Twenty-one soon-to-be Wisconsin lawyers take the Attorney's Oath in a ceremony April 18, 2023, in the Wisconsin Supreme Court Hearing Room. For more photos of the event, see the album on the State Bar of Wisconsin Facebook page​.

April 20, 2023 – A lawyer returning to law after 30 years. A law school graduate who is realizing a childhood and family dream. A former mason seeking to build bridges for immigrants in the U.S. A Packers fan expanding her Illinois practice into Wisconsin.

These describe some of Wisconsin’s newest lawyers, taking the final steps after passing the bar exam – becoming Wisconsin lawyers in a ceremony before the Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 18, 2023, taking the Attorney’s Oath and signing the Wisconsin Supreme Court Roll book. For more photos of the event, see the album on the State Bar of Wisconsin Facebook page.

Jacquelynn B. Rothstein, director of the Board of Bar Examiners, said 42% of the 83 individuals who took the bar exam in February passed it, and 67% of those taking the exam for the first time passed the exam. “The Board extends its congratulations to the men and women here today who have passed the Wisconsin bar exam,” she said.

Chief Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler welcomed the new Wisconsin lawyers, offering words of advice: “As a lawyer, a handshake is a big deal. You only get one reputation, it’s very hard to build that back. So be careful about the way you behave, the promises you make, the deals you cut, because you need to live up to them. Your word is your bond,” the chief said.

Justice Patience Roggensack administers the Attorney's Oath to the new admittees.

Justice Anne Walsh Bradley congratulated the new admittees and spoke during the ceremony. Quoting a past Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice, Marvin Rosenberry (served 1916-1950), who spoke at an admissions ceremony in 1948, she said, “You as lawyers in practice and as public officials will be called upon to be committed to the rule of law and to devote your talents and learning to the adaption of law to life.’”

The New Wisconsin lawyers include:

Gabriel Christian Coronado: Realizing a Dream

Gabriel Christian Coronado of Racine is the first lawyer in his family. He decided to pursue a legal career in high school after spending time in activism and organizing in immigrants’ rights. He worked his way through law school by working as a mason, and graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago law school in 2021.

In becoming a lawyer, Gabriel, along with his sister Kennia Coronado – who is pursuing a Ph.D. in political science – are both achieving a long-held family dream of their parents, who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico more than 30 years ago. Their dad said, according to Kennia, “there is nothing greater than to see your children realize their dreams.”

Gabriel’s movant was Mindy Nolan of Ahmad & Associates in Milwaukee. Gabriel interned with Nolan when she worked at the Office of the Public Defender. “It was emotional, but there were a couple of tears – it was such a long journey,” Gabriel said of the ceremony. “It truly means a lot.”

He is looking forward to practicing immigration law as a Wisconsin lawyer. “I hope to build bridges” now as a lawyer.

Surrounded by family and friends, Gabriel Coronado points to his name on the list of new Wisconsin lawyers.

Neil Schadle: Entering Corporate Practice

Neil Schadle grew up in Iowa and obtained his law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law. Schadle said he took the Wisconsin bar exam because his wife got a job in Wisconsin.

Now that he’s passed the bar exam, Schadle will be begin work as corporate attorney at DeWitt LLP in Madison. “It’s a relief to be done with the process, and exciting to join the legal community,” Schadle said.

Melissa Dunn: Celebrating a Homecoming

Passing the Wisconsin bar exam will enable Melissa Dunn to practice in both Wisconsin and Illinois. Dunn is an associate at Sinars Slowikowski Tomaska in Chicago. The firm specializes in toxic torts and other types of civil litigation.

Dunn grew up in Chicago and obtained her law degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law. She said that passing the Wisconsin bar exam represents a homecoming of sorts, because she and her family used to spend summers in Fontana, near Lake Geneva.

“I’m very excited,” Dunn said.

In the Wisconsin Law Library, Wendy Watkinson signs the Attorney's Roll book, the last step before becoming a Wisconsin lawyer.

Grace Elliot: The Long Way ’Round

Passing the Wisconsin bar exam is also a homecoming for Grace Elliot. Elliot grew up in Minnesota but is a member of the Oneida Nation, one of Wisconsin’s 12 American Indian nations.

Elliot, who served as the legal director for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota, now works as legislative attorney for the Oneida Nation near Green Bay. “It’s returning home and doing the work that I wanted to do when I went to law school, the long way ’round,” Elliot said.

Krista Krepp: Expanding Her Practice

Krista Krepp is an associate in civil litigation, covering insurance defense along with some pro bono and plaintiff work, with Walker Wilcox Matousek LLP in Chicago. Given the opportunity via foreign license, she is excited to expand her practice to Wisconsin. “I have a lot of family in Wisconsin – and I’m a Packers fan,” she said with a laugh.

Marco Martino: Many Firsts

For Chicagoan Marco Martino, taking the attorneys’ oath in the Wisconsin Supreme Court chambers marked a milestone. “I’m the first attorney in my family,” Martino said. “This is very special for me.”

