Michael R. Fox

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Lighten up.

That’s the message of attorney Michael R. Fox, of Fox & Fox S.C. in Monona Grove. Too many people, especially lawyers, take themselves too seriously.

Don’t get him wrong — there’s nothing the matter with setting goals and working hard to achieve them. But a little flexibility and a sense of humor can go a long way. (This comes from someone who enjoys nothing better than trading “acerbic barbs” with Judge John C. Shabaz. It’s just part of his style of advocacy. And he has frequently played guitar at the Dane County Bar Association’s annual Bench/Bar Brawl, an event lampooning the local judges.)

Fox learned a lot about life, including the wise counsel above, from his mother, a widow who raised him and six other children, and put them all through college on a teacher’s salary.

“I wish I had one-tenth of her courage,” he says.

Somewhat by default, Fox attended law school in the mid-1970s. His grandfather, father and an older brother were lawyers, so it seemed like the natural place for him. Ultimately, five of those seven kids went to law school, by the way.

In addition, Fox spent some time in VISTA, Volunteers in Service to America, after college, assisting migrant workers with their housing needs and setting up a food bank, among other tasks.

“It was an epiphany if I’ve ever had one,” he states. “But also, I wanted to know how the system works. I’d seen that people were powerless without any knowledge of it, and I wanted to learn what the rules were and how they could work to people’s benefit. And, I liked the fact that there are 1,000 different ways you can be a lawyer.”

A few years into his law practice, Fox was asked to try a case involving a male plaintiff making a sex harassment claim. This was the early 1980s. He was uncertain about the chances for success, but a friend, who knew much more about public relations than he, convinced him that it was a “man bites dog” case that would interest media from around the country. Sure enough, his client prevailed and Fox was catapulted into the national spotlight.

From that point on, prospective plaintiffs in employment cases began calling in droves, and that’s what launched his career path into employment law litigation.

Perhaps his most significant contribution to the development of the law was his work on behalf of Carol Zabcowicz, a plaintiff who prevailed in federal court in her sex harassment lawsuit, but was awarded only backpay — this was the 1980s, and that was the only remedy available to her. While that outcome had been affirmed in the appellate courts, both Zabcowicz and Fox testified before a congressional committee tasked with amending Title VII to provide more equitable remedies for persons suffering the type of employment injury visited upon Zabcowicz. Their efforts, and the work of others, resulted in the Civil Rights Act amendments that now allow compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorney fees for successful plaintiffs.