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

The auditing staff in the State Public Defender’s Assigned Counsel Division has the challenging task of reviewing the thousands of bills submitted for work done by private bar attorneys. They review each one to ensure that it complies with the agency’s rules and policies. When things don’t look right and cuts are made to bills, they have the unenviable task of contacting the lawyers to let them know about the changes.

Jennifer Dahms has been interested in the law for a long time. As an undergraduate, she was a political science major with an emphasis in law. Although she put off going to law school, she got a job working as a receptionist at a law firm. She moved to another firm as a legal secretary, and then went on to another where she worked as a paralegal for more than three years. When the attorney she was working with came to Davis & Kuelthau SC three and one-half years ago, so did Dahms.

Back in 1992, Tracey Reams came to Melli Law as a legal assistant. She eventually became the firm’s bookkeeper, then became the firm’s office manager, handling administration, human resources, finances, marketing, IT oversight and facilities.

For Arlette Johnson, it is not enough to do her own job well. She also wants to help other people do their jobs well. To that end, she has tried to help the new secretaries who have come to Michael Best & Friedrich during her three decades there.

When it comes to the Association for Women Lawyers, Dana Kader Robb is a jack-of-all-trades. And the AWL board’s nomination indicates she has mastered them all. Kader Robb’s multi-facetted role includes marketing and communications, teaching legal marketing to members, administration of the organization, maintaining the member database, light financial services, serving on AWL’s communications committee, coordinating events and managing archives.

When someone at one of Habush Habush & Rottier’s 13 offices needs to know where to find the information that’s essential to a case, they call Diane Duffey, the firm’s only law librarian. It’s a role she has enjoyed for more than 11 years.

When a computer hard drive crashed during the middle of a trial, a lawyer’s worst nightmare, Jim Desing worked through the night to fix the problem, and the litigation team was able to proceed with their presentation the following day. Foley Managing Partner Nancy Sennett says that tackling that job without complaint is just one example of his strong work ethic and attitude.

Kelly Conrardy is watching with a great deal of pride as the first class of attorneys that she recruited comes up for partnership. Conrardy, who has been with the firm for nine years, oversees the firm’s attorney recruiting and retention efforts.

Court Staff Award Winner Marjean Schlagenhaft Court Reporter, Racine County Circuit Court, Branch 5 For 29 years, Marjean Schlagenhaft has been Judge Dennis J. Barry’s court reporter, not only reporting the proceedings and producing transcripts, but handling whatever the judge needed done. She even runs the calendars one week ahead of time to give the judge a “heads-up” on things ...

Ed Thompson Facilities Manager, Quarles & Brady LLP For more than four decades, Ed Thompson has given his all to Quarles & Brady. He started 41 years ago as a court runner, taking documents to the courthouse and filing them. He notes that was so long ago that Louis Quarles, one of the firm’s namesakes, was still around. Today, Thompson ...

Diann Chapman Regional Office Administrator, State Public Defender’s Office, for Milwaukee and Madison Appellate Divisions Diann Chapman’s philosophy has always been “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” That approach has served her well during her 25 years with the State Public Defender’s Office, particularly while she has filled the role of Regional Office Administrator for the ...