Month: February 2014

Steven Botzau planned to be a teacher, until a dispute with a college landlord gave him a taste for the courtroom.

“[My college roommates and I] brought a lawsuit to get out of the lease and get the property condemned,” the Habush Habush & Rottier SC shareholder said. “They hired a lawyer. I represented myself and my roommates, and we had a trial. I won, and I told my roommates, ‘You know, this law thing doesn’t seem so bad.’”

Though he abandoned his plans to become a teacher, the instinct never really left him, which might explain his approach to mentoring new associates, such as Benjamin Wagner, now a partner at the firm.

When Wagner joined the firm in 2003, right after law school, Botzau let him handle cases on his own, including cases that Wagner didn’t have a great shot at winning.

“Steve struck such a great balance in allowing me to succeed and fail on my own,” Wagner said. “He helped me learn to try cases, manage client relationships and, of course, how to win, but also how to learn when you lose.”

Botzau said he feels privileged to be able to give back, whether that’s through mentoring at the firm or volunteering in the community.

He’s a former president of the Racine County Bar Association, which in 2009 named him Volunteer of the Year. He was recognized, in particular, for his efforts to coordinate training for bailiffs statewide, as well as his participation in mock trials as part of Law Day observances with Racine Public Schools.

Botzau also has coached youth sports, serves on the board of directors for Racine Youth Sports and, since 2010, has organized the Gus Macker basketball tournament, which brings together hundreds of athletes each year to raise money for RYS.

“I’m a guy who has a lot of lists,” Botzau said. “I carry them with me and try to get to as many [items] as I can.”

Juggling family, community and church involvement has been the biggest challenge of his career, he said.

His ability to do so is one of the things Wagner said he admires most.

“He’s able to do all these things (within the firm) and still be a father and, now, grandfather, and he also is a community leader,” Wagner said. “He is a true mentor.”

Jerry McAdow intends to wind down his career.

But after nearly five decades at the same firm, his friends keep giving him work.

McAdow, 72, is of counsel and a former partner at Boardman & Clark LLP, which has gone through a few name changes and a merger since he started there, fresh out of law school, in 1967.

His legal philosophy of building friendships and affinities isn’t lip service. McAdow is an upbeat verbal Rolodex, a social network that far pre-dates Facebook. His law work reflections are interspersed with couple’s dates with clients, joint bicycling trips and shared community involvement.

“I’ve never felt I needed the incentive of a friendship of a client to do the best job that I can,” McAdow said. “I’d like to think I’m committed to do that. But when you add the additional friendship to the professional relationship, there’s a give-and-take and reward of knowing that you’re doing something that has deeper meaning.”

With client American Family, McAdow snowballed a friendship with one insurance exec into the annexation of 700 acres for a headquarters.

McAdow’s friendly aspirations even work when two sides have no interest in getting along, David Weller, a partner at Boardman & Clark who has worked with McAdow since 2001, said. In one recent deal, Weller said, relations between an ownership group selling to a rival veered toward nasty disagreements, but McAdow kept the tone airy in reminding everyone of the end goal.

Weller said the greatest lessons McAdow has taught him and others are in dealing with the “softer side” of transactional cases.

“In a large part, I am the attorney that I am today because of the fact he took the time to mentor me,” Weller said. “There’s no doubt.”

Though he remains active with the firm, McAdow said he has made more time for family in recent years. That includes his wife of 50 years, Carol, two grown children, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

But the thing about counting your clients as friends, he said, is that they’re never far.

“I switched from partner to counsel, thinking I’d taper off,” he said. “The blessing and curse of that is that I still love my work and I love contact with my clients and friends.”

John Skilton witnessed change firsthand while in college and law school during the 1960s.

“I watched the explosion of civil rights laws and it had a profound impact on me,” said Skilton, a partner with Perkins Coie LLP in Madison.

Known nationally for his work on intellectual property law and patent litigation, Skilton said he believes lawyers need to reach out “beyond the four walls of their office,” to affect change.

As president of the State Bar of Wisconsin in the mid-90s, Skilton led efforts to improve access to legal services for low-income residents. That work led to the creation of the nonprofit Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund.

“I think it should always be a part of a lawyer’s career to provide help to those who cannot pay,” he said.

When it comes to his pro bono work, Skilton focuses on civil rights, winning two national awards for his efforts. In the mid-2000s, he co-chaired the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which worked to protect voting rights and helped with the Hurricane Katrina crisis.

“Civil rights cases have always been important to me,” Skilton said. “I believe so much in helping people who might not otherwise get assistance. …

“I am just keenly interested in helping people resolve their problems.”

