Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Maloney’s appellate work making a difference

Maloney’s appellate work making a difference

Listen to this article
Susan Maloney, Siesennop & Sullivan (Staff Photo by Kevin Harnack)
Susan Maloney, Siesennop & Sullivan (Staff Photo by Kevin Harnack)

When Susan Maloney was seeking to add some flexibility and variety to her litigation practice, she made the decision to jump into appellate work.

“With appellate work, I like the idea of being able to contribute to making the law better,” said Maloney, an attorney at Siesennop & Sullivan Attorneys at Law in Milwaukee. “I also liked that I could do a lot of the work on my own schedule, whether it was evenings or weekends, so I could be there for my kids.”

Maloney’s appellate work and her less-than-traditional schedule made her a role model to many younger female attorneys, said W. Wayne Siesennop, her partner at the law firm.

“Susan’s ability to juggle her professional life and family life is something women lawyers over the years have admired,” he said.

Maloney appreciates seeing younger women follow in her footsteps.

“I’ve come in contact with a lot of young women who are in litigation and have a family too and are making it work,” she said. “I guess I was a pioneer of sorts when it comes to women and the law. There were not many women in litigation back in the early 1980s, so that was an education, to say the least.”

As a litigator, Maloney gained respect from colleagues for her ability to take complicated cases and make them easy to understand.

“I always wanted to be a litigator because I enjoyed the interaction with people and persuading people,” she said. “The cases I work on — whether it’s insurance defense or large construction projects — are complex and complicated and that’s something I really enjoy.”

Maloney also played a role in creating case law — particularly in construction — something she relishes. Among her first big appellate wins was St. Clare Hospital of Monroe v. Schmidt, Garden, Erickson, which the Court of Appeals sided with Maloney’s client regarding the parameters of a settlement agreement release.

Looking back, Maloney said the case she remembers most was the Estate of Lyons v. CNA Insurance Cos., which the Court of Appeals first applied governmental immunity to a design professional. That ruling was upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Jahnkee v. Clark Ct., a position she advocated for as amicus curiae.

“I like the idea of making the law better through my efforts,” she said.

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