Dan Gartzke, the State Bar's next president starting July 1, with his wife Tracey L. Schwalbe, also an attorney.​​

June 18, 2025 – Dan Gartzke could not predict that he would become State Bar president, he said in his inaugural speech Wednesday night in Madison, but “looking backward I see how every decision, every move, led to where I am now.”

He could, however, point to how he made those choices. At each step, he was with mentors.

Gartzke, who practices family law for Boardman & Clark LLP in Madison, ran for president with the goal of promoting mentorship.

‘Mentorship Is Powerful’

“Mentorship is powerful because it is personal,” Gartzke said, quoting retired Judge Mary Triggiano, who is now director of the Andrew Center for Restorative Justice at Marquette University Law School.

“A mentor’s belief in us can shape the trajectory of our careers, instilling confidence where there was doubt and opening doors we never imagined possible. A mentor’s greatest gift is not just advice or opportunity but presence.”

There’s another element Gartzke said from Triggiano’s description of mentorship – “a sense of responsibility to pay it forward.”

“That last quote about paying it forward is to me a central element of mentoring,” Gartzke said.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Walsh Bradley administered the oath of office.​

Gartzke’s Mentors

Throughout Gartzke’s career, he found mentors, and he recognized some of them.

Kent Carnell and Bruce Davey “are some of the most decent people I have ever known.”

In Green County, Dan Bestu​l and Tom Vale, as well as Bob Duxstad “mentored me in numerous ways in the business of running a law firm in addition to building friendships” that have stayed with Gartzke.

Gartzke also has mentors in his family law practice group at Boardman and Clark, a team that mentors each other.

The State Bar has also given Gartzke mentors such as Past-president Dean Diedrich, Executive Director Larry J. Martin – and David Lasker, “my opponent in the election and also a man of great decency, whom I appreciate.”

President Ryan Billings also has been his mentor, Gartzke said.

“It may sound odd that I look to him, someone who was not yet born when I graduated high school, but he has been a mentor. He has remarkable ability to stay calm under fire, which has been a necessary quality in his term.”

Family has given Gartzke close mentors, too. “My most important mentor, partner, and companion these last 40 years has been my wife,” attorney Tracey Schwalbe, Gartzke said.

“Don’t let up,” he told her. “I expect this year to be particularly challenging.”

And Gartzke’s father, Paul C. Gartzke, provided him with a “story that expressed core truths about mentoring.”

Gartzke with law firm​​ colleagues from Boardman & Clark LLP.

History of Mentorship

Paul, who began work at Stephens, Bieberstein, Cooper & Bruemmer on Aug. 22, 1952, preserved memories of his mentor. Dan Gartzke found a written story in his dad’s papers.

One of Paul Gartzke’s mentors was Adolph J. Bieberstein, who went by “Bieb.”

The firm assigned associate Paul to work under Bieb, who wasn’t much for delegation. He couldn’t bear seeing someone botch the job.

And Paul reflected, “And botch it I did.”

An early task required drafting a memo involving gift tax consequences. He worked on it for a week and felt good about the product, Dan Gartzke related.

“Bieb called me in a few days later, told me he had read the memo and approved, that I had done a good job, except I had not answered the specific questions he had in mind.” And Paul admitted that Bieb was right.

“Bieb allowed me to keep making other mistakes, some large and some small, and so I learned, painfully at times, and slowly, but steadily and under his guidance,” Paul wrote.

“Maybe Bieb saw something in me I couldn’t see in myself.”

Gartzke gives a toast: On stage, from left, Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, ​law firm colleagues Paul Sch​midt and Rick Schmidt, and outgoing State Bar president Ryan Billings.

Judgment

“Bieb frequently used a word: judgment,” Paul wrote. “The word began to make sense to me, to have real meaning, as I found how good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.”

Judgment involves a range of insight: knowing when to speak and when to be quiet, when to wait and when to act, when to be satisfied with a job, and “a feeling for the right thing.”

Judgment means “when to arrive at an answer, then to peel the answer back for another answer and next peel that answer back until the final core of truth is reached.”

It may mean accepting losing a case and learning from it, but even more so, “how to prepare a case so you don’t lose.”

“Bieb taught me many more things . . . some large, some small but the things in all that make a good lawyer, with good judgment. I am forever in his debt.”

‘Pay It Forward’

“Bieb himself had his own ‘father-in-the-law’ in Mr. Benjamin Bull who had died before I joined the practice,’ Paul Gartzke wrote. “Bull was clearly to Bieb what Bieb is to me.”

For Dan Gartzke, the story exemplifies mentoring. “It can be a chain of knowledge and teaching, from one person, to the other, to the next, going back in time, and stretching forward into the unknowable future.”

“It’s not just the past, or the present, but the future as well,” Gartzke said. “As Judge Triggiano put it, ‘Pay it forward.’”

Mentoring is important to Gartzke, he said, because “it’s about confidence, and trust in the future, and our ability to shape it with our positive actions.”

His mentors have taught him in ways that have enriched his practice.

“One of the things that I have enjoyed about being a lawyer is the ability to disagree, at times strongly, with other lawyers, or judges, or justices, and still behave civilly,” Gartzke said.

Outgoing State Bar President Ryan Billings with all former State Bar presidents in attendance.

‘Polarized Times’

“We live in polarized times, and as rhetoric becomes increasingly volatile, civility is the first victim. Our members are passionate about political issues, especially those impacting lawyers,” Gartzke said. “That’s admirable.”

Some of that dialogue, Gartzke said, has strayed into attacks.

It may be hard to find the right answer, even after “intentional discussions” and work “to sort out the issues.” It may be hard to know what is right. “Sometimes there are multiple answers, and sometimes there are no good answers.”

What may be needed, as Gartzke referred to his Dad’s insight, is “to peel back an answer to get to the underlying truth.”

Because the State Bar is a mandatory bar, Gartzke said, it has responsibilities to our members.

“When we speak, we are seen as speaking for all our members, even if we don’t, and we must respect their individual viewpoints, even – and especially – no matter how we personally disagree with them.”

“There are always different opinions.”

Gartzke with, from left, State Bar President-elect Stephen Sawyer, outgoing President Ryan Billings, and Immediate Past President Dean Dietrich. 

Moving Forward

“I know that as State Bar president, I will make decisions or statements not all members agree with. Sometimes the disagreement will be intense. I expect to have my errors called out, when appropriate … and in an appropriate manner,” Gartzke said, who promises to “always respect all viewpoints.”

Gartzke concluded by addressing “those members who are unhappy or disagree with our decisions, on any topic – let us know your opinions, respectfully. You are also always welcome to become involved, and make your positions known.”

As he concluded his toast that thanked our friends and family of the past, present, and future, Gartzke said: “Let’s seek that future, move forward to it together, respectful, civil in our disagreements.”