the attorneys stay current on news or articles that are of interest to their practice,” said La Rose, who joined Reinhart in 2006.

La Rose also enjoys sharing her knowledge with others. She teaches a seminar on research strategies to summer associates and works with new associates to make sure they know where to find the information needed for their cases. She also writes articles for the firm’s newsletter and for the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin.