Candidate for Secretary
Robert Held Vander Wyst
Legal Action of Wisconsin Inc., Racine
Email:
rbh@legalaction.org
Platform Statement
I am honored to be nominated to run for secretary of the State Bar. When I became the Building Bridges Liaison from the LGBT Bar Association to the State Bar Board of Governors last year, I found an organization rapidly adapting to address several crises simultaneously – all while continuing work that will keep the legal profession relevant into the next century. If elected secretary, I would bring a fresh perspective to support the State Bar as it continues this vital work, and challenge it to do more to address the legal community’s greatest issues.
As an attorney in Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Racine office, I see lawyers’ importance in ensuring that citizens’ basic civil rights are protected and the difficulties lawyers face doing that work. I also see how much the legal community still needs to do to achieve racial and economic justice. I understand the current crisis in rural Wisconsin communities, like my hometown, Arbor Vitae, where there are not enough attorneys, while the current attorney population is rapidly aging. I know how student debt impacts my life and how the student debt crisis hamstrings my generation. While COVID-19 exacerbated these issues, they existed long before the pandemic. If I am elected secretary, I will work to ensure the State Bar continues and expands its important work to address racial and economic injustice, the lack of attorneys in parts of the state, and the student debt crisis. I would appreciate both your support and your vote in that endeavor.
Biography
I am currently the managing attorney of the Racine Area Office (covering Racine, Kenosha, and Walworth Counties) and Family Law Priority Coordinator at Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. Legal Action is a grant-funded civil legal aid organization that provides representation and advice in civil legal matters to indigent clients in the 39 southeastern counties of Wisconsin. My caseload, though much reduced since becoming managing attorney, consists primarily of representing domestic violence or child abuse survivors in family law cases. Before starting at Legal Action, I graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2013 and from Georgetown University in 2010.
I like to spend most of my spare time with my husband Logan, our pandemic-puppy Edith, and our geriatric cat Minerva. Our favorite activities include learning new crafts, cooking, going to shows, trying different bars or restaurants, and killing far too many house plants.
