Recognized for their leadership and contributions, these lawyers, law students, and legal workers have made a difference in the legal profession and in their communities. These award recipients are celebrated by their colleagues and by the State Bar of Wisconsin.
Join us in giving everyone a virtual round of applause for their dedication and hard work to improving the practice of law in Wisconsin.
Welcome to the 2024 Member Recognition Celebration
Lifetime Jurist Achievement Award - Hon. James P. Daley
The Lifetime Jurist Achievement Award recognizes a jurist who is fair and impartial who demonstrates high ideals and personal character and whose career represents outstanding long-term judicial service.
The Hon. James P. Daley of Rock County Circuit Court retired is this year’s award recipient.
Judge Daley is being honored for his leadership on the bench and in establishing the first regional veterans’ diversion court in Wisconsin among many other accomplishments.
From Elkhorn the young James Daley joined the U.S. Marine Corps before finishing college and served three years in an infantry battalion in Viet Nam – 1966 to 1969. While in Viet Nam he earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star and received a Meritorious Mast for actions taken while under fire.
In 1974 while still working on his college degree James Daley joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard. In 2006 he retired from the National Guard as a brigadier general having commanded the 32nd Infantry Brigade the largest National Guard unit in Wisconsin.
He earned his law degree from Marquette in 1981 and worked as a litigator then a district attorney in Rock County. In 1989 Gov. Tommy Thompson appointed him to Branch 1 in Rock County Circuit Court. He was elected to Branch 1 in 1990 1996 2002 2008 and 2014. Judge Daley retired in March 2018.
Judge Daley said his service in the Marines taught him two skills that helped him in his legal career “focus and mental discipline” he said. And also to find humor where you can get it.
He earned the respect of his colleagues through his years on the bench by following his philosophy: that courts must be fair to every defendant and litigant and that everyone appearing before him is treated like a human being no matter what they have done.
Judge Daley was instrumental in forming the first veterans treatment court in the state – in 2009 – as well as the county’s OWI and drug courts. He is also proud of his roles in establishing Rock County’s victim witness program his work on the Criminal Jury Instruction Committee and his service on the court interpretation committee.
His advice to new judges: Learn your job well. And he passes along these tips he learned from his own judicial mentors:
- Review every case the day before you hear it.
- Do your own research (even if it is provided to you via briefs).
- Know that you have great power as a circuit court judge. Never put yourself in a position where you have to use it.
Diversity and Inclusion Trailblazer Award - Iris Christenson
The Diversity and Inclusion Oversight Committee’s Diversity and Inclusion Trailblazer Award celebrates an individual who contributes to and enhances diversity and inclusion within the Wisconsin legal profession. This award recognizes a lawyer who is participating in activities that increase the public’s awareness of diversity and inclusion efforts in the legal profession.
Madison attorney Iris Christenson is this year’s recipient of the Diversity & Inclusion Trailblazer Award.
Now an active emeritus member of the State Bar, Attorney Christenson's legal career spanning over 34 years includes serving and representing hundreds of clients from all backgrounds.
In her long-time practice in estate planning and elder law, Attorney Christenson reached out to populations who might be in need legal services but may be reluctant to seek them. Through her representation, she helped her clients secure their financial well-being and dignity.
“Iris champions clients who need a voice in a society that often marginalizes them,” says Mark Johnson, Christenson’s former law partner, of Johnson Teigen LLC, Fitchburg.
It is important, she says, in representing the best interests of your clients, to understand the whole person. “I don’t see how you can represent the whole person without understanding the diversity, equity, and inclusion issues that affect that person,” she said.
Christenson continues to volunteer for legal services for ethnic and racial minorities through the immigration and refugee program of the Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison. In this program, Iris helps individuals from different countries, such as Syria, Mexico, and Afghanistan, navigate various legal issues.
Wisconsin Law Foundation Gordon Sinykin Award of Excellence - Cassel Villarreal
The Wisconsin Law Foundation is the charitable arm of the State Bar of Wisconsin. Its mission is to promote:
- public understanding of the law
- improvement of the administration of justice and
- law-related public service through funding of innovative and creative programs that improve the vision of the American justice system.
The Law Foundation’s Gordon Sinykin Award of Excellence recognizes a lawyer law firm or group of lawyers for their work on an individual law-related education or public service project.
Cassel Villarreal is this year’s recipient.
She is a family law attorney and mediator with Derr & Villarreal.
Cassel is honored today for her commitment to the Wisconsin High School Mock Trial program – she has been a dedicated volunteer for more than two decades. Cassel began volunteering in 2002 as an attorney-coach with the Beaver Dam High School team and also as a tournament scoring judge. Since 2005 she has volunteered countless hours as coordinator of the regional tournament for the Juneau region.
