Judge’s journey started later, led from Iowa to Oshkosh

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Her husband’s keen insight pushed Winnebago County Circuit Judge Karen L. Seifert toward her future.

Seifert, 55, of Oshkosh, was 30 and a mother of three — a 3-year-old son and two daughters, ages 5 and 7 — when she began law school at the University of Iowa.

She had already earned an undergraduate degree in broadcasting and a master’s degree in educational media. She had worked as an advertising buyer for a television station, and thought her future included time home with her young children.

Instead, her husband, John, an airline pilot, insisted she think about continuing her education.

“He said, ‘You like to speak. You like to write. You like to read. You should go to law school,’” Seifert said. “At first, I guess, I was intimidated by it. Then, he went out and bought the LSAT book for me. He said, ‘Just see how it comes out.’”

Soon, Seifert was commuting 55 miles one way from her home in Davenport, Iowa, to Iowa City, where she enrolled in a 27-month accelerated law program. Looking back, all the work and worry was worth it, even with the late start.

“You can say to yourself, ‘Oh my god, I’ll be 33 or 34 when I get out.’ But you’ll be 33 or 34 anyway, so why not be what you want to be.”

Embracing that philosophy led to a career of legal service that began with the Help Legal Assistance program in Davenport.

Seifert dealt with poverty law, everything from utility shut-offs to Social Security and food stamp appeals. She also ran a project for victims of domestic violence, offering help on divorces and restraining orders.

In 1992, Seifert began work in Winnebago County, first as a child support attorney, then assistant corporation counsel, then court commissioner. She was elected judge in 2006.

The job allows her to indulge her inner academic, while still making a difference.

“When you’re helping people who can’t help themselves, there’s an added component to not just doing the law well, but also being able to make such a big difference in people’s lives,” she said. “… You really do change people’s lives by how you handle them, how you listen to them and how you decide their cases.”

She kept the scope of her position in mind the day she was sworn in. And she thought of her daughters, who watched her work through law school and, later, became lawyers themselves.

A black-and-white print her daughters gave her that day reminds her about the possibilities of life. The photo, taken the day Seifert graduated law school, shows her young daughters with their arms up, index fingers raised, just the way their mom raised her hand in class.

“Of course, we would never have known what they would become,” she said.

— Jessica Stephen