Candidate for President-elect
Randall L. Nash
Nash Law LLC, Milwaukee
Email: Randy@rnashlaw.com
Platform Statement
It is a great honor to be nominated as a candidate for State Bar President-elect. Representing and advocating for our members would be an absolute privilege. Let me share with you some background information and my vision for the State Bar.
My dad was in the Air Force when I was born in Virginia. A few years later my parents bought the farm next to the farm where my dad was born and raised. My folks still live in that house.
I come from farming people. I own a part of two farms, each of which have been in my family for over 130 years. This contributes, I believe, to very strong feelings for the land and for the places that have shaped me.
I attended undergraduate and law school at UW-Madison. I proposed to my wife right by Abe Lincoln on Bascom Hill. Except for my junior year in France, I have lived in Wisconsin since I was 2 years old.
I have been in private practice my entire career. First, the Habush firm as a commercial litigator. Then, the firm of O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing, and now I am a sole practitioner in Milwaukee handling primarily business lawsuits.
My State Bar involvement started with committee work. I was a member and later chair of the Media-Law Relations Committee and the Professionalism Committee. I was also a member of the WisLAP Committee for several years. I have been on the Board of Governors since 2014, have served as the Board liaison to the Environmental Section Board for one year, and the Board liaison to both the Taxation Section Board and the Construction and Public Contract Law Section Board for three years. I have also served as the Board member on the Implementation Committee seeking to build stronger relationships between the Board and the sections. The sections of the State Bar do great work and are very active. Over 7,000 members of the State Bar are members of the 24 sections. I also was appointed to serve on the Reapportionment Committee, which examines district boundaries once each decade as a result of attorney population changes.
I have been an active member of the State Bar of Wisconsin since 1979. While much has changed since then, lawyers expect and even anticipate change. The organized Bar is very important to the practice of law. It helps us see beyond our day-to-day efforts at practicing law. It binds us together. The State Bar’s first priority should be service to its members and then to the broader public, while at all times recognizing that we have a duty to assist in the administration of justice. We should advise the legislature and government and be advocates for our clients. We should consider and protect constitutional and civil rights. The Bar should engage in additional efforts to inform and educate lawyers, present better, more economical continuing legal education and try to better address the needs of all of the Bar’s membership. While the Bar faces significant financial pressures, it still needs to promote understanding and collegiality among the membership. Our word should be our bond at all times. The organized Bar should promote professionalism and integrity. We should seek to be respected in the community, with the desire to leave a true legacy to the next generation of lawyers.
The State Bar’s first year of declining membership was 2016. This will continue for some time. We need to carefully review the expenses of the Bar, be aware of high law school costs for young attorneys, and the struggle of rural and northern areas of our state to have enough attorneys to meet the legal needs of the public.
I am greatly concerned about competition from national corporate entities and internet sites which seek to provide legal services in certain practice areas. One of our goals should be to protect the public and our members from unregulated competition. In addition, government lawyers, senior lawyers, and non-resident lawyers have specialized issues, which the State Bar needs to continue to address.
We all share an interest in a practical and effective State Bar. I hope to contribute to those goals. There is value in the services provided by the State Bar. I am excited about the opportunity, I welcome your ideas, and would greatly appreciate your vote in April.
Biography
UW-Madison Undergraduate, Phi Beta Kappa, Study Abroad junior year in France. Wisconsin Law School, J.D., 1979 cum laude. Sole practitioner for Nash Law, LLC. Member of the American, Wisconsin, and Milwaukee bar associations. Past Member and Chair of the Media-Law Relations Committee and the Professionalism Committee of the State Bar. Past Member of the Wisconsin Assistance to Lawyers Committee. I frequently represent businesses and individuals in litigation. I served for 5 years as an adjunct assistant professor at Marquette University Law School, teaching trial advocacy, wrote a chapter in the Contract Law in Wisconsin State Bar book, and annual supplements. I have been certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a Civil Trial Specialist, am a Fellow in Litigation Counsel of America, the Wisconsin Law Foundation and the American Bar Foundation, and have been named one of the Wisconsin’s top 100 litigation lawyers by the American Society of Legal Advocates.
Personal
Lives in Whitefish Bay with his wife Nell. I have four adult children.
