Attorney Profile
Education & Honors
- Certificate in Labor Management Relations through the Continuing Legal Education Program at Marquette University (1986).
- J.D. at University of Wisconsin Law School (1980).
- Bureau of National Affairs United States Law Week Award (1979).
- B.S.S. at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa (1977). Graduated magna cum laude, with majors in Philosophy, Psychology, and Sociology.
- Co-Founder and Co-President of Phi Kappa Nu social group at Cornell College. (1975).
Professional Certificates of Admission
- Wisconsin Bar (June 1980)
- U.S. Dist. Court, Western Dist. Wisconsin (June 1980)
- Ohio Bar (Nov. 1980)
- U.S. Dist. Court, Southern Dist. Ohio (Dec. 1980)
- U.S. Dist. Court, Eastern Dist. Wisconsin (Nov. 1983)
- Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Sept. 1990)
Professional Memberships
- Wisconsin Bar Association (1980 - present)
- Ohio Bar Association (1980 - present)
- Seventh Circuit Bar Association (1980 - present)
- Dayton Bar Association (1980 - 1983)
- Milwaukee Bar Association (1983 - present)
- Waukesha County Bar Association (1984 - 1987)
- Ozaukee County Bar Association (1992 - present)
- Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin (2001 - present)
Cases of Special Interest
- Kuper v. Kuper, 246 Wis. 2d 987, 632 N.W. 2d 123 (App. 2001) (unpublished) - decided that court is not required to honor a stipulation of the parties that violated the regulations of the IRS.
- Rehrauer v. City of Milwaukee, 2001 WI App.151, 246 Wis. 2d 863, 631 N.W. 2d 644 - held that city may not take away an employee's vested pension rights without the employee's specific written consent.
- Washington v. Washington, 2001 WI 47, 234 Wis. 2d 684, 611 N.W. 2d 261 - held that court has power to clarify terms of property division even after divorce is final.
- Fisher v. Transco Services, 979 F. 2d 1239 (7th Cir. 1992) - held that use of work rules which had disparate adverse impact on older workers could be found to be pretext for age discrimination.
- United States v. Conley, 942 F. 2d 1125 (7th Cir. 1991) - established that money and property transferred from older man to younger woman in course of a personal relationship between the two must be considered gifts and not taxable income to the recipient.
- Sommerfield v. Sommerfield, 154 Wis. 2d 840, 454 N.W. 2d 55 (App. 1990) - confirmed that small business owned by one spouse cannot be valued at $0 for purposes of division of property at divorce merely because that spouse is unwilling to sell, but must be valued as if willing seller were involved.
- Lins v. Smead, et. al., (Wis. App. 1987) (unpublished) - determined that subdivision's restrictive covenants on types of construction allowed could be enforced even though no enforcement committee had been functioning for several years beforehand.
- Waukesha State Bank v. Sindic, 44 B.R. 167 (E.D. Wis. 1984) - indicated that secured creditor could not lose security interest in bankrupt's assets simply because bankrupt had legally disposed of stock-in-trade.
- Day v. Good Samaritan Hospital, (Ohio App. 1983) (unpublished) - clarified that discharged employee could base wrongful discharge claim on promises implied from employee handbook.
Community and Other Organizations
- American Civil Liberties Union (1983 - 1987)
- Board of Friends of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater (1993 - present)
- Milwaukee Symphony Friends
- Skylighters