Skilton’s passion inspires others, Margaret Raymond, dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School, said.

“John’s leadership is not limited to one realm,” she said. “He is a leader in the Wisconsin legal community and plays a role in the national leadership of the profession.”

Skilton, who clerked for 7th Circuit Judge Thomas Fairchild after graduating from law school, helps the UW plan its annual Fairchild Lecture Series.

“He also mentors younger attorneys,” Raymond said, “and continues to provide extraordinary service to his clients. John’s a brilliant and hardworking attorney.”

When he’s not working on patent and IP cases, representing pro bono clients or serving on committees, Skilton stays busy giving presentations about Abraham Lincoln’s career as an attorney.

“He was an attorney for 24 years, but it’s only been the last 20 years or so that historians and attorneys have looked at it,” Skilton said. “A lot of what he later did as president was formed in those years as an attorney. I think as a lawyer, Lincoln is a model for all of us.”

Mentoring isn’t just what Kenneth V. Hallett does, it’s who he is.

“I don’t put down on my calendar ‘I’m going to mentor from 3 to 4 today,’” the Quarles & Brady LLP partner said, “I incorporate it into everything I do. I just keep my eyes and ears open to other people and provide guidance where needed.

“Leading by example is also key.”

Hallett’s approach is necessary to allow him to keep up with mentoring younger attorneys at the Marquette Law School Volunteer Legal Clinic and Quarles & Brady. He serves as national chairman of the firm’s corporate services practice group and maintains a vigorous practice focused on securities law and general business law.

“I definitely was the beneficiary of a lot of good mentoring along the way,” Hallett said. “I didn’t always realize it was happening, but as I looked back I could see people who had opened a door for me or showed me a new horizon.”

That led Hallett to start doing the same for others. He’s been on the firm’s Associate Development Committee for more than 12 years, serving as chairman for nearly half that time.

“Mentoring and helping others just makes me feel good,” he said. “I see people as a potential colleague and not someone who just works for me.

“If I can help him or her to get better, it’s in all of our best interests. They may learn from me, but frankly I learn a lot from them, too.”

In securities law where experience is essential, Hallett said he will build in teaching moments by asking other attorneys what they think, walking them through a situation and listening to their reasoning.

“There are a lot of judgment calls,” he said, “and since I have more experience I can share what I know and what I’ve seen.”

His dedication is noticed and appreciated throughout the firm, said Ann Murphy, the Milwaukee office managing partner for Quarles & Brady.

“Through the years, I’ve seen the contributions Ken has made to our firm, his clients and our younger attorneys,” she said. “He’s really made a difference in their lives.

“They know attorneys are busy, but Ken takes the time to talk with them, to work with them.”

Clients turn to attorneys when they have problems or questions, but what about when it’s the attorney with the problem?

At many law firms, it’s the general counsel who fields questions and helps solve problems. It’s a demanding job, but one at which Francis Deisinger of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren SC feels at ease.

“Lawyering is a difficult job and the problems we deal with can be complex, but it’s gratifying to help other attorneys,” he said. “It’s great to work with other smart professionals.”

Deisinger has been Reinhart’s general counsel for more than seven years and also serves as the firm’s vice president. “Attorneys have a substantial code of ethics and I advise attorneys both inside and outside the firm in those rules.”

Besides his role as Reinhart’s general counsel and work with the Milwaukee Bar Association, Deisinger maintains a busy litigation practice, focusing on trust, guardianship and product liability.

“Trust and estate litigation [is] very interesting and it’s mostly local, which is a nice change of pace,” he said. “For the first 15 years of my practice, I traveled quite a bit (for product liability cases) and it’s enjoyable to practice in front of judges you know and with opposing counsel that I also know.”

Allen Schlinsog Jr., chairman of Reinhart’s litigation practice, called Deisinger, who also is a frequent speaker on ethics, a “lawyer’s lawyer” who others look up to.

“He is a consummate professional and acts with great dignity and professionalism in everything he does,” Schlinsog said. “Although he has a quiet nature about him, everyone listens carefully to his thoughts because they are very insightful and stem from experience few can match.”

Deisinger’s assistance extends beyond Reinhart’s doors. He’s an active member of the Milwaukee Bar Association, including a stint as president from 2009-10. He also played an integral role in starting the Milwaukee Justice Center and said he still enjoys volunteering there.

“I love getting to know other attorneys from all kinds of places, large and small firms,” Deisinger said. “Attorneys in Milwaukee have a deep respect for one another. I’ve practiced in other places and what we have here is definitely special.”

