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Firms forced to relocate and adjust travel because of floods

By: dmc-admin//July 14, 2008//

Firms forced to relocate and adjust travel because of floods

By: dmc-admin//July 14, 2008//

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Some people might consider a newly remodeled office an upgrade over a 125-year-old building.

But for attorney Michael R. Fitzpatrick, there is no place like home.

He, along with the other 25 attorneys at Brennan, Steil & Basting, S.C., in Janesville, were forced to vacate their office along the bank of the Rock River after flood waters poured into the basement of the building.

“It’s not like home, but it’s not bad for a summer trip,” said Fitzpatrick, of the firm’s three-block move into the fifth floor of the building which used to house the Parker Pen Co.

Like several firms in areas of the state which spent weeks virtually underwater, Fitzpatrick and his colleagues are adapting to the temporary, yet abrupt, change in their daily routines.

Washed Out

Even though Fitzpatrick said firm members had some notice of the floodwaters rising, the decision to move did not come until after the river had risen several feet.

Phone lines were rerouted and computers carried to the new location as power to the building was cut off as a precaution.

“The stairwells had lanterns so people could see their way out,” said Fitzpatrick, who added that there is no timetable for a return to their home office.

“The last of the water is being pumped out,” he said.

Two firms in Fort Atkinson — Rogers & Westrick, S.C., and Vance, Wilcox & Short, S.C. — also took on water and lost power as a result of the June rains.

Attorneys for the firm could not be reached, but administrative assistants at both confirmed the flooding.

Staff at Rogers & Westrick moved into a neighborhood office for three months, but not directly because of the flooding, said an assistant, who noted the firm planned to remodel at some point anyway.

A few blocks away, attorneys and staff at Vance, Wilcox & Short also endured a power outage and loss of their phone system, but chose not to move out of the building the firm has called home since 1959.

An assistant said attorneys had been using their cell phones to communicate with clients until the system was restored on July 9. The office is still without air conditioning and was without Internet service for a few days as well.

Despite the internal inconveniences, none of the firms reported a disruption in client service or cancellation of court dates.

“From a client’s perspective, unless we tell them what happened, they probably would not even know we moved,” said Fitzpatrick.

Watery Defense

While some private firms were able to weather the storms relatively well, the same could not be said for the State Public Defender’s office in Jefferson.

Attorney John V. Rhiel said two bridge closures turned a three-block walk to the courthouse into a 42-mile detour. The result was a two and one-half-week headache for Rhiel and other public defenders.

“We got behind, especially with the day-to-day stuff because we could not just run back to the office and pick up a file for the next case,” said Rhiel. “I would say it knocked out a quarter of my work day.”

Fewer and longer return trips to the office between cases meant less contact with some clients and a couple of missed court dates.

Rhiel said judges understood for the most part and adjourned several cases until the flood waters subside. One client got stuck in traffic the day the city closed one of its bridges [Wisconsin Street] and did not make her appearance, even though she was three blocks from the courthouse.

“A couple [of clients] got in trouble, but most [judges] understood,” said Rhiel. “I was late for a couple of court dates and missed one due to the stress of whole thing.”
While he could not estimate how many cases were affected, Rhiel said his office put a priority on those involving defendants in custody or due for sentencing.

With both major bridges now open in Jefferson, Rhiel is happy to drive his direct route to court again, but said the office is still catching up on work from the past few weeks.

“I can confidently say nobody suffered as a result of the flooding in terms of being in jail longer,” said Rhiel. “It was just harder to respond to people, but overall, I think we did cope pretty well.”

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