Back to State Bar 2016 Election Officer Candidates.

Candidate for Secretary

Mary Lynne Donohue

Sheboygan
Email: mldonohue@live.com

Platform Statement

The State Bar does good and important work for lawyers and the communities they serve. It is a place where we can speak our minds, keep up with constant changes in the law and the profession, and take advantage of the resources the State Bar provides. Therefore, I am honored to run for Secretary of the State Bar. I started my service to the State Bar quite a long time ago when I was elected Treasurer of the State Bar, and then to the Board of Governors. Although that seems like a long time ago (it was, actually), I have stayed involved with State Bar work. I have served on the Professional Ethics and Legal Assistance standing committees, the Paralegal Task Force and Guardian ad Litem study committees. I chaired the Facilities and Nominating committees. My most recent and deeply satisfying service was chairing the Leadership Development committee whose primary purpose is involving lawyers from around the state as volunteers and leaders, both in the State Bar as well as their home communities. I look forward to bringing that experience as well as my considerable energy and enthusiasm to service on the Board of Governors and to our membership as Secretary of the State Bar.

Biography

I am retired from the active practice of law, but have taught administrative law at law schools in Bulgaria, Poland, and Lithuania through the Center for International Legal Studies. I am pursuing a master’s degree at UW-Milwaukee with a research interest in low-income women’s perception of the voting process.

I am currently the president of the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation (WisTAF). I have served as Treasurer of the State Bar and on the Board of Governors, as well as numerous committees, including Professional Ethics, the Paralegal Task Force and the Guardian ad Litem study committees. I have chaired the Bar’s Facilities, Nominating, and Leadership Development committees. I served on the Wisconsin Judicial Council and was elected a Fellow of the Wisconsin Law Foundation in 2007.

I currently am an alderperson in the City of Sheboygan, having previously served as president of the Police and Fire Commission and as a member of the Civil Service Commission. I have also served as president of the Sheboygan School District Board of Education, the John Michael Kohler Art Center board of directors and the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters board of directors. And as a reason to vote either for or against me, I also play the bagpipes.