Thomas Basting Named President-Elect of State Bar

Members also elected to secretary and judicial council positions

MADISON, May 24, 2006 – Madison attorney Thomas J. Basting, Sr. of Brennan, Steil & Basting SC, has officially been named president-elect of the State Bar of Wisconsin after winning a statewide election of Wisconsin lawyers. Basting will serve as President-elect for one year beginning July 1, 2006. He will then take office as president of the bar for a one-year term July 1, 2007.

Basting received 2599 votes to defeat Madison attorney Kent I. Carnell of Lawton and Cates, SC, who received 2092 votes. Basting will succeed retired Madison attorney Steve Levine as president. Levine's term as president runs from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007.

"I'm honored that Wisconsin lawyers have chosen me for this important job. My goal in the next few years is to lead the Bar in promoting the public interest by maintaining and furthering the highest standards of conduct in the legal profession and by aiding in the efficient administration of justice," said basting. "The State Bar of Wisconsin has long been recognized as one of the best in the country and I look forward to assisting in maintaining that standard of excellence."

Basting graduated from Marquette University in 1959 and received his law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1962. He has served as an instructor of general practice at the University of Wisconsin and lectures at numerous State Bar of Wisconsin educational seminars in the area of legal ethics. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Rock County Bar Association (past president), and the State Bar of Wisconsin, having served as Chairman of the Litigation Section and the Professional Ethics Committee.

He has served as Special Counsel to the State of Wisconsin Ethics Board and was appointed by the Governor as a Special Prosecutor in the state lobby law investigations. He acts as counsel to the Wisconsin Judicial Commission and the Office of Lawyer Regulation. He is a member of the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers and is certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Bar Foundation, the International Society of Barristers, and the Wisconsin Law Foundation.

Wisconsin attorneys elected Baraboo attorney Gretchen G. Viney of Viney & Viney in Baraboo as State Bar secretary. She received 3141 votes to defeat Madison attorney Micabil Diaz Martinez, who received 1487 votes.

Viney is a clinical associate professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, associate director of the Lawyering Skills program and also teaches Client Interviewing & Counseling and Real Estate Transactions. She is a partner with her husband in the firm of Viney & Viney in Baraboo. She is a Sauk County contract guardian ad litem representing the interests of children, the elderly, people with mental illness, and the developmentally disabled in court proceedings. She received her B.A. degree, with highest honors, from the University of Wyoming in 1974 and her juris doctor (J.D.), with honors, from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1978. In 2005, she was named by Law & Politics as a Super Lawyer and one of the top 25 women lawyers in Wisconsin.

She is a past-president of the Baraboo Rotary Club and has been active at both the local and district levels of Rotary. From 1991 to 2005 she was a member of the Baraboo Plan Commission. She is currently secretary of the State Bar of Wisconsin and has served on Bar committees and boards since 1980. She is the author of the book Guardianship and Protective Placement for the Elderly in Wisconsin as well as chapters in other publications. She is a frequent presenter at continuing legal education workshops and community-based workshops, most often on the topics of guardian ad litem practice or elder law.

Wisconsin attorneys also elected Manitowoc attorney Robert L. McCracken to the Judicial Council. McCracken received 2470 votes to defeat De Forest attorney Jason J. Hanson, who received 1817 votes.

McCracken a partner in the Manitowoc law office of Nash, Spindler, Grimstad and McCracken, LLP, received his undergraduate degree from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts and his law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Civil Trial Counsel of Wisconsin, the Defense Research Institute, and the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is also a co-author of Wisconsin Trial Practice published by the State Bar of Wisconsin, has been a litigation course instructor at the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1994, 1996, and 2000, and is a frequent speaker at professional meetings and conventions.

The State Bar of Wisconsin elections are held in April. Those elected will be sworn in during the State Bar's Annual Convention in May, and will officially take office July 1, 2006. The president-elect will serve a one-year term before becoming president, the secretary will serve for two years and the Judicial Council representative serves three years.

The State Bar of Wisconsin is the mandatory professional association, created by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, for attorneys who hold a Wisconsin law license. With more than 21,000 members, the State Bar aids the courts in improving the administration of justice, provides continuing legal education for its members to help them maintain their expertise, and assists Wisconsin lawyers in carrying out community service initiatives to educate the public about the legal system and the value of lawyers.

For more information, visit www.wisbar.org.

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