New Hires, Promotions, Partners

Ruth Bauman, U.W. 1987, has joined Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. in its Milwaukee office. She is with the labor and employment practice, focusing on clients’ policy and program development and implementation, internal investigations and compliance audits of employment practices, and counseling of international businesses.

Kristin Beilke, Loyola Chicago 2010, has joined Murphy Desmond S.C. as an associate in the creditors’ rights, business bankruptcy, and commercial litigation practice group and a member of the bilingual legal services team. She focuses on representing creditors and debtors in all chapters of bankruptcy and civil matters. Beilke, who is fluent in Spanish, is based in the Madison office and also meets clients in the Janesville office.

Jennifer L. Nutt Carleton, U.W. 1996 cum laude, has joined Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC as a partner with the gaming practice in the Las Vegas office. She previously was senior staff attorney for the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin and then a shareholder with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP. She focuses on transactions involving casino gaming, manufacturing, cash access products, and Indian gaming and on sovereign immunity, contract enforceability, and regulatory matters.

James Chiolino, U.W. 2007 cum laude, has been named director of the Wisconsin Equal Rights Division’s Bureau of Hearings and Mediations, Madison, and supervises the ERD’s administrative law judges. He previously was director of the ERD’s Labor Standards Bureau and is an author of the State Bar of Wisconsin publications Wisconsin Wages and Hours Handbook and Wisconsin Employment Law.

Alexander T. Kay, Marquette 2018 cum laude, Blake A. Nold, Marquette 2018 cum laude, and Tiffany E. Woelfel, U.W. 2016 magna cum laude, have joined Davis|Kuelthau s.c. Kay is with the corporate team, and Nold is with the litigation team, both in the Milwaukee office. Woelfel, with the litigation team in the Green Bay office, previously clerked for the Hon. William C. Griesbach, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, and the Hon. Joe B. McDade, U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois.

Olivia Esser, U.W. 2018, and Joia Sanders, U.W. 2018, have joined the Madison office of DeWitt Ross & Stevens S.C. and its affiliate DeWitt Mackall Crounse & Moore S.C. Esser is an associate with the trusts and estates and business practice groups and focuses on estate planning, probate, trust administration, business transactions, and real estate. Sanders is an associate with the business and real estate practice groups and advises individuals and businesses.

Scott M. Engstrom, Penn State 2013, has joined the litigation team at Gerbers Law S.C., Green Bay. He represents banks, other companies, and individuals in business and civil litigation matters.

Frank Gumina, Marquette 1991, has been named chief legal officer at WPS Health Solutions, Madison. He succeeds Dan Schwandt, North Dakota 1988, who was named chief of staff while continuing as chief governance officer. Gumina previously was a partner at Husch Blackwell, Milwaukee.

Storm B. Larson, U.W. 2018, has joined Bell Moore & Richter S.C., Madison, as an associate and concentrates in civil litigation, including labor and employment law, legal services, and general liability defense.

Cheryl R. Lutz, U.W. 1996, has joined Madison National Life Insurance Co., Madison, as associate general counsel, focusing on regulatory law, employment law, and civil litigation. Previously, she was associate general counsel for a large Wisconsin insurer.

Justin W. Peterson, William Mitchell 2009, has joined Bosshard Parke Ltd., La Crosse, and practices in real estate, business, and employment litigation

Jonathan Sopha, U.W. 2001, has joined Sorrentino Burkert Risch LLC, Brookfield, as senior counsel. His primary focus is commercial real estate, including asset dispositions, development, financing, leasing, construction, and investment.

Kerry A. Trapp, Minnesota 2001, has joined the Oakdale, Minn., office of Borgelt, Powell, Peterson & Frauen S.C. Her practice areas include insurance coverage, first- and third-party insurance defense, and subrogation.

K. Scott Wagner, Marquette 1989, has joined Mallery & Zimmerman S.C. as a shareholder in the Milwaukee office. He has represented clients in complex commercial litigation, including shareholder disputes and derivative actions, contract disputes, and class actions involving antitrust, securities fraud, and breaches of fiduciary duties by majority shareholders.

Cristina M. Wirth, U.W. 2017 magna cum laude, has joined Bye, Goff & Rohde, River Falls, which focuses on plaintiffs’ personal injury law matters. Wirth previously was judicial law clerk to Chief Judge Edward J. Cleary, Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Mergers, Relocations, New Offices

Quarles & Brady LLP has opened an office in Minneapolis, at Fifth Street Towers, 150 S. Fifth Street, Suite 1800. This is the firm’s 11th office nationwide. Lawyers with the new office include Daniel Young, William Mitchell 1990, a partner focusing in business law; Isaac Roang, Georgetown 2007, a partner in the real estate law practice; and Peter Kaiser, U.W. 2011, focusing in business law.

Appointments, Elections

The Milwaukee Bar Association’s new officers and board members were sworn in at the MBA’s annual meeting in August. Incoming president Matthew R. Falk, U.W. 1994, Falk Legal Group LLC, Milwaukee, concentrates in business and commercial litigation, with an emphasis on insurance law.

Other newly sworn-in officers and board members are president-elect Aaron T. Olejniczak, U.W. 2002, Andrus Intellectual Property Law; vice president Nadelle Grossman, Tulane 1999, Marquette Law School; and directors Erin (Maggie) M. Cook, U.W. 2009, Godfrey & Kahn, and Thomas Reed, Cornell 1981, State Public Defenders Office, all of Milwaukee. The MBA also thanked past president Shannon A. Allen, U.W. 1995, DeWitt Ross & Stevens S.C., Brookfield.