In February this year 89 teams with 1068 students competed in the 10 regionals competitions held around the state. Each regional tournament hosts 10 teams.
You can imagine that these tournaments require many volunteers – Cassel is one of about a dozen volunteer regional coordinators. As a regional coordinator she supervises 30 attorneys who volunteer as tournament judges for the Juneau tournament – and she has done this for the past 19 years.
Said Hon. Joseph M. Troy president of the Law Foundation: “It is volunteers like Cassel who make the program the success it is today.”
Charles Dunn WI Lawyer Author Award - Jesse P. Blocher
As the editorial board for the Wisconsin Lawyer magazine the State Bar’s Communications Committee presents the Hon. Charles Dunn Author Award to recognize writing excellence in the magazine. The award is named in honor of Wisconsin’s first Supreme Court Chief Justice.
For the May 2023 article “The Pugilist’s Guide to Brief Writing” this year’s Dunn Award recipient is Jesse Blocher.
In reviewing Blocher’s article a Communications Committee member wrote:
“The article is engaging relevant and applicable to your average practitioner. It is well written and easy to digest entertaining and the applicability to many practitioners is big. It was a fan favorite among the nominations!”
Blocher is a shareholder attorney at Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. Waukesha where he focuses on litigating personal injury cases.
Pro Bono Attorney of the Year - Philomena Kebec
The State Bar Legal Assistance Committee promotes the establishment and maintenance of organizations that provide legal services to low- and moderate-income individuals. It explores new ways to increase the accessibility of legal services. The committee provides encouragement and assistance to others in improving legal services delivery while promoting pro bono service to Wisconsin lawyers as a way to give back to the profession and to our communities.
To that end the Legal Assistance Committee recognizes attorneys and organizations for their outstanding pro bono services through two awards.
The Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award from the Legal Assistance Committee recognizes Wisconsin attorneys who are dedicated to the development and delivery of legal services to low-income individuals and to attorneys who develop innovative ways to deliver volunteer legal services.
Philomena Kebec is the recipient of the 2024 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award.
Kebec is the economic development coordinator for Bad River Band of Lake Superior-Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Odanah serving her tribe and community in legal and nonlegal capacities.
She has worked with Judicare Legal Aid for more than seven years taking pro bono cases on a wide range of family and housing issues.
In 2023 she took the most pro bono cases of any Judicare attorney including a challenging and urgent family case that spanned multiple states involving two children abducted from their home state outside Wisconsin.
“Philomena takes some of Judicare’s strangest cases with the most desperate clients and far-flung jurisdictions” say her nominators. “From consultations to full representation in state and tribal courts she treats her clients with care compassion and respect. Philomena is a shining example that Wisconsin attorneys can have more than one passion use more than one skillset and serve more than one commitment including impactful pro bono work.”
Pro Bono Organization of the Year - Community Justice, Inc.
The State Bar Legal Assistance Committee promotes the establishment and maintenance of organizations that provide legal services to low- and moderate-income individuals. It explores new ways to increase the accessibility of legal services. The committee provides encouragement and assistance to others in improving legal services delivery while promoting pro bono service to Wisconsin lawyers as a way to give back to the profession and to our communities.
To that end the Legal Assistance Committee recognizes attorneys and organizations for their outstanding pro bono services through two awards.
Community Justice Inc. of Madison is the recipient of the 2024 Pro Bono Organization of the Year Award from the Legal Assistance Committee.
Community Justice is a nonprofit organization that provides low-cost and free legal services to all of its clients.
Community Justice has partnered with Neighborhood House Community Center to establish a free monthly legal aid clinic to meet the legal needs of low and no-income people in Madison.
The organization’s attorneys work regularly with individuals seeking free legal advice and consultation for family law landlord-tenant small claims and discrimination issues and more.
“There is a great need for the service they offer and we depend on their assistance to offer this to our community” says their nominators. “At each clinic their attorneys are engaged caring and respectful to all clients.”
“They are willing to spend time helping people as much as possible and they are also willing to educate employees at our center about how we can help our community. Through these volunteer efforts they have helped hundreds of pro se litigants.”
Dan Tuchscherer Outstanding Public Interest Law Attorney Award - Hon. Molly Gena
The Dan Tuchscherer Outstanding Public Interest Law Attorney Award from the Public Interest Law Section recognizes a lawyer who demonstrates a selfless lifetime commitment to working in the public interest both inside and outside the field of law.
The 2024 recipient of this award is Judge Molly Gena of Milwaukee County Municipal Court.
Judge Gena has been a tireless advocate for people in need for her entire career. Before being elected to the bench in 2023 she worked as an attorney for Legal Action of Wisconsin helping low-income clients recover their driver’s licenses so they could pursue education and find family-sustaining employment.
