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  • WisBar News
    September 28, 2011

    New State Bar members hear messages of harmony, truth, honor, obligations, and service at admissions ceremonies

    Sept 28, 2011 – Surrounded by family and friends, 106 lawyers were admitted to practice in Wisconsin earlier today.

    The lawyers were welcomed by all seven justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Board of Bar Examiners (BBE) director Jacquelynn B. Rothstein, and State Bar President Jim Brennan.

    Rothstein reported that 209 people took the bar exam in July, representing 81 law schools and 32 jurisdictions; 85 percent passed. Today’s admissions also includes several graduates from the U.W. and Marquette law schools and lawyers being admitted from other jurisdictions under the proof of practice provision.

    Harmony

    In her welcoming comments, Rothstein noted an excerpt from a speech Franklin Delano Roosevelt was to have delivered on Jefferson Day in April of 1945 – the day after he died. “His words serve as an important reminder to lawyers, particularly for those whose careers are just beginning,” she said. “Today we are faced with the pre-eminent fact that if civilization is to survive we must cultivate the science of human relationships, the abilities of all peoples of all kins to live together and to work together in the same world at peace.”

    Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson presided over the four ceremonies. Justices N. Patrick Crooks, David T. Prosser Jr., Annette Kingsland Ziegler, and Michael J. Gableman administered the oath in the Supreme Court Hearing Room. Following each swearing-in ceremony, Justice Patience Drake Roggensack spoke to the new lawyers.

    Truth and honor

    New Wisconsin lawyers take the oath

    New Wisconsin lawyers take the lawyer’s oath in the Supreme Court Hearing Room. From left: Jonathan R. Hoogstra, Ehren J. Skoog, and Joshua Sofian.

    Brandon Michael Lewis and Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler

    Karne O. Newburn, signs the Supreme Court roll. Every lawyer admitted to practice in Wisconsin since the state was a territory has signed the roll. Karne is joining a Chicago firm where she will focus on antitrust matters.

    Roggensack began with questions. “Where do you go from here? What kind of Wisconsin lawyer will you be? There are so many possibilities, however, along with the possibilities your law license also imposes many responsibilities,” she said.

    “If you maintain truth and honor as a central principle with all the legal services you provide, you will be a credit to our profession, and you will provide a benefit to society that goes far beyond the services that you provide to your client,” she said. “Truth and honor are not really easy ideas to get your arms fully around. For example, truth can simply be a concept.” Noting that Abraham Lincoln used the truth as a concept that encompassed the core of liberty in the Gettysburg Address, she said, “Truth can be a representation of a particular circumstance or event. In the complicated world in which we live so often what is presented as a representation of a circumstance or a fact is only the speaker’s version. To some people truth is relative. In that regard, some have even argued that the truth is whatever the majority agrees it is.

    “I urge you to make truth a habit as you work as lawyers,” Roggensack said. “Legal practices that are consistent with truth and honor will stand you in good stead with the courts and the legal community at large. There your reputation for truthfulness is the most precious quality that you have. Judges rely on lawyers who truthfully represent the law and facts to courts and juries. Your colleagues at the Bar will accept your word as you work through very complicated legal questions, if they can rely on your truthfulness.”

    “Maintaining the truth is not always an easy task,” she continued. “You will be pushed by circumstances and people toward bending the truth. Often you can’t tell all that occurred in a particular event, but maintaining the truth is worth the effort. It is worth the vigilance that it takes. Sometimes that vigilance will be easily marshaled and sometimes not."

    “…stand up for the truth … it is not relative. The facts do matter. A fair reading of the law does matter,” concluded Roggensack.

    Obligations

    Brennan spoke about the nobility of the profession. “Lawyers play a central role, in their communities, in their town halls,” he said. “Lawyers indeed call us the natural nobility in a democracy. Nobility is not about status. It is rather about obligations.

    “The lawyer’s oath binds us together," said Brennan. "Going forward, your word is your bond and your compliance with that oath will be what carries you through the profession and life. So, that you are noble, in essence, means you have obligations.”

    Brennan also urged the lawyers to look to the State Bar as their partner in their practice and in their career development. “Be it setting up an office, calling the ethics hotline – call the State Bar there are many resources available,” he said.

    Service

    In closing the ceremonies Abrahamson referred to the last paragraph of the lawyer’s oath as a commitment to tithe to the community. “You will have a monopoly on providing legal services,” she said reminding the new members of the crucial need to provide pro bono legal services to those who cannot afford it.

    The State Bar welcomes the following new attorneys:

    Brandon Michael Lewis and Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler

    Brandon Michael Lewis and Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler. Lewis will join the Troupis Law Office LLC in Middleton.

    Melissa R. Holds The Enemy and her partner Joe

    Melissa R. Holds The Enemy and her partner Joe. Holds The Enemy is Of Counsel for the Crow Nation in Montana.

    Joshua Hargorve (right) and friend Kevin Henry

    New member Joshua Hargorve (right) and friend Kevin Henry. Hargorve hopes to practice constitutional/labor law.

    Visit the State Bar on Facebook for more admissions photos, or click here.

