Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Firm Administrator of the Year

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//November 12, 2010//

Firm Administrator of the Year

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//November 12, 2010//

Listen to this article

Firm Administrator of the Year

the law. Tom quietly steers the G&K ship through the economy, billing, accounting, purchasing, etc. He manages all the department heads and me encouraging us to be self-starters. Tom is one of the key reasons that G&K is a premier law firm in Milwaukee.”  Vickie Bence, Administrative Assistant,  Godfrey & Kahn, SC
“Tom is truly the ‘man behind the scenes’ at G&K. He approaches his job with humor and flexibility — traits surely needed when dealing with attorneys! With Tom at the helm of the business end of the firm, our attorneys and our Managing Partner Rick Bliss can do what they do best: the law. Tom quietly steers the G&K ship through the economy, billing, accounting, purchasing, etc. He manages all the department heads and me encouraging us to be self-starters. Tom is one of the key reasons that G&K is a premier law firm in Milwaukee.” - Vickie Bence, Administrative Assistant, Godfrey & Kahn, SC

Thomas C. Nipko
Executive Director, Godfrey & Kahn, SC

Thomas Nipko’s background was in accounting, and he had worked as a comptroller and treasurer for a subsidiary of the old Schlitz brewery.

But 28 years ago, after the merger with Stroh’s ended the Milwaukee operation, Nipko decided to pursue a new path in a field in which he had no experience: law.

“I knew nothing about law, but that wasn’t a problem. The firm wanted to be run like a business. And a law firm is a business like any other.”

Since 1996, Nipko has been the Firm Administrator at Godfrey & Kahn, managing a business with five offices throughout Wisconsin, and around 400 combined attorneys and support staff.
It is his responsibility to guide the firm through the rough economy by making the firm more efficient.

“Clients are seeking discounts, and the onus is on us to give the discount and still make a profit, by making lawyers more efficient, building a knowledge database of our work product, and training associates better,” Nipko says.

“The firm has hundreds of thousands of boxes of paper documents, but they can’t be easily accessed in that form,” he says. “They need to be filed and indexed, so the next attorney can find them and build on them.”

“In the last three years, there have been real efficiency gains in delivering legal services.”

Firm Administrator Honorees

Cheryl A. Blenker
Office Manager, D’Angelo & Jones LLP

“Cheryl has worked for this firm for over 25 years. She works tirelessly without complaining. Without Cheryl in our corner so many details would fall through the cracks. She makes the attorneys in our office more productive by anticipating our needs, sometimes before we even know we need anything. We would truly be lost without her.”

Christine D’Angelo, Managing Partner, D’Angelo & Jones, LLP

.

“What I’ll always remember about Jean was our banter back and forth, about something in the news or some running joke. Near the end, I’d give her a call just to check in, thinking it might be  raising her spirits. What I’ve now realized, is that even then, she always went out of her way to raise mine.” - Arthur Simpson, President, Simpson & Deardorff
“What I’ll always remember about Jean was our banter back and forth, about something in the news or some running joke. Near the end, I’d give her a call just to check in, thinking it might be raising her spirits. What I’ve now realized, is that even then, she always went out of her way to raise mine.” - Arthur Simpson, President, Simpson & Deardorff

In Memoriam: Jean M. Olson
Firm Administrator, Simpson & Deardorff

It’s a little quieter at Simpson & Deardorff SC in Milwaukee these days. It’s probably going to be that way for a long time.

That’s because Jean M. Olson is gone.

As a civil-litigation defense firm where cases often involve terrible tragedies, occasionally everyone there needs to laugh about something completely unrelated. They could always count on Olson for help with that.

Olson joined the firm in January 2008, hired initially to work as a receptionist. Her duties expanded rapidly due to her wide range of skills and willingness to take on new projects.

So the firm-wide e-mail last December announcing that she may need more flexibility with her hours, because she’d be receiving chemotherapy, was met with great sadness. Everyone knew she’d had serious health issues in the past, but they also believed, as she did, that they were only in her past.

She’d stay into the evenings on her chemo days, to make up for her hours in treatment, despite everyone’s urgings to the contrary.

She was convinced she’d win her second fight against cancer, and therefore everyone around her was convinced, too.

Jean Olson left the firm in September and passed away at her home surrounded by friends and family on Oct. 2. She was 47. She left her husband, Mark, and children, Alexandra and Samuel.

“What I’ll always remember about Jean was our banter back and forth, about something in the news or some running joke,” said firm President Arthur Simpson. “Near the end, I’d give her a call just to check in, thinking it might be raising her spirits. What I’ve now realized, is that even then, she always went out of her way to raise mine.”

The firm nominated Olson for recognition due to her dedication and skill. In her honor, the firm participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in September, and will likely do so for many years to come.

Polls

Should Steven Avery be granted a new evidentiary hearing?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Legal News

See All Legal News

WLJ People

Sea all WLJ People

Opinion Digests