Townsend spends career fighting for workers, civil rights

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In her career spanning nearly four decades, Marilyn Townsend has made a name for herself as a civil-rights trailblazer.

Townsend opened her Madison-based practice in 1987 when she returned to her home state after working as in-house counsel for the United Mine Workers, representing the union and its members in cases throughout the country.

After opening the Marilyn Townsend Law Office, she continued to take on cases that had her helping clients facing various injustices, both in labor matters and in cases concerning harassment, discrimination and other civil-rights infringements.

“I’ve always cared about people getting a fair shake, and I always saw the law as a way to do that,” Townsend said. “I have always used my law degree in a way to help balance the scales of justice.”

Townsend won a unanimous decision before the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2017, when the court ruled in favor of Lela Operton, Townsend’s client and a former Walgreens employee who had been denied unemployment benefits after being fired.

Townsend met Operton while volunteering at the Unemployment Compensation Clinic and went on to handle her case pro-bono.

“Operton v. LIRC was an achievement of excellence in a cross-section of fields … that will inspire young lawyers to the commitment to pro bono service as they develop their own legal careers,” said Carousel Bayrd, a partner at Herrick & Kasdorf in Madison.

Townsend, also a former municipal judge for Shorewood Hills, says her most memorable cases are those that have directly benefited her clients.

“Making people feel that they can be empowered and they aren’t the lowest person on the Totem pole … that always gives me a great deal of satisfaction,” Townsend said.

Outside her practice, Townsend volunteers at the Unemployment Compensation Clinic and the Veterans Law Center.

“Marilyn is unfailingly willing to give of her time and expertise to mentor other attorneys,” Bayrd said. “The example she sets in terms of her pro bono work and her tenacious advocacy on behalf of those who otherwise might not be able to afford representation strengthens the entire justice system.”