Authors, Speakers

Thomas Domer, U.W. 1983, presented “Inadequacy of Workers’ Compensation Benefits” at the annual conference of the Workers’ Compensation Institute in Orlando, Fla., in August. He represents injured workers at Domer Law, Milwaukee.

Gilbert Southwell III, U.W. 1981, coauthored “Using and Evaluating Expert Work Products in Municipal Offerings: Risk Assessments,” Municipal Finance Journal (Winter 2018). He also presented the paper at the 2017 California Public Finance Conference upon the invitation of the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission.

Awards, Degrees, Honors

Kori Ashley, U.W. 2012, received the Wisconsin Association of African-American Lawyers’ attorney of the year award for 2018, at the 28th annual VelanDale Scholarship Dinner in September. She is with Legal Action of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Also acknowledged were the contributions of Vel and Dale Phillips to the legal community, as public servants, activists, and mentors.

Thomas J. Erickson, Marquette 1985, of the Thomas J. Erickson Law Office, Milwaukee, received the 2018 second-place award for poetry for his poem “November.” The annual writing awards are presented by the publication Wisconsin People & Ideas. His award-winning chapbook, The Lawyer Who Died in the Courthouse Bathroom, was published by Parallel Press in 2013.

Jessica J. Giesen, Mitchell Hamline 2009 cum laude, and Charles W. Giesen, U.W. 1973, whose father-daughter practice at Giesen Law Offices S.C., Madison, focuses on criminal defense and civil litigation, won the State Bar of Wisconsin Appellate Practice Section’s 2018 Best Brief competition, for their defense brief filed in the Wisconsin Supreme Court in State v. Stietz. The award recognizes exceptional appellate writing, promotes appellate advocacy, and identifies briefs that can be used as models for new and improving appellate lawyers. A panel of three former Wisconsin Supreme Court and Court of Appeals justices and judges chose the winning brief. Stietz was the only criminal defense win on constitutional grounds during the supreme court’s 2016-17 term.

Mark T. Johnson, U.W. 2008 with honors, has earned the designation of Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA). CELA certification, given by the National Elder Law Foundation, is the only American Bar Association-recognized elder law specialty certification and is based on extensive experience in relevant practice areas, recommendations from peer attorneys, and successful completion of a day-long examination. Johnson is a partner in Christenson Johnson LLC, Fitchburg, where he practices in elder law, special needs law, estate planning, and probate and trust administration.

The Milwaukee Bar Association recognized its 2018 award recipients at its annual meeting in August. Franklyn M. Gimbel, Marquette 1960, Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown LLP, Milwaukee, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. As an assistant U.S. attorney in the 1960s, he prosecuted the local head of the Mafia for tax evasion and won a conviction. He established GRGB in 1968, has tried 200 jury cases over his legal career, and represented the Milwaukee Deputy Sheriff’s Association for 31 years. He served on the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, was chair of the Wisconsin Center District Board that oversaw the construction of Milwaukee’s first Convention Center, and served as president of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the MBA, and the Milwaukee Rotary Club.

Other award recipients are the following: Distinguished Service Award: Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson, Indiana Univ. Bloomington 1956; E. Michael McCann Distinguished Public Service Award: Amy E. Wochos, U.W. 1996, Milwaukee County Clerk of Circuit Court Office; and Lawyer of the Year: Scott W. Hansen, U.W. 1976, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., Milwaukee.

Christopher Krimmer, U.W. 1997, and Brian Smigelski, Marquette 1987, both with DeWitt Ross & Stevens S.C., have been named to the 2018 class of Fellows of the Wisconsin Law Foundation. Krimmer practices family law in the Madison office. Smigelski practices construction law and litigation in the Brookfield office.

The Fellows of the Wisconsin Law Foundation recognizes members of the profession in Wisconsin who are known by their peers for outstanding attainment in professional, public, or private careers for devotion to the welfare of their community, state, and nation and the advancement of the legal profession.

In Memoriam

Judith A. Drinka, Marquette 1975, Elm Grove, July 7, 1937 – Aug. 26, 2018.

Comm. James E. Fitzgerald, Marquette 1973, Kenosha, Oct. 20, 1947 – Feb. 6, 2018.

Wm. Connor Griffiths, U.W. 2017, Racine, July 31, 1992 – Nov. 17, 2017.

Donald C.R. Hue, U.W. 1972, Sun Prairie, Oct. 8, 1932 – July 5, 2018.

Jeffrey J. Kassel, U.W. 1985, Madison, Feb. 4, 1951 – Aug. 13, 2018.

Suzanne E. Kitto, U.W. 1972, Beloit, March 23, 1947 – Aug. 28, 2018.

Dennis R. Krueger, U.W. 1987, Green Lake, April 22, 1962 – May 5, 2018.

Gary D. Lippow, U.W. 2001, Glendale, Dec. 27, 1975 – July 12, 2018.

Owen F. Monfils, U.W. 1952, Green Bay, Sept. 1, 1926 – July 11, 2018.

Hon. Hugh F. Nelson, U.W. 1953, Menasha, June 21, 1927 – Aug. 11, 2018.

Todd M. Pfeil, Creighton 1992, Middleton, Oct. 14, 1966 – Sept. 6, 2018.

Joseph F. Preloznik, U.W. 1962, Wildwood, Fla., Jan. 9, 1926 – Sept. 3, 2018.

Steven J. Schaefer, U.W. 1977, Madison, July 21, 1951 – Dec. 1, 2017.

Gerald R. Turner, Marquette 1970, Mequon, Sept. 6, 1939 – May 10, 2018.

Robert Weninger, U.W. 1960, Lubbock, Texas, June 21, 1933 – Nov. 30, 2017.

How to Place your Announcement

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