For Deisinger in particular, Schlinsog said, that respect runs deep.

“Lawyers know that Fran is someone with the highest character,” he said; “someone that we would want to speak for us should the need arise.”

When most law students graduate, they put their case-briefing days behind them.

But for Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge John DiMotto, completing his J.D. was just the beginning.

Whenever DiMotto, a 23-year jurist, has a free moment, he can be found poring over published opinions from the Wisconsin appellate courts and summarizing the key rulings. He has four filing cabinets of briefs, which people refer to as his “computer.”

“I consider myself a student of the law,” DiMotto said. “Some people think I’m crazy because I do that, but it keeps me sharp.”

He also uses the briefs when teaching or helping judges from across state with difficult legal issues.

Although judges in Milwaukee County typically aren’t allowed to move filing cabinets when rotating, DiMotto’s colleagues have made an exception for him — an informal tribute to his encyclopedic legal knowledge.

The extra work has served him well with an extremely high rate of affirmances by the appellate courts.

“It’s a matter of doing your homework,” DiMotto said. “You don’t walk into a courtroom and pick up a file for the first time.

“I look at my cases in advance, scope out what the issues are and potential evidentiary problems. I look at my folders of cases that apply that type of law. And I am cautious.”

DiMotto is one of only two judges to have served complete terms in every available judicial assignment in the county.

He began his legal career in the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office. For nine of his 15 years as a prosecutor, he headed the Sensitive Crimes Unit. He joined the bench in 1990.

DiMotto said a guiding principle throughout his career has been thoughts of his legacy.

“My hope is that when someone asks, ‘What was John DiMotto like?’ that people would say, ‘He was a really nice guy. He really cared,’” DiMotto said. “‘And he really wanted to make his community a better place to live.’”

The longtime judge is much more than a nice guy, however, said Dan Blinka, a professor at Marquette University Law School, who has known DiMotto since their shared time as prosecutors.

“John DiMotto is the essence of a great trial judge,” Blinka said. “He has keen intelligence, a mastery of the law and empathy for the individuals who appear before him.

“His passion is to do right by people according to the law. What else would motivate someone to be that diligent and that careful for decades?”

While most people haven’t heard of Robert Dreps, they have benefited from his work, said April Rockstead Barker of Schott, Bublitz & Engel SC, Brookfield.

“Bob’s work has protected and enhanced the public’s access to information that is essential to ensuring government accountability,” she said. “This is a legacy that transcends specific disputes and benefits every citizen of this state.”

Dreps is a member of the litigation and media practice groups in the Madison office of Godfrey & Kahn SC. He has represented a variety of newspapers and media outlets seeking to get records or defending their work on a story.

The attraction to newspapers stems, Dreps said, from the fact that it is the only industry mentioned in the U.S. Constitution.

“The founding fathers knew the only way to guarantee freedom of speech was to guarantee freedom of the press. It is that important,” Dreps said. “People depend on the media to report on what the government is doing since we can’t all be at every meeting. Free speech principles are vital to open government and representative government can’t operate properly without it.”

Of course, media has changed significantly since the Constitution was written and those ongoing changes can prove challenging, he said.

“New technology and social media allow more freedom of speech and more voices are being heard,” he said. “But on the downside, we are losing a common frame of reference, like when everyone sat down and watched the evening news on one of the three network stations.”

As media outlets continue to fragment across the political spectrum, he said, “There’s some danger that objective truth [is] being lost.”

Some media outlets are struggling, Dreps said, which means they have fewer resources for investigation and watchdog reporting, as well as paying to litigate.

“Fortunately in Wisconsin,” he said, “we still have newspapers who are vigorous in their watchdog role.”

Barker said Dreps always is willing to help attorneys and journalists who have questions about open records or First Amendment law.

“Bob has devoted his career to advocating for transparency, access to public information, and freedom of speech,” she said. “And even apart from his work on his own cases and on committees and boards, he unfailingly makes himself available as a personal resource for others in the field.”

Donald Schott is a problem solver both for his clients and his firm.

Schott, a litigator at Quarles & Brady LLP, boasts more than 30 years of experience. He serves on the firm’s executive committee and as chairman of the firm’s Madison office litigation group, in addition to his role as an elder statesman in Quarles’ commercial litigation practice group.

His love of practice was not anticipated, however, when he applied to Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1980.

“I originally went to law school because I was interested in public policy and government,” Schott said. “I didn’t think I was going to actually practice but I thought getting a law degree would be a helpful education.