Martino, who obtained his law degree from Loyola University Chicago, has lived in Wisconsin for several years. He works as a compliance attorney with a pharmaceutical company.

Ally Seneczko, standing, smiles as she looks at her father, attorney Alan Seneczko, who moved for her admission before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Alexis Werthmann: An Affirmation

Alexis Werthmann grew up in Iowa but obtained her law degree from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis.

Werthmann said she took the Wisconsin bar exam because she was hired by Hupy and Abraham, S.C. in Milwaukee.

Werthmann said that the swearing in ceremony was an “affirmation of all the years of hard work and a triumph over the pandemic.”

Ally Seneczko: 2 to 0

Family drew Ally Seneczko back to Wisconsin. Seneczko, who obtained her law degree from the Blewett School of Law at the University of Montana, works at Disability Rights Wisconsin.

Her father, Alan Seneczko, an attorney who practices in Oconomowoc, moved Ally’s admission. The fact that her father was admitted to the Wisconsin bar on diploma privilege wasn’t lost on the younger Seneczko, who also took and passed the Montana bar exam.

Alan Seneczko said he’s proud of his daughter for passing the bar exam in two different states. Studying for the Wisconsin bar, said Ally Seneczko, wasn’t that fun because “as a Wisconsin lawyer, being moved in by another Wisconsin lawyer, I took a bar exam twice and he has never taken one.”

“That is really frustrating,” Seneczko said, cracking a smile.

Breeanna Taylor Brock (left) and Meredith Marie Anderson (right) point to their names on the list of new Wisconsin lawyers.

Meredith Anderson: Culmination of a Dream

Meredith Anderson spent 10 years in the military, and after a brief position in Darien, Wisconsin, took a position with a nuclear medicine company in Janesville.

While working, she attended law school at Syracuse University. “I did it in the heart of COVID, so I was able to condense it to a year and a half because all the classes were online,” she said.

She is an engineering manager and a nuclear quality assurance manager. Becoming a lawyer “is the culmination of a lifelong dream. I have always wanted to be a lawyer and today, I’ve wrapped it up,” Anderson said.

Breeanna Brock: In Mother’s Footsteps

For Breeanna Brock, admission to the Wisconsin bar marked the completion of a journey her mother hoped to make but couldn’t.

“It’s huge,” Brock said. “My mom’s plan was to go to law school but she had me when she was younger, so this is really a whole family thing. It’s really exciting.”

Brock, who grew up in Fond du Lac, is the first person in her family to graduate from college. She obtained her law degree from the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in 2021.

Brock spent two years consulting in a remote job for an aerospace industry startup in Washington, D.C., while studying for the Wisconsin bar exam. Now that she’s admitted in Wisconsin, Brock said, she’ll work as the company’s general counsel.

Taking these last steps to become a lawyer “is huge,” for herself and her family, Brock said.

At the Wisconsin Law Library, Jace Jensen Jaworek holds up a State Bar membership certificate for a friend's photo after taking the final steps to becoming a Wisconsin lawyer.

Glenn Kuehne: From Road to Courtroom

After being admitted to the Wisconsin bar, Glenn Kuehne will be trading his Carhartt work coat for a suit and tie.

“I just spent almost five years to get here – four years as a law student as a part-timer and having to take two bar exams, driving a semi in the eight years before then,” Kuehne said. “It’s nice to get off the road and try a profession that helps others.”

Kuehne obtained his law degree from the Northwestern California University School of Law, in Sacramento, California. He previously passed the California bar exam.

Kuehne said he plans to practice criminal defense in Wisconsin from an office in Duluth. He said Wisconsin is one of the few states in the country that allows graduates from non-ABA-accredited schools to take the bar exam.

“Other states in the Midwest would never allow me to sit,” Kuehne said.

Kuehne said that he must wait for five years before sitting for the Minnesota bar exam.

Jacqueline Jugenheimer: A Return and a New Path

Jacqueline Jugenheimer earned her law degree in 1991 in her native Germany – but chose instead to pursue her career in public policy.

She came to the U.S. and earned her master’s degree at Indiana University – where she met her husband – and worked many years in Madison as a budget and policy analyst working on crafting the budget for the State of Wisconsin.

While raising her children, she became a certified German language interpreter. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and with her children in college, Jugenheimer decided to learn more about U.S. law – and enrolled in the U.W. Law School LLM program.

After graduating with her degree in December, she studied for the bar exam, spending “seven weeks and 311 hours” to prepare. “Along the way I’ve had people tell me, ‘you can do this,’ and I’m really thankful for them.”

What’s next? She plans to spend three months in her native Iserlohn, Germany, this spring before jumping into her next position.

The ceremony “is emotional,” because 30 years after deciding not to pursue law she is now sworn in as a lawyer. “I’ve come full circle – it’s a great moment,” she said. “It’s also an accomplishment I never thought I’d have.

The group of soon-to-be Wisconsin lawyers turn toward family and friends after taking the Attorney's Oath in the Supreme Court Hearing Room.

Welcome to These New Wisconsin Lawyers