De la Mora the Swiss Army Knife of attorneys

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Through the more than 40 years Hector de la Mora has practiced law, he’s handled a wide variety of cases.

“I like to say my career has several acts,” said de la Mora, an attorney at von Briesen & Roper in Milwaukee. “It’s never been boring. My work has been about issues that affect people in a fundamental way.”

He began his career at the Milwaukee District Attorney’s office, where he worked for several years, earning the nickname “Hector the Protector.”

After leaving the DA’s office, de la Mora served as in-house counsel for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and started his own firm specializing in helping municipalities. He served as the primary municipal attorney for various towns and villages and was also called in to be special counsel on various projects for the city of Milwaukee and other municipalities.

“The timing was good and we didn’t have children or pets,” de la Mora said. “I did UWM stuff during the day and at night, that’s when I had the municipal stuff. I was able to play a role in the formation and application of public policy.”

De la Mora’s work for municipalities and school districts found him handling a nearly unmatched variety of cases, said Eau Claire City Attorney Douglas Hoffer.

“He’s demonstrated tremendous leadership ability in the practice of law and in the community,” Hoffer said, adding they’ve worked together on some municipal cases.

About 10 years into his marriage, de la Mora’s wife, Linda, decided to go to law school. While there, she served as a clerk at other law firms. But when it came time to begin practicing law, she went to work with her husband.

“She handles estate planning and real estate — it’s very different from what I do,” said de la Mora, adding that they worked together for 34 years at their own firm before joining von Briesen. “I like to say I provide a broad range of services to clients — the Swiss Army approach. I’ve been fortunate.”

At von Briesen, de la Mora works in the firm’s business practice group and concentrates on municipal and educational law, in addition to doing some mediation work. As for his time off, he prefers to spend it traveling with his wife of 47 years.

“We’ve been so many places — Peru, China, Russia, Mongolia and this year we’re going to New Zealand. We love to travel,” he said. “It’s definitely how we recreate and get away from the office.”