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Thorn proves she can do it all

By: Alison Henderson//June 23, 2016//

Thorn proves she can do it all

By: Alison Henderson//June 23, 2016//

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Ellen Thorn | Arndt, Busswell & Thorn
Ellen Thorn | Arndt, Buswell & Thorn

Ellen Thorn is well-known for her commitment to her practice, her family and the village of West Salem.

Twenty-five years ago, Thorn went into business with her two partners at Arndt, Buswell, & Thorn in Sparta. Twenty-six years ago, she got married to a man who can now testify to her being an equal partner in caring for their three children and the household.

“Both have been very successful, long-lasting, supportive partnerships,” Thorn said.

She has been coaching the West Salem High School mock trials team since 1989. She also teaches young lawyers and future lawyers as a University of Wisconsin Law School instructor specializing in criminal law, family law and lawyering techniques.

She is a member of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference Policy Advisory Group, has served on the State of Wisconsin Fee Arbitration Panel and the Seventh Judicial District Citizen Review Panel and is the president of the Marie W. Heider Fine Arts Center. She has also been involved in several other public service roles, including serving as chairwoman of the Dioceses of La Crosse Sexual Abuse Review Board and as a past-president of both the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys and the Monroe County Bar Association.

Thorn graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1984 and now specializes in family law, mediation and Social Security disability law. Before helping found Arndt, Buswell, & Thorn, she was an assistant state public defender in La Crosse for six years.

Thorn believes her greatest influence has been on her daughters, who have seen firsthand that it is possible to have a family, be a leader in a profession, serve on boards and still have time to officiate soccer games. Leading by example and showing her daughters the importance of being involved has helped them become strong, independent, “neat” women, she said.

Daniel Berkos, chairman of the State Public Defender Board, said that Thorn’s commitment to public service is exemplified by her longstanding membership there. She has been on the board for 13 years, making her the longest-serving female lawyer, according to Berkos.

“She’s very involved in her professional community as well as her personal community. She’s one of those people who gives 100 percent to whatever she does, and I always know that she’s going to be a great advocate for her clients,” said La Crosse County Circuit Court Judge Gloria Doyle, who has been a friend and colleague of Thorn’s for 29 years.

Doyle added that she and Thorn became especially close while they found themselves working to have both a family and a legal career at a time when many women felt they had to choose one or the other.

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