“Once I started practicing I found out that I enjoyed it a great deal.”

In the years since, his passion for the law has become infectious, inspiring his associates and encouraging deep trust from his clients, which include some of Wisconsin’s largest companies, such as Wisconsin Energy Corp. and Johnson & Johnson.

“It’s a challenge and can be rewarding when you have clients whose cause you believe in,” he said.

Schott’s attraction to a good challenge is made apparent in his decision to remain multidisciplinary in a field trending heavily toward strict specialization.

“It’s hard to become an expert on several areas of substantive law,” he said, “but practicing in a large firm allows me to draw on resources within the firm.”

Remaining multidisciplinary does have its advantages however, Schott said.

“It allows you to see connections and see approaches that work in one area of the law that might work in another area of the law,” he said. “Having that breadth of experience can be very helpful.”

His ability to see these connections is noted by his colleagues.

“Don certainly is one of the most exceptional business litigators in the country,” John Daniels, chairman emeritus at Quarles & Brady, said, “because he brings a unique blend of understanding the challenges of complicated ligations and resolving matters affectively for clients. He’s a rare breed of lawyer.”

But the approach has its difficulties, as well.

“One of the things I’ve found a challenge,” Schott said, “is to take difficult concepts from across substantive areas and try to make them understandable to judges and juries.”

The payoff is worth the hard work, he said.

“The most rewarding part of my job,” Schott said, “is finding ways to resolve situations for clients.”

Long-running litigation cases can be an occupational hazard for attorneys, with lawsuits going on for years.

Michael Van Sicklen of Foley & Lardner LLP knows this all too well. Since 2008, he’s represented the Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance as lead counsel in all of the litigation involving the Ambac Assurance Corp. Rehabilitation — the largest insurance company liquidation in American history.

“No doubt it’s been big,” he said. “There’s more than $300 billion in liabilities there, but the key is they are not all the same case. There are different people involved, which keeps it interesting.”

Since the rehabilitation began, Van Sicklen has litigated and won more than 20 disputes and appeals related to the case. Ambac is chartered in Wisconsin and the state insurance commissioner selected Foley & Lardner to represent the office in court.

“We’ve taken care of some big issues,” Van Sicklen said, “but there are still other things that will come up.”

The Foley & Lardner partner’s work on the Ambac case shouldn’t be underestimated, Anne Ross, managing partner of the firm’s Madison office, said.

“Those disputes were contested by sophisticated parties represented by Am Law 100 law firms,” she said, “and involved high stakes, ranging from tens of million to several billion dollars.”

Despite the challenges, Van Sicklen said it’s a job he’s enjoyed.

“The case keeps you on your toes,” he said.

Though his work in the courtroom speaks for itself, Van Sicklen initially wasn’t sure he wanted to be a litigator. That changed in law school after he did a clerkship with an appellate judge.

“I knew then that’s what I wanted to do,” Van Sicklen said.

Despite working for high-profile clients such as Ambac and Physicians’ Insurance, Van Sicklen still enjoys and makes time to work one-on-one with clients and to take on pro bono jobs. He recently helped more than two dozen low-income residents avoid eviction.

“It was nice to receive handwritten thank-you notes from them,” Van Sicklen said. “It’s great to win big ones like with Ambac, but knowing you’ve helped someone individually is very gratifying.”

Ralph Weber’s career includes standout verdicts and educational reform.

But it’s the happiness he’s brought to clients that gives him the most satisfaction, the attorney with Gass Weber Mullins LLC said.

“(Clients) are looking for us to help solve problems,” he said, “and when you can do that in a way that has a dramatic impact on the people you work for, it gives you a tremendous amount of satisfaction.”

In 2012, Weber represented Aqua Finance Inc., Wausau, in a four-week jury trial against its national accounting firm. The $50 million verdict he secured for the company is one of the largest in Wisconsin’s history, Weber said, and ranked No. 2 nationally in 2012 for professional malpractice.

But his pride in the verdict comes, he said, from the “favorable impact that it had for an important Wausau company and its people.”

“The verdict and settlement enabled [Aqua Finance] to return to prosperity,” Weber said, “and it’s thriving again.”

In cases large and small, Weber said he appreciates the breadth of knowledge he gains from each experience. While representing eight school districts in 1987, for example, in the 15-week trial over the desegregation of Milwaukee Public Schools, Weber said he learned how school districts are set up in Wisconsin. Preparing for trial involved exploring decades of history and “the ideas of how children develop, thrive and learn in classrooms.”

