Marti L. Wronski with unofficial team mascot Hank T. Dog of the Milwaukee Brewers. Photo: Andy Mannis

You have a position that other lawyers covet. How did you come to be the Milwaukee Brewers vice president and general counsel?

After graduating from the U.W. Law School, I worked for a few years as an associate with Foley & Lardner, Milwaukee. We did in-house work at Foley for Major League Baseball. I worked mostly as a corporate litigator. I also met my husband (Andrew Wronski) at Foley. I left when we were expecting our first son, and became a professor at Marquette University Law School. That allowed me to grow into a straight-up good corporate lawyer, with good common sense, before I took a step into a role of this magnitude.

In 2002, I was asked to fill in when the Brewers needed help after their previous general counsel left. I said, “Hey, I’ll fill this spot for a little bit.” We had two babies at the time. I was thinking, no way – I don’t need two babies and two jobs. The weeks passed – and I was offered the full-time job. I love academia, but I had to make a decision. I went to the dean of the law school and said, “What do I do with this?” And he said, “Are you serious?! Take it for now, and come back to teach later.”

My advice to those aiming for positions like this: Keep your nose down and work hard. There’s not necessarily any magic to it. I really believe that if you work your tail off and you do it right, these kinds of things happen. That’s how I got the opportunity. And after 13 years, here we still are.

Were you one of those kids who wanted to be a major-league ball player, but settled on the law?

I’ve been an athlete all my life. I absolutely love sports. I have four sons and a husband who grew up in Milwaukee, so baseball became front and center in my world very quickly. And so now it just fits in beautifully. I was a very serious athlete all the way through law school. Athletics is an area I’m very comfortable in and thoroughly enjoy. To practice in a world that is so interesting is just icing on the cake.

What is a typical day for you? Do you have a typical day?

I don’t. That’s where the appreciation for the term general counsel really comes into play. I’m the only lawyer for the Brewers, and I oversee our minor-league affiliates. I do all the legal work on the baseball and the business side, so there is no typical day. One day, I’m really focused on getting a player contract done, or working on a licensing agreement, and the next, getting the stadium ready and doing a typical contract for sponsors. And then I’m doing trademarks the next day.

Is there a specific aspect of the job that you find most interesting?

I love the variety from day to day. What’s most interesting is actually how all the components of this job come together. I get the opportunity to work with literally every aspect of this business from the grounds crew, to the events people, to the players and the coaches. To understand how all these pieces come together is what I find most interesting.

How important is it to have “baseball” knowledge? In other words, could you do this job without understanding the game and its history?

You can’t operate well in this atmosphere without a very real understanding of what it is we’re here to do. I have to be able not only to talk the talk but also really understand it, to ensure that a particular issue is being handled and addressed properly.

I learned by listening and finding the right people to ask the right questions of, and lots of reading. We have a Major League Baseball rules book. We have agreements between the union and the players, and agency agreements between the teams in Major League Baseball and the league. It’s like studying a whole new set of rules and law and the way things are done, how things are played. This is a game of deadlines and a game of dates from a business perspective: when can you trade, how many days do you have, what must you do before you can do these other things. And if you miss any of those components, there really is an issue, and arguably it’s your responsibility.

It’s actually a really comfortable place to be once you learn it.

Is there civility and camaraderie among different teams’ lawyers? Or is this a shark’s game?

There’s tremendous camaraderie. We’re all the same side. Any time you have a group of business professionals and there are so few of you, it’s imperative from an efficiency standpoint and an effectiveness standpoint to share information. And we do that both formally and informally. We share so many issues. Do we get frustrated with each other from time to time? Sure, because we’re such a small group. If another club decides to handle something in a certain way, it will always come back to me.

You are one of a few women executives in Major League Baseball. Are there challenges to being a woman among these boys of summer?

I can’t say that I have negative experiences and certainly nothing that I have felt I could not work through. There might be initial misgivings, but I think it can work both ways. Maybe I’m perceived as more approachable because of my gender. Maybe people come to me and try to work things through more readily because I’m perceived to be easier to approach.

I found a tremendous amount of respect across the league. There are some very high-level women within Major League Baseball and in other clubs. There aren’t a lot of us, but there are an increasing number of us. There are certainly more women now than there were 13 years ago. I think that’s phenomenal.

I talk to a huge number of young women who want to get into the industry, and I encourage them profusely. It just takes a little time. You’ve got to make sure you’ve got the skill set and that you’re ready – the same as young men who are trying to get into the industry.

What are some of the ongoing legal issues in baseball?

There are hot issues all over the place in terms of how minor-league players are compensated. We watch the minor-league draft; there are ongoing changes that will continue to be made. We always focus on safety in the ballpark. We always focus on relations between the players union and the league – which has been phenomenal.

Can you watch a Brewers game without thinking of behind-the-scenes legal issues?

No, honestly. I can enjoy it, but I cannot watch a game and not be observing and thinking about every little possibility. I see something new every time I watch a game. I send 15 emails during every game – something you do when you’re passionate about what you do. I’m always thinking about what’s going on. I even do it when I’m watching the kids’ Little League games. I’m covering up puddles of mud because I’m afraid the kids are going to slip and fall. It’s one of those things where you get wired in a particular way and it’s just what you do. I have learned to not overreact and to take a more deliberate approach to it. That just comes with experience.

Part of your legal duties is taking care of Hank, the former stray adopted as the Brewers’ mascot. How is he doing?

Hank lives with my family at home. Hank is something else, but he is also just the sweetest thing in the world. He really is a delight to have, but he’s a little bit of a turkey. I think his days on the street turned him into a bit of a scavenger. There’s not a bag or garbage can in my house that is not undone every time no matter how we try to make sure there’s nothing out there.

We agreed to take Hank right away – no questions asked. All I had to know was that he needed rescuing. We had a 9-month-old puppy, Bella (a mini-golden doodle, now two years old), when Hank came around. They get along perfectly, but Hank is definitely in charge. He’s like a diva, we say it all the time.

My kids (boys ages 6, 10, 11, and 12) are out of their minds for these dogs. At the end of the day, that’s what matters the most. Hank has actually provided a really great opportunity for my kids to do a lot of charity work with him. We take him to the events, but the boys are the ones in charge of the dog – my husband and I stand back. It has become phenomenal. Hank bridges that gap between people; he works miracles in these little ways all over the place.

Hank’s calendar is certainly busier than my sons’. We can’t send him to everything he gets invited to but we really do try to keep a very special focus on the charity events that he can do.