Sept. 19, 2012 – The Wisconsin Law Foundation will honor James D. Friedman with the Charles L. Goldberg Distinguished Service Award for his longstanding record of service to the legal profession and to the public. Friedman will accept the award on Oct. 2 in Milwaukee.

Friedman is a partner at Quarles & Brady LLP, Milwaukee, serving as the chair of its Financial Institutions Practice Group. While his individual legal practice is impressive, it is his dedication to bettering the legal community and the communities in which we live that truly highlights his commitment to being an active leader in the industry.

Regularly recognized by his frequent appointments to legislative councils, advisory committees, boards, Friedman played an active role on the Wisconsin Legislative Council Special Study Committee on the Regulation of Financial Institutions. He was appointed by the Governor’s Advisory Council on Judicial Selection of the State of Wisconsin for Ozaukee County and also served as a member of the State of Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions Task Force on Financial Competitiveness.

His contributions to the State Bar include serving as chair and member of the Board of Governors, member of the executive and finance committees, and he is one of the founders of the State Bar Diversity Committee and its clerkship program.

Ethics Expert Is Guest Speaker: ‘Core Values’ and the Challenge of Change for the Legal Profession

Sept. 19, 2012 – Paul D. Paton, Professor of Law and Director, Ethics Across the Professions Initiative, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law is the guest speaker at the Fellows of the Wisconsin Law Foundation Annual Recognition dinner on Oct. 2 in Milwaukee. Paton’s topic is “Core Values” and the Challenge of Change for the Legal Profession.

Prof. Paton had a distinguished career in private practice, corporate counsel and public service settings before becoming a full-time professor in 2004. He joined the faculty at McGeorge in 2008 as associate professor and was promoted to full professor in 2010. He teaches courses in professional responsibility, corporate governance, business associations, legal ethics and the legal profession, and ethics for government and public lawyers, and was twice named a Fellow of the U.S. National Institute on Teaching Ethics and Professionalism. Prof. Paton’s research focuses on ethics in corporate contexts, legal ethics and lawyer regulation in comparative perspective, and on corporate governance matters.

He is recognized nationally in both the United States and Canada for his contributions to debates on the future of the legal profession and is a frequent media commentator on the role of lawyers in corporate scandal.

Civic Contributions

For nearly 30 years, Friedman has been an advocate for providing the best opportunities of education to children in our community who otherwise would not have such opportunities. He is one of the founders of Partners Advancing Values in Education (PAVE), and he serves on its board of directors. PAVE is a private, nonprofit organization that provides scholarship aid to low-income students attending parochial and private schools in Milwaukee.

Friedman has served as a director and president of the Weyenberg Public Library Foundation in Mequon since 1983, as a board member and president of the Wisconsin Law Foundation and a board member and president of Wisconsin’s Equal Justice Fund Inc.

He served as an alderman for the City of Mequon for years and is the chair of the board of ethics. He served as the president of the Common Council and chaired the community’s Blue Ribbon Visioning Committee.

Friedman sets the bar high for other lawyers and as Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Richard S. Brown, who has known Friedman for more than 30 years, said in his nomination letter, “Jim is truly a citizen out to help make the world a better place than he found it, without any thought of personal material gain. I’ve known Jim as a person who has worked hard to broaden the educational opportunities of disadvantaged children and as an ardent supporter of our public libraries. He is equally at home as a director of the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Association and the Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund.”

Attend the Dinner

The award will be presented at the Fellows of the Wisconsin Law Foundation Annual Recognition Dinner on Oct. 2, in Milwaukee. A reception begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. The cost of the dinner is $125. Members wishing to attend should contact the State Bar by Sept. 24 at (800) 728-7788 or (608) 257-3838.