Sept. 2, 2020 – In a first-of-its-kind ceremony, Neenah attorney Kathleen A. Brost will be sworn in via video conferencing as the 65th president of the State Bar.

For the first time in its history, the State Bar is holding the ceremony virtually.

“These are unprecedented times,” said Past President Jill Kastner. “So we are holding an unprecedented ceremony.”

Typically, the presidential swearing-in ceremony is held in June at start of the State Bar Annual Meeting & Conference. In 2019, Kastner was sworn in at the annual conference in Green Bay. However, the 2020 conference, which was to be held in Elkhart Lake, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ceremony for Brost takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, at 5:30 p.m.

Brost’s term, which began July 1, 2020, represents a first for another reason. For the first time in State Bar history, three women will serve together in the organization’s top leadership positions.

With Brost as president, she is flanked by Jill Kastner (immediate past president) and Cheryl Daniels (president-elect). “I am absolutely thrilled to be part of this history,” Brost says.

Champion of Solo & Small-firm Practitioners

Brost is a personable, strategic, and collaborative leader, say her colleagues. These qualities and others – as well as her many years' experience as a solo practitioner and as in-house counsel – make her well-suited to help guide the State Bar of Wisconsin through the year ahead.

A former solo practitioner for about 12 years, Brost plans to support attorneys and firms throughout the state, with a special focus on solo practices and small firms. “I’m interested in supporting the solos and the small firms because that is so much of the State Bar membership,” she says. Brost is currently a trust and financial advisor at Legacy Private Trust Company in Neenah.

During her year as president, she plans to advance State Bar priorities such as increasing access to justice, championing diversity and inclusion, helping attorneys survive and thrive, and supporting the judicial system.

Find out more about Brost in the July/August 2020 issue of Wisconsin Lawyer magazine.