Weber helps attorneys in the classroom, as well. In 1997, he created the Trial Science Institute, a jury research and courtroom facility that provides clients and lawyers the ability to conduct mock trials to help with witness preparation and lawyer training.

“To be an effective advocate you have to step outside a client’s case,” Weber said, “and see it with a sense of empathy from the other side’s position; and from the position of a lay person likely to sit on your jury.”

He said he was inspired to create the institute while conducting juror interviews after trials. He learned a jury would focus on a certain piece of evidence that the lawyers on both sides had not appreciated, so he created a facility where attorneys could better prepare.

In her nomination letter, Amelia McCarthy of Gass Weber Mullins called Weber a “legal visionary.” She also noted his deep commitment to giving back to the community through service and charitable contributions, including his work with the Marquette University National Alumni Board and the Marquette University College of Arts & Sciences Alumni Board.

Ross Anderson won his first case when he was in the sixth grade.

“We had a trial in some sort of legal class we were taking,” the Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek SC shareholder said, “and I successfully defended Kenny Morrell against allegations that he stuffed the ballot box for class president.

“I still don’t think he did it, to this day.”

He’s been a natural leader for years, from serving as captain of his high school wrestling team to president of the West Bend School Board.

“As nearly as I can tell,” Charles Bohl, a fellow shareholder, said, “he has risen to the top leadership position in everything he’s ever done, which is kind of amazing.”

Anderson has been a shareholder for 30 years. He helped establish Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek when Whyte & Hirschboeck merged with Frisch Dudek in 1993, and he was a board member for 10 years.

Though he assumes leadership roles with aplomb, Anderson still has some discomfort in the spotlight, Bohl said.

“We all know people who seek out attention and notoriety, but that really isn’t Ross at all,” he said. “I don’t think he’s looking for these positions. I think he’s just naturally selected; people just gravitate toward him.”

Anderson agreed, saying he’s “not a particularly public person.”

“We live out in the country, between West Bend and Slinger,” he said. “I enjoy chopping firewood.”

Yet, nearly four decades into his legal career, Anderson continues to lead by example. He helps lead the firm’s litigation practice group and recently was involved with the headline-making six-week O’Donnell Park parking garage case in Milwaukee County.

The biggest challenge, Anderson said, has been balancing his private life and public leadership roles. He is involved in work at his church and with several community groups in West Bend.

Some days are better than others, he said, but he’s not ready to quit trying to do it all.

“I don’t feel like I’m ready to stop, yet,” Anderson said. “At some point, [litigation is] definitely a type of practice for younger, energetic people. But I still feel like I’ve got more than enough energy to do it, and my experience is a huge assistance in it; I have a better ability to recognize what’s important and what’s not.”

As far as Bohl can tell, there’s only one area Anderson is falling short.

“He’s terrible at returning phone calls,” Bohl said with a laugh, “probably because everybody’s calling him.”

An interest in architecture and history drew Bruce Block to the law, but it’s his ability to broker public and private sector deals that has kept him in practice for nearly 35 years.

“He’s able to come up with innovative solutions,” Milwaukee developer Gary Grunau said. “I remember one of our earliest projects: Milwaukee Public Schools was in need of some middle schools.

“Bruce came up with the idea of housing the middle schools in nonprofits and leasing them back to MPS. He’s just excellent.”

Block started as a summer associate at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren SC in 1978. Though the firm’s CEO Jerry Janzer said he’s now known as a “go-to guy” in the real estate development community, Block jokes that he’s simply outlasted everyone else.

After Block formally joined the firm in 1979, Janzer said, he began building a network of contacts in government and business that eventually would allow the firm to broker deals for the development of the downtown river walk system in Milwaukee, Pabst Farms in Oconomowoc and Bayshore Town Center in Glendale.

Today, Block is not only a shareholder and board member, but also co-chairman of the real estate practice group and a leader on the Northwestern Mutual project in Milwaukee.

And he has done it all while working pro bono for the Turner Ballroom Preservation Trust, Froedtert Hospital Foundation, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Greater Milwaukee Committee.

“He does more than just show up,” Janzer said. “He is a leader on every one of those boards. He doesn’t do it to add to his resume.”

Block shares the credit for what he’s been able to accomplish.

“I think Milwaukee is a very open community,” he said. “The opportunity to become engaged and part of stuff is there.”

People looking to get involved “just need to roll up their sleeves,” Block said.

Where Block really thrives is in bringing people together.

“The public sector is responsive to very different things than the private sector,” he said, “so trying to coordinate, anticipate and align all the competing interests and cross-currents can be both frustrating and rewarding.”