Showing posts with label Super Lawyers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Super Lawyers. Show all posts

14.11.16

Wisconsin's Top Injury Lawyers

Today, Jeff and I received statewide honors with both of us being named to the Top 50 Wisconsin Super Lawyers list in Milwaukee Magazine.  For more see Wisconsin's Top Injury Lawyers - Milwaukee Magazine.

Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorney

9.5.13

Phone Calls From Lawyers After a Car Accident

Today, for the first time, I learned from a client that she not only received personal injury lawyers' letters after her Milwaukee car accident, but received about 20 phone calls from lawyers on her mobile phone.  This is absolutely, positively disgusting and a direct ethical violation of Wisconsin Supreme Court Rule SCR 20:7.3, which prohibits such contact.  Wisconsin lawyers must not directly solicit clients they don't know, aren't related to, or haven't been asked to call.  Even though your cell phone number or home phone number is listed in a car accident report, this doesn't open you up to phone calls from lawyers, Wisconsin chiropractors working for lawyers, or anyone else working for or on behalf of a lawyer.

I highly recommend that you answer these attorneys' phone calls, find out the Wisconsin law office or lawyer they are working for, and then immediately report the lawyer to the Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation.  You can easily submit a grievance over the telephone at (608) 267-7274 or (877) 315-6941 (toll free).

Do not hire a lawyer or go to a "free" visit with anyone as the result of a telephone call.  Hiring a Wisconsin lawyer or law firm is an important decision and shouldn't be done that way.

Accident victims looking for the best Wisconsin lawyer should use independent sources like Best Lawyers in America (Wisconsin Best Lawyers), Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings (AV® Preeminent™), and Super Lawyers (Wisconsin Super Lawyers). For a personal injury attorney, make sure that the lawyers are active members of The American Association for Justice and Wisconsin Association for Justice.
Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorney

27.2.12

Wisconsin Super Lawyers 2011



Pasternak & Zirgibel is again honored in Milwaukee Magazine via Super Lawyers (December 2011).  Both Jeff Zirgibel and I have now appeared in the Top 50 Wisconsin Super Lawyers, which is an incredible award since there are about 14,000 lawyers in Wisconsin.

Super Lawyers tries to identify Wisconsin attorneys in the top 5% of all Wisconsin lawyers and Rising Stars under age 40. Super Lawyers also publishes a Top 50 list discussed below.

For 2011, there are only eight Wisconsin personal injury law firms represented in the Top 50 list:
  • Cannon & Dunphy, Brookfield
  • Domnitz & Skemp, Milwaukee
  • End, Hierseman & Crain, Milwaukee
  • Gingras, Cates & Lubke, Madison
  • Habush Habush & Rottier, Multiple
  • Laufenberg, Stombaugh & Jassak, Multiple
  • Murphy & Prachthauser, Multiple
  • Pasternak & Zirgibel, Brookfield
Wisconsin victims of car accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, premises liability, etc., could do far worse than to start by interviewing these law firms to get help with their personal injury cases.  Mostly in Milwaukee personal injury law firms, they have been recognized by peers as outstanding in their field. 

Hiring lawyers or law firms because they advertise a lot on television or Google, chase ambulances with letters or Wisconsin chiropractors or postings on the web or dabble in personal injury is simply a bad idea. 

If you want a high quality “expert,” look for a personal injury lawyer who shares the traits that these firms do.  This includes injury attorneys who are Peer Review Rated as AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 by Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings and active members of The American Association for Justice and Wisconsin Association for Justice.
Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorney

15.12.10

Wisconsin personal injury Super Lawyers 2010


Wisconsin personal injury attorneys Pasternak & Zirgibel are again honored in Milwaukee Magazine via Law & Politics in its annual Super Lawyers issue (December 2010). I am again honored as one of the Top 50 Wisconsin Super Lawyers and Jeff Zirgibel is again honored as a Wisconsin Super Lawyer. Super Lawyers attempts to identify Wisconsin lawyers in the top 5% of all Wisconsin attorneys and the Rising Stars list tries to identify the top 2.5% of Wisconsin attorneys under age 40. Super Lawyers also publishes a Top 50 list discussed below.