    Alicia Armstrong, Madison

    Catherine Miriam Biglari, Skokie, Ill.

    Brynja Ann Bjarnason , Minnetonka, Minn.

    Elisabeth Anne Brady, River Falls

    Elizabeth Emily Bray, Janesville

    Brandy Bryan, Cottage Grove

    Michelle K. Burtscher, Ottawa Lake, Mich.

    Krista M. Carlson, Maple Grove, Minn.

    Mathew Chizeck, Madison

    Travis A. Crowell, Green Bay

    Danielle Renee Dale, Madison

    Brian Timothy Damman, Madison

    A. J. Dordel, Madison

    Steven Ellis, Madison

    Elizabeth C. Fahrlander, Madison

    Jonathan R. Hoogstra, Muskegon, Mich.

    Ehren J. Skoog, Ripon

    Joshua Sofian, Milwaukee

    Melissa R. Holds The Enemy, Madison

    Theodore Enser, Madison

    Erin Fitzgerald, Madison

    Joshua Hargorve, Madison

    Brandon Michael Lewis, Madison

    Peter Nicholas Maris, Chicago

    Jordan S. Martinson, Madison

    Courtney Meyer, Madison

    Karne O. Newburn, Chicago

    Michelle Jungers Synarong, Madison

    Peter Gamber Swenson, Shorewood

    Benjamin Swoboda, Milwaukee

    Guy R. Temple, Milwaukee

    Amy Aaron Weems, Jasper, Ala.

    Anthony Flitcroft*, Delavan

    Amanda L. Florek, New Berlin

    Margaret Hope Francis, Madison

    Eric G. Frank, Sparta

    Matthew D. Friedlander, Milwaukee

    Christopher James Gartman, Milwaukee

    Kimberly E. Gehling, Oshkosh

    Alex Christian Gesch, Cedar Grove

    Andria M. Getchel, Stoughton

    Benjamin Joseph Glicksman, Milwaukee

    Theresa A. Golski, Milwaukee

    Jeremiah J. Harrelson, Hudson

    Jason J. Heinen, Neenah

    Jennifer J. Hennessy, Madison

    Jerrold Alan Hinshaw, West Allis

    Matthew Ignoffo, Lake Forest, Ill.

    Allen James Irgens, Madison

    Christina Therese Jones, Milwaukee

    Nicholas James Jones, Twin Lakes

    Njoki D. Kamuiru, Milwaukee

    Amy M. Kieffer, Waukesha

    Katherine Ann Kowalczyk, Kewaskum

    Christian J. Krautkramer, Milwaukee

    Amy Lanser, Minneapolis

    Malcolm Scott LeBlanc, Milwaukee

    Susan D. Lee, St. Croix Falls

    Bryce A. Lehman, Kenosha

    Lillian Lewis, Kenosha

    Jens Hubert Loberg, Ellsworth

    Adrian Wayne Longacre, Viola

    Raza Mahmood, Gainesville, Fla.

    Desireé Michelle Matel-Anderson, Milwaukee

    Lindsey Jean Mather, Green Bay

    Thor Tobin Mathison, Madison

    Luke D. Mayefske, Appleton

    Erik McFarland, Stevens Point

    Dustin Allen McMahon, New Berlin

    Daniel Charles Warner Narvey, Milwaukee

    Jonathan Nowaczek, Bayport, Minn.

    Brandon P. O’Connor, Waunakee

    Sean O’Gorman, Oak Creek

    Molly Pappas, Milwaukee

    Jesse J. Patton, Baraboo

    Bryan Ivan Pierce, Tomah

    Tiffany Lynn Powers, Milwaukee

    Leah M. Provost, Madison

    Ryan Joseph Raymond, Rhinelander

    Jenna Lee Reichling, Darlington

    Brian David Reider, Milwaukee

    Grace Cary Roessler, Cedarburg

    Kelly Rae Runkle, La Crosse

    Chad Oliver Schimmelpfenning, Oak Creek

    James Michael Schleicher, Milwaukee

    Shana A. Schlifer, Minneapolis

    Scott S. Schlough, Saint Paul, Minn.

    Sara Schmeling, Milwaukee

    John Schroeder, Antigo

    Jeffrey Cole Severson, Kaukauna

    Christopher R. Steffe, Brookfield

    Elizabeth L. Stinson, Reston, Va.

    Nicholas D. Strom, South Bend, Ind.

    Brianna Lynn Sweeney, White Bear Lake, Minn.

    Chad R. Thomas, Wrightstown

    Morgan J. Tilleman, Milwaukee

    Nicholas T. Timm, Waukesha

    Tiffany Rose Timmerman, Potosi

    Chelsie Ann Thuecks, Wisconsin Rapids

    Keaton L. Troy, Charleston, S.C.

    Eric Jacob Wasieleski, Naperville, Ill.

    Kristen Carroll Wasieleski, Naperville, Ill.

    Jacqueline M. Zerka, Milwaukee

    Eric James Zorc, Milwaukee

    Amy M. Burger, Milwaukee

    Tracy Hodge, Waterford

    Visit the State Bar on Facebook for more admissions photos, or click here.



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