In 2019 she became the managing attorney of Legal Action’s Milwaukee office guiding it through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since being elected to Branch 2 in the Milwaukee Municipal Court Judge Gena has presided over a courtroom that aims to serve the community in a holistic respectful and just manner.
Ryan Klesh Public Interest Legal Worker Award - Liam Coughlan
The Ryan Klesh Outstanding Public Interest Legal Worker Award from the Public Interest Law Section honors an individual who captures the essence of the late Ryan Klesh: selflessness work ethic kindness intellect authenticity and humor in working to seek justice for low-income neighbors family or friends.
Liam Coughlan is the posthumous recipient of this year’s award.
Liam worked as a paralegal with Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Harm Reduction Project which provides civil legal aid to people around Wisconsin impacted by substance use disorders specifically opioids. His work led to an outreach event with a harm reduction group called the Milwaukee Community Collective which met weekly on a street corner on the north or south side of Milwaukee to provide harm reduction materials to those that need them.
Liam Coughlin tragically passed away on Jan. 13 2024 at the age of 23. During his short career his hard work empathy for clients and passion for justice and advocacy made him not just an indispensable employee but a good friend and colleague to all who knew him.
Public Interest Student of the Year - Morgan Gulledge & Shruti Pandey
The Outstanding Public Interest Law Student of the Year Awards from the Public Interest Law Section honor two law students – one from each Wisconsin law school – who have demonstrated a commitment to working in the public interest and helping others. The awards recognize exceptional public interest volunteer work or activism in the community at large or the law school community.
University of Wisconsin Law School
This year the recipient of the Outstanding Public Interest Student of the Year Award from the University of Wisconsin Law School is Shruti Pandey, Class of 2025.
Shruti has demonstrated a strong commitment to working in the public interest volunteering with the U.W. Law School’s Eviction Defense Clinic Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Bankruptcy Clinic and the Madison Library’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
She also has shown activism in her law school community where she currently serves as the vice president of public service on the U.W. Law School’s Student Bar Association’s executive board and advocates for increased law student involvement in pro bono opportunities.
Marquette University Law School
This year the recipient of the Outstanding Public Interest Student of the Year Award from Marquette University Law School is Morgan Gulledge, Class of 2024.
Morgan is a member of the Student Advisory Board for the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinics and co-facilitates a weekly legal clinic at the Milwaukee Justice Center. Morgan became involved with the Marquette’s Public Interest Law Society during her first year as a law student and was co-president in her 2L year.
She graduated last month from Marquette with honors for performing more than 350 hours of pro bono work.
Grant F. Langley Service Award - Ann Marie Molitor
The Government Lawyers Division (GLD) provides a forum for exchanging ideas among government attorneys and aims to foster communication and cooperation between government and private practice lawyers.
The Division’s Grant F. Langley Service Award is presented to a member with at least five years of service as a government lawyer. This award recognizes a lawyer who provides services not only to the government and citizens but also to other government attorneys. It pays tribute to a government attorney working to increase the public’s respect for government lawyers while promoting government legal work as a rewarding career choice.
Ann Marie Molitor is the recipient of the 2024 Grant F. Langley Service Award.
Molitor is an administrative law judge for the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Equal Rights Division in Madison. A 1995 graduate of U.W. Law School she has a long history as a government lawyer including as assistant corporation counsel for Waukesha County and as a staff attorney at the Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC).
At the LIRC she developed an expertise in several areas of unemployment insurance law such as independent contractor cases and she was the primary attorney to handle numerous complex cases for the commission.
She is a past president of the division.
Molitor’s stellar work as a government attorney and her commitment to government and community service are examples to her colleagues and to the legal profession.
Nonresident Lawyers Division Founder’s Award - Hon. Viet-Hanh Winchell
The Nonresident Lawyers Division (NRLD) helps nonresident members maintain their ties with Wisconsin. It promotes communication and business opportunities among nonresidents and it oversees the growing network of local NRLD chapters across the United States.
The NRLD Founder’s Award recognizes a nonresident member who has brought positive change to the Division and has actively participated in State Bar activities for many years.
Judge Viet-Hanh Nguyen Winchell of St. Paul Minnesota is the recipient of the Nonresident Lawyers Division Founder’s Award for her many years of service to the NRLD.
Judge Winchell has served the State Bar as a president of the Minneapolis alumni chapter. She is a former president of the NRLD board and served on the State Bar Board of Governors.
While she is no longer serving on the NRLD board she represents nonresident lawyers in other volunteer capacities. She has been a governor-appointed member of the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection and currently serves as a member of the Advisory Council for the Taubman Safety Project.
Judge Winchell owned a Minnesota-based law firm where she represented clients in a broad range of criminal and civil matters.
