Powerlist – Tamara Packard – Pines Bach

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Tamara Packard has dedicated more than two decades to advocating for employee rights, social justice and civil rights. Joining Madison’s Pines Bach in 1999, Packard doesn’t imagine spending her legal career anywhere else partly because her first case had a profound professional and personal impact.

The case involved Madison Teachers Incorporated (MTI), a union that represents teachers and other educational staff at Madison Metropolitan School District, where Packard successfully defended the domestic partner health insurance benefits for union members.

“This was before marriage equality existed, and it was hugely important to the union, its members, and members of the LGBT community generally,” said Packard. “As a lesbian myself, active in the LGBT rights movement since college, it was also hugely personally important to me.”

With a diverse practice, Packard handles most labor union work in addition to her civil and social issues litigation work. The variety of experience and cases are what Packard credits as her toolbox, enabling her to take an effective problem-solving and less adversarial approach that prioritizes clients’ goals while minimizing costs for all parties.