Senior Lawyers Division
The Senior Lawyers Division (SLD) offers activities and content focusing on the needs and interests of lawyers aged 60 or older. Through the
Leonard L. Loeb Award, the SLD recognizes a senior lawyer who has made significant contributions to the legal community, shown respect for the legal system, and demonstrated a love for the law and what it seeks to accomplish.
This year's recipient is the late
Michael P. May. Upon his graduation from law school at the University of Wisconsin in 1979, May joined the firm of Boardman, Suhr, Curry & Field and was tasked with supervising the summer law clerks. Attorney May was known as a smart, fun, approachable, and helpful mentor who brought his experience, humor, and passion for the law to everything he did.
One of the clerks he mentored, Katja Kunze, writes: “He not only demonstrated an enthusiasm for the law, but also a passion and wonder at what the law could accomplish. For him, the law wasn't books and statutes and competition. The law was a tool and practicing with this tool was both an art and science. Mike's passion was serving his clients, his law firm, the courts, and ultimately justice. He was an amazing role model and mentor, and his lessons have stayed with me for 43 years."
Attorney May spent 25 years in private practice and went on to become City Attorney for Madison from 2004-2020. He was active in the First Unitarian Society of Madison, serving on local and regional committees and as President of the Madison congregation from 1991-1995. He also served on the Board of the Downtown Madison Rotary and as President of the Downtown Rotary Foundation. He served as a member of the Government Lawyers Division Board, member and President of the Senior Lawyers Division Board, and member and Chair of the Energy and Telecommunications Section. He also served on the State Bar's Standing Committee on Ethics, as a Fellow of the Wisconsin Law Foundation, and on the Board of Visitors for the UW Law School.
Upon his retirement from the City Attorney's Office in 2020, May returned to private practice at Boardman Clark, where he continued representing municipalities and mentoring younger lawyers. May helped countless attorneys to develop their legal skills and careers. He was generous with his time and wisdom, both with his own team and with other attorneys around the state.
Remembering May's influence on her life, Katja Kunze relates that he and his wife, Briony Foy, agreed to be godparents for her daughter Halle. Katja concludes: “His sudden death in October 2022 took away my friend and mentor and hero, but it will never take away my love and admiration. Michael May was a gift in my life and a stalwart champion of the law."
