Wisconsin Law Journal – WI Legal News & Resources Wisconsin Legal News & Resources

Although Melissa Zabkowicz grew up wanting to be an attorney, she did not settle on her corporate law specialty until the summer before her final year of law school.

Although James Friedman, a shareholder in Godfrey & Kahn’s office in Madison, now feels at home in a courtroom, he actually did not consider a legal career until he had nearly finished earning an engineering degree at Georgia Tech.

When Peter Sommerhauser walks into his Godfrey & Kahn office, he knows every day will be different.

Andrew Hitt is driven by a desire to serve the community.

Litigator Larry Hammond may be retired, but the 90-year-old is not slowing down.

Christa Westerberg was interested in environmental causes, but knew she didn’t want to be a scientist.

Although hospice and palliative measures are not usually top of mind when most people think about health care, the topics take up much of Jarod Ferch’s time at his legal practice.

When Benjamin Kaplan gets a new case, he looks at it as a puzzle and immediately begins developing a plan that he believes will lead to the best solution.

Kathryn Westfall sees a few similarities between the time she spent playing NCAA Division I soccer while attending Harvard University and the work she has done in corporate law at Reinhart Boerner Van Dueren.

Vincent Scipior enjoys a challenge – something he finds nearly every day as a litigator at Coyne, Schultz, Becker & Bauer.

About 2-1/2 years into her career at the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office, Kaitlin Lamb decided she wanted to argue a case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Brendan Bush was introduced to the law at an early age. His father – a plaintiff’s attorney – would often discuss his cases at the dinner table and encourage Bush and his siblings to ask questions.

With a legal practice specializing in taxation, executive compensation and employment benefits, David Eckhardt is constantly kept on his toes.

Peyton Engel did not follow the usual path to becoming a lawyer.

Working on real estate related lawsuits, such as actions arising from construction projects or eminent-domain matters, is similar to putting together a puzzle, according to Smitha Chintamaneni, a shareholder at von Briesen & Roper in Milwaukee.

While working in environmental consulting, Allison Reimann dealt with a lot of regulations and came to discover she had an aptitude for understanding legal matters. Six years after graduating from college, Reimann headed to law school where she found her calling: commercial litigation. “Once I started writing briefs, I just loved it. I also enjoyed putting together arguments so litigation ...

Coming from a family of legal professionals, Connor Valentyn was pretty certain he would become a lawyer himself. The real question was: What type of practice would he pursue?

Change is nothing new to Claire Hartley and other lawyers specializing in labor and employment law.

Bernard “Bud” Bobber finds fulfillment guiding clients through the labyrinth of employment laws and regulations.

When he meets new people and is asked what he does, Max Stephenson prefers to talk about family law rather than volunteering that divorce cases constitute the bulk of his work.

For Kevin Schulz, an attorney at Foley & Lardner in Milwaukee, success is when his client closes on a deal, whether it be the sale of a family business or of a major league baseball team.

Shannon Allen views herself as a problem-solver.

When Josh Czuta worked as an attorney at Liberty Mutual Insurance and saw workers’ compensation cases begin to arrive on his desk, he was unsure what to think.

Craig Stoehr had practiced law around the world, from Qatar and London, before he decided to return to his home state of Wisconsin earlier this year.

John McCauley always had a strong interest in reading and writing – even when he worked in finance before starting law school.

Stacy Gerber Ward has sat on both sides of the table.

Kathy Charlton has always been drawn to fighting injustice. Case in point: She read books by Ralph Nader while growing up.

Working at a law firm was never part of Jennifer Hannon’s life plan, but she is grateful for going off course.

At first glance, the two parts of Susan Allen’s legal practice may seem as if they have little in common. But to Allen, a partner at Stafford Rosenbaum in Milwaukee, her litigation practice and work for municipalities are a natural combination.

While working with a domestic-violence shelter, Michele Perreault spent a lot of time in court as an expert witness.