Sept 28, 2011 – Surrounded by family and friends, 106 lawyers were admitted to practice in Wisconsin earlier today.

The lawyers were welcomed by all seven justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Board of Bar Examiners (BBE) director Jacquelynn B. Rothstein, and State Bar President Jim Brennan.

Rothstein reported that 209 people took the bar exam in July, representing 81 law schools and 32 jurisdictions; 85 percent passed. Today’s admissions also includes several graduates from the U.W. and Marquette law schools and lawyers being admitted from other jurisdictions under the proof of practice provision.

Harmony

In her welcoming comments, Rothstein noted an excerpt from a speech Franklin Delano Roosevelt was to have delivered on Jefferson Day in April of 1945 – the day after he died. “His words serve as an important reminder to lawyers, particularly for those whose careers are just beginning,” she said. “Today we are faced with the pre-eminent fact that if civilization is to survive we must cultivate the science of human relationships, the abilities of all peoples of all kins to live together and to work together in the same world at peace.”

Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson presided over the four ceremonies. Justices N. Patrick Crooks, David T. Prosser Jr., Annette Kingsland Ziegler, and Michael J. Gableman administered the oath in the Supreme Court Hearing Room. Following each swearing-in ceremony, Justice Patience Drake Roggensack spoke to the new lawyers.

Truth and honor

New Wisconsin lawyers take the lawyer’s oath in the Supreme Court Hearing Room. From left: Jonathan R. Hoogstra, Ehren J. Skoog, and Joshua Sofian.

Karne O. Newburn, signs the Supreme Court roll. Every lawyer admitted to practice in Wisconsin since the state was a territory has signed the roll. Karne is joining a Chicago firm where she will focus on antitrust matters.

Roggensack began with questions. “Where do you go from here? What kind of Wisconsin lawyer will you be? There are so many possibilities, however, along with the possibilities your law license also imposes many responsibilities,” she said.

“If you maintain truth and honor as a central principle with all the legal services you provide, you will be a credit to our profession, and you will provide a benefit to society that goes far beyond the services that you provide to your client,” she said. “Truth and honor are not really easy ideas to get your arms fully around. For example, truth can simply be a concept.” Noting that Abraham Lincoln used the truth as a concept that encompassed the core of liberty in the Gettysburg Address, she said, “Truth can be a representation of a particular circumstance or event. In the complicated world in which we live so often what is presented as a representation of a circumstance or a fact is only the speaker’s version. To some people truth is relative. In that regard, some have even argued that the truth is whatever the majority agrees it is.

“I urge you to make truth a habit as you work as lawyers,” Roggensack said. “Legal practices that are consistent with truth and honor will stand you in good stead with the courts and the legal community at large. There your reputation for truthfulness is the most precious quality that you have. Judges rely on lawyers who truthfully represent the law and facts to courts and juries. Your colleagues at the Bar will accept your word as you work through very complicated legal questions, if they can rely on your truthfulness.”

“Maintaining the truth is not always an easy task,” she continued. “You will be pushed by circumstances and people toward bending the truth. Often you can’t tell all that occurred in a particular event, but maintaining the truth is worth the effort. It is worth the vigilance that it takes. Sometimes that vigilance will be easily marshaled and sometimes not."

“…stand up for the truth … it is not relative. The facts do matter. A fair reading of the law does matter,” concluded Roggensack.

Obligations

Brennan spoke about the nobility of the profession. “Lawyers play a central role, in their communities, in their town halls,” he said. “Lawyers indeed call us the natural nobility in a democracy. Nobility is not about status. It is rather about obligations.

“The lawyer’s oath binds us together," said Brennan. "Going forward, your word is your bond and your compliance with that oath will be what carries you through the profession and life. So, that you are noble, in essence, means you have obligations.”

Brennan also urged the lawyers to look to the State Bar as their partner in their practice and in their career development. “Be it setting up an office, calling the ethics hotline – call the State Bar there are many resources available,” he said.

Service

In closing the ceremonies Abrahamson referred to the last paragraph of the lawyer’s oath as a commitment to tithe to the community. “You will have a monopoly on providing legal services,” she said reminding the new members of the crucial need to provide pro bono legal services to those who cannot afford it.

The State Bar welcomes the following new attorneys:

Brandon Michael Lewis and Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler. Lewis will join the Troupis Law Office LLC in Middleton.

Melissa R. Holds The Enemy and her partner Joe. Holds The Enemy is Of Counsel for the Crow Nation in Montana.

New member Joshua Hargorve (right) and friend Kevin Henry. Hargorve hopes to practice constitutional/labor law.

Visit the State Bar on Facebook for more admissions photos, or click here.

Alicia Armstrong, Madison

Catherine Miriam Biglari, Skokie, Ill.

