Sacks find home in Wisconsin employment law

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Jon Sacks will never lack for work.

A labor and employment attorney at Jackson Lewis representing management interests, Jon Sacks find himself in the midst of an ever-widening field of law. As employee protections continue to be added and modified in other ways, companies find themselves with a seemingly endless series of responsibilities.

“And a lot of what I do is preventive — trying to help employers not get involved in a claim,” Sacks said. “And since I’ve been practicing in Wisconsin, no two cases have been alike. You encounter some very interesting fact patters, and every day is different.”

Sacks supplements his work in employment law with time representing various counties and school districts. It was that willingness to take on responsibility and serve a variety of clients that prompted Sacks’ colleague, Ron Stadler, to find a place for Sacks at Jackson Lewis.

The two had worked together previously at Mallery & Zimmerman. Stadler, also a specialist in employment law, estimated Sacks spends 95 percent of his time working with him.

“He always impressed me from day one as being very dedicated to his profession and dedicated to clients,” Stadler said.

Unlike many lawyers in Wisconsin, Stadler attended law school out of state. His law degree is from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

After working as a lawyer in New Jersey and Delaware for a number of years, he found himself having fond memories of his undergrad days in Appleton, where he attended Lawrence University. Seeking a better quality of life, he made the move back to Wisconsin.

Since starting his practice here in 2015, Sacks has found a home not only in the Wisconsin legal profession but also the many organizations he gives his time to outside of work hours. He is president-elect of the West Bend Sunrise Rotary Club, a board member of the Washington County Historical Society and is on the board of the National Alliance on Mental Health, Washington County.

Sacks said most of his professional experiences have conformed to his expectations. But there has been at least one surprise.

“What I didn’t expect was how much of my day to day would be spent writing and researching,” Sacks said. “Most cases nowadays get settled, and we rarely have trials. But I’m constantly writing briefs and motions and reading and researching and staying up to date on different areas of the law.”