She was appointed in March to the Tenth Judicial District in Minnesota.
Senior Lawyers Division Leonard L. Loeb Award - Mary Lynne Donohue
The Senior Lawyers Division offers activities and content focusing on the needs and interests of lawyers age 60 years and older. Through the Leonard L. Loeb Award the Division recognizes a senior lawyer who has made significant contributions to the legal community shown respect for the legal system and demonstrated a love for the law and what it seeks to accomplish.
This year’s recipient is Mary Lynne Donohue.
Donohue’s service to the State Bar and the legal profession is extensive. She has served as secretary and treasurer and two terms as a district representative on the Board of Governors.
She has chaired the Leadership Development Committee Facilities Committee and many other State Bar committees. She is a Class of 2002 Fellow of the Wisconsin Law Foundation and served on the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation Board.
Donohue has demonstrated that commitment locally. In 1990 she was the Sheboygan County Bar Association’s first female president – an event unusual enough to merit an article on the front page of the local paper. For many years she has served as volunteer coordinator with its legal aid clinic annually recruiting the clinic's 24 volunteers.
With her colleague Julie Stodolka Donohue initiated a separate pro bono project in August 2021 the Renters' Eviction Assistance Program. Working with the Lakeshore Community Action Program Donohue and Stodolka provided legal assistance to more than 150 low-income renters facing eviction or other landlord-tenant issues in Sheboygan County.
With the Center for International Legal Studies Donohue has taught short-term courses in administrative law at universities in Bulgaria Poland and Lithuania.
Apart from her contributions and commitment to the legal profession Donohue has contributed to local and statewide community organizations including as president of the Sheboygan Area School District's School Board and on the City of Sheboygan's Common Council.
Young Lawyers Division Outstanding Young Lawyer Award - Abrielle Newman
The Young Lawyers Division (YLD) is for State Bar members under 36 years old or in their first five years of practice. The YLD provides leadership training and networking opportunities. It also encourages its members to be active in the State Bar local and specialty bar associations and communities. YLD presents the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award and Outstanding Mentor Award.
The Outstanding Young Lawyer Award honors young lawyers who make an impact in their practice areas in service to the State Bar of Wisconsin and in service to the community.
Abrielle Newman is the 2024 recipient of this award.
Newman is the lead staff attorney for Legal Action’s nationally recognized Eviction Defense Project. She supervises both attorney and student volunteers ensuring that all participants in the project understand the relevant law and how eviction proceedings work in Wisconsin so they can best serve the project’s clients. Newman also has a caseload of her own where she defends clients in eviction actions.
She is dedicated to serving her clients and the community and is a passionate advocate who is committed to learning and growing.
Young Lawyers Division Outstanding Mentor Award - Nicholas Cerwin
The Outstanding Mentor Award from the Young Lawyers Division recognizes a Wisconsin attorney who has made an exceptional contribution to the life and career of a young attorney.
Nicholas Cerwin is this year’s recipient.
Cerwin is an assistant city attorney for the City of West Allis. A Marquette Law School 2012 graduate he previously worked as an assistant city attorney for Milwaukee County.
Cerwin is an outstanding mentor to law student interns and young lawyers who work with him. He leads by example and with patience and support. As a leader encourages the interns in ways that help them to grow professionally.
“He is not only a role-model for any young attorney but also a great role-model for anyone looking to become a thoughtful empathetic and intentional human being” writes one nominator. “Working with Nick taught me that being an attorney is all about doing your part to move the scales of justice toward equilibrium in a way that positively impacts your community. To do this you must give your best effort to your client. Nick serves as a reminder that being an attorney is to be part of an impactful profession. It’s not just a job.”
Wisconsin Association of Legal Administrators Award of Excellence - Maribeth Karpinski
The Wisconsin Association of Legal Administrators (WALA) was chartered on January 16, 1978. Each year, WALA distributes the Wisconsin Association of Legal Administrators Award of Excellence, which honors a current or recent WALA member who had a significant impact on the association.
Maribeth Karpinski is the 2024 recipient of this award.
Maribeth joined the legal industry in 2009 after dedicating 23 years to the waste disposal business. She spent a year as Senior Accounting Manager at Quarles and today is the Director of Administration for the boutique Milwaukee-based labor and employment law firm, Lindner & Marsack.
New to an industry very different from where she came, she sought out professional development resources, and found the Association of Legal Administrators. She joined the association in 2015 and was elected to the Wisconsin Board of Directors in 2017, where she served in various roles over the past 7 years – including as president.
In her spare time, she loves to stay active by running with her husband and visiting her daughter in Chicago. She has been very grateful to be able to devote the second half of her working career to such a great organization.
To nominate one of your deserving colleagues for the awards listed above, watch for details in a later edition of
InsideTrack.
