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Brennan heads to firm Dec. 1

By: dmc-admin//November 17, 2008//

Brennan heads to firm Dec. 1

By: dmc-admin//November 17, 2008//

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ImageJudge Michael B. Brennan anticipates that his upcoming return to private practice will be a homecoming of sorts. Although some of his future cases will involve state court matters, a sizable portion will involve federal court, where he spent a good portion of his time before becoming a judge.

After close to nine years on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court bench, at the end of the month, Brennan will join the Milwaukee law firm of Gass Weber Mullins S.C., practicing complex civil litigation.

“I’ve done much federal work over the years, and this move allows me to return to federal court to try cases, as well as to try complex cases in state court, and to argue state and federal appeals,” he says.

Brennan considered other positions, but not for long once the conversation started with Gass Weber Mullins. He said he was attracted to the challenges of the litigation the firm handles, the national scope from a Milwaukee firm, and the firm’s size allowing direct contact with clients.

As for the Dec. 1 start date, he notes that three partners from the firm are starting a three-month trial in Montana at the end of December, so they’d like his contributions to the firm as soon as he leaves the bench. There are no matters involving the firm currently before him in the Civil Division, where he now serves as presiding judge, so he hasn’t had to recuse himself on any of their cases.

Brennan, a 1989 Northwestern University Law graduate, began his legal career as clerk to Judge Robert Warren in the U.S. Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin for two years. He then entered private practice for three years, but also served as a public service prosecutor in the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office. In addition, Brennan taught the Federal Courts class at Marquette University Law School.

After another two years as a law clerk – this time at the federal appellate level – he returned to the Milwaukee County D.A.’s Office. He was widely praised for his work as staff counsel to the Criminal Penalties Study Commission, prior to his appointment to the state court bench by then-Gov. Tommy Thompson in 1999. He was then elected in 2001 and re-elected last year.

Brennan has applied for federal judgeships, but did not receive the nod. Earlier this year, he was one of a handful of finalists submitted to President George W. Bush by the Wisconsin Federal Nominating Commission to fill vacancies on the U.S. Federal Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin.

When asked if he might continue to seek a spot on the federal court, he says, “I’ve spent 15 of my 19 years as a lawyer in public service. Recently I reflected on the fact that the last time I was in the private sector was 1995, when I left Foley & Lardner to clerk for Judge Daniel Manion on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The private practice of law has changed a lot since then, and I want to be part of that.

“As for public service in the future, right now I’m interested in building a litigation practice and having an impact on significant national cases. I haven’t looked beyond that, really.”

He’ll be leaving on a positive vibe. “I’ve truly enjoyed the cases, the lawyers, and especially the trials, jury and bench,” he says. “At my investiture in early 2000, I made a number of promises, including to listen to each and every person who appears before me.

I hope I’ve kept those promises.”

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