Appleby serves up philosophical approach

Listen to this article

Health care litigation, actuarial malpractice defense and securities arbitration require a cerebral approach in order to reach a successful solution for a client.

To that end, an undergraduate degree in philosophy can come in handy.

Such is the case for Quarles & Brady attorney Jane E. Appleby, who graduated from the University of Utah in 1992 and spent the next several years homeschooling her twin daughters before attending Marquette Law School.

Appleby joined the Milwaukee office of Quarles in 2006. She focuses on civil and commercial litigation. Beyond her practice, she serves on several State Bar groups, including the Diversity Outreach Committee and the Professional Ethics Committee, as well as a member of the Milwaukee Bar Association’s Judicial Selection Committee.

Appleby showcased her range – and her love for all things cuddly – in this week’s Asked & Answered.

Wisconsin Law Journal: If you could develop one CLE course for credit, what would it be about?

Jane E. Appleby: The benefits of meditation.

WLJ: What can you spend hours doing that isn’t law-related?

Appleby: Spending time with my daughters watching for critters, domestic or wild, or searching for tiny sea shells.

WLJ: What is your favorite website and why?

Appleby: I love cuddly creatures, great and small. Accordingly, my favorite website is www.cuteoverload.com.

WLJ: Which actor would play you in a movie and why?

Appleby: Based on appearance, probably Brigitte Nielson, Annie Lennox, or Jane Lynch. But for obvious reasons, I would prefer to be played by Angelina Jolie.

WLJ: What is one thing attorneys should know that they won’t learn in law school?

Appleby: How to be kind.

WLJ: What is the first concert you went to?

Appleby: Boston. I was in seventh grade. This marked the beginning of an obsession with live music that lead to, among other things, living in a school bus and following the Grateful Dead.

WLJ: If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would it be and why?

Appleby: Frans de Waal, Jane Goodall, or anyone else who has had a chance to observe primates in the wild and up close. Alternatively, the aquarist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium who is in charge of raising abandoned baby sea otters.

WLJ: What is the hardest thing to tell a client?

Appleby: For my pro bono disability benefits claimants, that it will take two years or more before they will get a hearing.

WLJ: What is the one luxury item you cannot live without?

Appleby: Good gin and nice shoes are luxury items that I enjoy, but I am almost certain that I can live without them. So I’ll say a hot shower, or the ability to travel to visit my family.

WLJ: If you were State Bar President for a day and could make one permanent change to the profession, what would it be?

Appleby: I would partner with the president of the Wisconsin Medical Association to develop interdisciplinary programs to serve people of modest means.

Jack Zemlicka can be reached at [email protected].