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DeWitt Ross & Stevens announces the addition of Scott M. Paler to the Employment Relations and Litigation groups. Paler joins the firm as an associate in the firm’s Madison office.

Paler previously worked at one of the nation’s largest labor and employment firms and has litigated cases on behalf of companies ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations. He has reached favorable outcomes in a wide-range of areas including: Title VII, Wisconsin’s Fair Employment Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Breach of Contract and Trade Secrets.

Paler received his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Gary Sherman, former State Bar president and state representative, was sworn in as a Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District IV judge. Gov. Jim Doyle appointed Sherman to fill the vacancy left by Judge Burnie Bridge’s retirement.

Sherman, who served as State Bar president from 1994 to 1995, has represented the 74th Assembly District as a Democrat since 1999.

Sherman graduated cum laude from the U.W. Law School in 1973.

The law firm of Godfrey & Kahn, S.C. announces the recipients of its Fellowship in Law program. The recipients are Danny Tang, University of Wisconsin, and Rebeca Lopez, Marquette University.

The program, one of Godfrey & Kahn’s ongoing diversity initiatives, is designed to promote diversity within the law school student body.

In 2004, Godfrey & Kahn established a fellowship at the University of Wisconsin Law School to provide recipients with a full-tuition law school scholarship, along with mentoring from Godfrey & Kahn attorneys. In 2006, Godfrey & Kahn established a second fellowship at Marquette University Law School. In addition to tuition and mentoring, recipients are also offered a position as a summer associate at the firm. The selection of fellowship recipients is mutually determined by Godfrey & Kahn and the participating universities.

Tang is the sixth recipient of the Godfrey & Kahn Fellowship in Law at the University of Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a focus on Entrepreneurship.

Lopez is the fourth recipient of the Godfrey & Kahn Fellowship in Law at Marquette University. She graduated from Marquette University in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and Spanish Language and Literature.

The firm also announced that shareholder William E. Duffin, a member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group, was elected president of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association at its 59th Annual Meeting on May 4.

A member of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association for more than a decade, Duffin previously served as first vice president and second vice president. Elected by the Board of Governors of the Association, Duffin plans to focus on several goals during his one-year term, including implementing a pilot program designed to streamline electronic discovery in civil cases.

Duffin represents businesses and individuals in a wide variety of disputes, including intellectual property, distributor relations, labor and employment, unfair competition, business fraud, and shareholder disputes. He earned a law degree from the University of Iowa.

According to its bylaws, the Seventh Circuit Bar Association serves the states of Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana to improve the administration of justice in the Seventh Circuit. It also assists the Court of Appeals to maintain resources such as the law library. Serving over 1,000 lawyer members, the not-for-profit bar association was incorporated in 1985.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson has been named recipient of the American Bar Association Justice Center’s 2010 John Marshall Award in recognition of her exemplary lifelong commitment and dedication to the improvement of the administration of justice.

Abrahamson became the first woman on the Wisconsin Supreme Court when she was appointed in 1976 and has served as chief justice since 1996.

The John Marshall Award is named in honor of the fourth chief justice of the United States, who is credited with establishing the independence of the judiciary and enhancing its moral authority. The award will be presented at the ABA Annual Dinner in Honor of the Judiciary, Aug. 6, 6:30 p.m. at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco during the association’s 2010 Annual Meeting.

Abrahamson earned a Juris Doctor with high distinction from Indiana University Law School in 1956, and a Doctor of Juridical Science in American legal history from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1962. She also holds 15 honorary doctors of law degrees. She has authored numerous law review articles on various subjects and has presented named lectures at the law schools of a number of universities.

The Wisconsin Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) has chosen St. Croix County Circuit Court Judge Scott R. Needham as its Judge of the Year.

The Wisconsin chapter presents the award each year to a member of the Wisconsin judiciary “whose thorough preparation, breadth of knowledge of the law, decisive rulings and courtesy to litigants, jurors and members of the bar have consistently advanced the interest of justice and the dignity of the judicial process,” according to the nominating committee.

Needham is deputy chief judge of the Tenth Judicial District, and has been on the bench since 1994.

ABOTA was established in 1957 for the primary purpose of preserving the civil jury trial. The organization has presented this award to a Wisconsin judge for the past 19 years. The recipient serves as the judge in a mock trial during the trial seminar ABOTA sponsors annually. Last year’s winner was Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Francis T. Wasielewski.

The Greater Milwaukee Association of Legal Professionals (GMALP) announces the election and installation of their 2010-2011 Chapter Officers: Tamara N.T. Michalak, Certified PP, PLS (employed by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek SC), President; Rita Krebs-Otto, Certified CPS (employed by American Family Insurance), Membership Director; Anne Ihde (employed by Leib & Katt LLC), Executive Secretary; Maureen Gromacki, Certified PLS (employed by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company), Treasurer and Parliamentarian; Bernice T. Tresemer, Certified PP, PLS (employed by Cramer, Multhauf & Hammes LLP), Corresponding Secretary.

The association also announced the awarding of its 2010 Scholarship to Kristin McGaver. McGaver is a current graduate from Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha.

GMALP is a non-profit organization dedicated to the professional growth of legal support personnel through educational programs and the promotion of high standards and ethics.