Brynja Ann Bjarnason , Minnetonka, Minn.

Elisabeth Anne Brady, River Falls

Elizabeth Emily Bray, Janesville

Brandy Bryan, Cottage Grove

Michelle K. Burtscher, Ottawa Lake, Mich.

Krista M. Carlson, Maple Grove, Minn.

Mathew Chizeck, Madison

Travis A. Crowell, Green Bay

Danielle Renee Dale, Madison

Brian Timothy Damman, Madison

A. J. Dordel, Madison

Steven Ellis, Madison

Elizabeth C. Fahrlander, Madison

Jonathan R. Hoogstra, Muskegon, Mich.

Ehren J. Skoog, Ripon

Joshua Sofian, Milwaukee

Melissa R. Holds The Enemy, Madison

Theodore Enser, Madison

Erin Fitzgerald, Madison

Joshua Hargorve, Madison

Brandon Michael Lewis, Madison

Peter Nicholas Maris, Chicago

Jordan S. Martinson, Madison

Courtney Meyer, Madison

Karne O. Newburn, Chicago

Michelle Jungers Synarong, Madison

Peter Gamber Swenson, Shorewood

Benjamin Swoboda, Milwaukee

Guy R. Temple, Milwaukee

Amy Aaron Weems, Jasper, Ala.

Anthony Flitcroft*, Delavan

Amanda L. Florek, New Berlin

Margaret Hope Francis, Madison

Eric G. Frank, Sparta

Matthew D. Friedlander, Milwaukee

Christopher James Gartman, Milwaukee

Kimberly E. Gehling, Oshkosh

Alex Christian Gesch, Cedar Grove

Andria M. Getchel, Stoughton

Benjamin Joseph Glicksman, Milwaukee

Theresa A. Golski, Milwaukee

Jeremiah J. Harrelson, Hudson

Jason J. Heinen, Neenah

Jennifer J. Hennessy, Madison

Jerrold Alan Hinshaw, West Allis

Matthew Ignoffo, Lake Forest, Ill.

Allen James Irgens, Madison

Christina Therese Jones, Milwaukee

Nicholas James Jones, Twin Lakes

Njoki D. Kamuiru, Milwaukee

Amy M. Kieffer, Waukesha

Katherine Ann Kowalczyk, Kewaskum

Christian J. Krautkramer, Milwaukee

Amy Lanser, Minneapolis

Malcolm Scott LeBlanc, Milwaukee

Susan D. Lee, St. Croix Falls

Bryce A. Lehman, Kenosha

Lillian Lewis, Kenosha

Jens Hubert Loberg, Ellsworth

Adrian Wayne Longacre, Viola

Raza Mahmood, Gainesville, Fla.

Desireé Michelle Matel-Anderson, Milwaukee

Lindsey Jean Mather, Green Bay

Thor Tobin Mathison, Madison

Luke D. Mayefske, Appleton

Erik McFarland, Stevens Point

Dustin Allen McMahon, New Berlin

Daniel Charles Warner Narvey, Milwaukee

Jonathan Nowaczek, Bayport, Minn.

Brandon P. O’Connor, Waunakee

Sean O’Gorman, Oak Creek

Molly Pappas, Milwaukee

Jesse J. Patton, Baraboo

Bryan Ivan Pierce, Tomah

Tiffany Lynn Powers, Milwaukee

Leah M. Provost, Madison

Ryan Joseph Raymond, Rhinelander

Jenna Lee Reichling, Darlington

Brian David Reider, Milwaukee

Grace Cary Roessler, Cedarburg

Kelly Rae Runkle, La Crosse

Chad Oliver Schimmelpfenning, Oak Creek

James Michael Schleicher, Milwaukee

Shana A. Schlifer, Minneapolis

Scott S. Schlough, Saint Paul, Minn.

Sara Schmeling, Milwaukee

John Schroeder, Antigo

Jeffrey Cole Severson, Kaukauna

Christopher R. Steffe, Brookfield

Elizabeth L. Stinson, Reston, Va.

Nicholas D. Strom, South Bend, Ind.

Brianna Lynn Sweeney, White Bear Lake, Minn.

Chad R. Thomas, Wrightstown

Morgan J. Tilleman, Milwaukee

Nicholas T. Timm, Waukesha

Tiffany Rose Timmerman, Potosi

Chelsie Ann Thuecks, Wisconsin Rapids

Keaton L. Troy, Charleston, S.C.

Eric Jacob Wasieleski, Naperville, Ill.

Kristen Carroll Wasieleski, Naperville, Ill.

Jacqueline M. Zerka, Milwaukee

Eric James Zorc, Milwaukee

Amy M. Burger, Milwaukee

Tracy Hodge, Waterford

Visit the State Bar on Facebook for more admissions photos, or click here.