Local Candidates Named for 2006 State Bar Elections

Members nominated for president-elect, secretary, and judicial council positions

MADISON, February 8, 2006 – Madison attorneys Thomas J. Basting and Kent I. Carnell have officially been named candidates for the office of president-elect of the State Bar of Wisconsin.

Thomas J. 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.

Kent I. Carnell, a shareholder with the Madison firm of Lawton & Cates, S.C., where he also serves as President, concentrates in the areas of personal injury, business disputes and construction litigation. He is certified as a civil trial advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He was admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin in 1970 and has also been admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin. He received his bachelor's degree in 1967 and his J.D. in 1970, both from the University of Wisconsin.

He is a member of the State Bar and the Dane County Bar Associations, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the James E. Doyle Inns of Court. He was elected to the State Bar Board of Governors in 2001. He has served on the State Bar's Executive Committee from 2004-06 and is presently chair of the Board for 2005-06. He has served as liaison to the Litigation, Construction and Public Contract Law, and Energy and Telecommunication Law Sections. In addition, he has served on the Lawyer Dispute Resolution and Professionalism Committees.

The Nominating Committee also announced the two nominees for secretary: Micabil Diaz Martinez of Madison, and Gretchen Viney of Baraboo.

Micabil Diaz Martinez graduated from Marquette University in 1986 and Marquette University Law School in 1989 with Thomas Moore Scholar honors. He served as a military attorney (JAG) with the United States Army before becoming a staff attorney with Legal Services of Northeastern Wisconsin. While in Green Bay, he practiced criminal and family law with the Law Offices of Stephanie C. Stoltman. He has also served as the Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Officer for Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and Legal Director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin Foundation. In February 2003 he became the Administrator for the equal Rights Division of the State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development and in 2005 was promoted to Deputy Secretary.

He is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Milwaukee County and Dane County Bars, Board member of the Wisconsin Hispanic Lawyers' Association and Wisconsin Employment Lawyers' Association. He has served as chair for the State Bar of Wisconsin's Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section and member of the Leadership Committee, Section Leaders Advisory Committee, Board of Governors, Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee, and Board Member of the Milwaukee Forum. In 2003, he was presented with the Latino Citizen of the Year award in recognition of his work and advocacy on behalf of Milwaukee's Latino community.

Gretchen 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.

Nominees for Judicial Council are Jason J. Hanson, De Forest and Robert L. McCracken, Manitowoc.

Jason J. Hanson, an Assistant District Attorney in Dane County, graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1998. He earned majors in political science and history from the University of Wisconsin and studied electrical engineering at Marquette University. He has served as a special prosecutor in several counties, has handled thousands of civil, criminal misdemeanor, and criminal felony cases, and has briefed/argued cases in the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. He has served on a number of court system and legislative study committees. He has presented at a number of conferences on various legal subjects and frequently trains police officers. He recently successfully petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court to expand the admissibility of business records.

Robert L. 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 2006 State Bar of Wisconsin elections will be 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.

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