This Wisconsin personal injury lawyer is once again honored to be chosen to be among the Top 50 Super Lawyers in Wisconsin. Only 7 plaintiffs personal injury law firms are represented in that Top 50:

Cannon & Dunphy, Brookfield
Domnitz & Skemp, Milwaukee
End, Hierseman & Crain, Milwaukee
Habush Habush & Rottier, Various
Laufenberg Law Group, Milwaukee
Murphy & Prachthauser, Milwaukee
Pasternak & Zirgibel, Brookfield

Accident victims in Wisconsin (car accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, premises liability, etc.) would be off to a great start in interviewing these law firms to get help with a personal injury case. These Milwaukee personal injury law firms have been recognized by their peers as outstanding in their field. Simply going to a lawyer or law firm that advertises a lot, chases ambulances with letters, or dabbles in personal injury but really practices in other areas of the law is irresponsible. Additionally, though all different, the Wisconsin lawyers at these firms share several common professional traits. Such traits include being Peer Review Rated as AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 by Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings, and being active members of The American Association for Justice and Wisconsin Association for Justice.

Congratulations to all who made Super Lawyers! It surely is an honor to be listed given that there are about 14,000 lawyers in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Injury Lawyer

13.11.09

Top 50 Wisconsin Super Lawyers in Milwaukee Magazine

Milwaukee Magazine is out with its December 2009 issue, which again this year has the Super Lawyers list of attorneys in Wisconsin. Super Lawyers tries to identify the top 5% of all Wisconsin attorneys and its Rising Stars list tries to identify the top 2.5% of Wisconsin attorneys under age 40. Super Lawyers also publishes a Top 50 list, which I discuss here. If you wish to browse the whole list by area of practice, you may do so here. I referred to the publication back in July posting on Top Wisconsin Lawyers and with last year’s publication in Wisconsin Personal Injury Super Lawyers.

This Wisconsin personal injury lawyer is again honored to be on the list and more so this year as I was chosen to be among the Top 50 Super Lawyers in Wisconsin. Only eight plaintiffs personal injury law firms are represented in that Top 50:

Cannon & Dunphy, Brookfield
Domnitz & Skemp, Milwaukee
End, Hierseman & Crain, Milwaukee
Habush Habush & Rottier, Various
Laufenberg Law Group, Milwaukee
Murphy & Prachthauser, Milwaukee
Pasternak & Zirgibel, Brookfield
Previant, Goldberg, et al., Milwaukee

A Wisconsin accident victim (car accident, medical malpractice, products liability, premises liability, etc.) could do much worse than interviewing these law firms to help with his or her personal injury case. How? Well, they could go to Wisconsin attorneys who advertise "have wreck, get a check" or chase ambulances with letters or just dabble in personal injury.

The twelve plaintiffs Wisconsin personal injury lawyers in the Top 50 are:

Larry B. Brueggeman
William M. Cannon
Merrick R. Domnitz
Patrick O. Dunphy
J. Michael End
Laurence J. Fehring
Robert L. Habush
Robert L. Jaskulski
Lynn R. Laufenberg
Frank T. Pasternak
Don C. Prachthauser
Daniel A. Rottier

Though all different, some common professional traits we have include being Peer Review Rated: AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 (see The Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings),
and active members of The American Association for Justice and Wisconsin Association for Justice.

In alphabetical order, below are all the Top 50 Wisconsin lawyers found in the list, including their law firm and main area of practice:

Steven A. Bach, Cullen Weston Pines & Bach, Family Law
Emile H. Banks, Jr., Emile Banks & Associates, Insurance Defense
Stephen C. Beilke, Murphy Desmond, Family Law
Peter C. Blain, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, Bankruptcy
Bruce T. Block, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, Real Estate
Larry B. Brueggeman, Previant, Goldberg, et al., Personal Injury
Brian E. Butler, Stafford Rosenbaum, Dispute Resolution
William M. Cannon, Cannon & Dunphy, Personal Injury
Michael J. Cohen, Meissner Tierney Fisher & Nichols, Business
Gregory B. Conway, Liebmann, Conway, et al., Business
Barrett J. Corneille, Corneille Law Group, Insurance Defense
Claude J. Covelli, Boardman Suhr Curry & Field, Litigation
Randall D. Crocker, von Briesen & Roper, Bankruptcy
Michael P. Crooks, Peterson, Johnson & Murray, Insurance Defense
Merrick R. Domnitz, Domnitz & Skemp, Personal Injury
Patrick O. Dunphy, Cannon & Dunphy, Personal Injury
J. Michael End, End, Hierseman & Crain, Personal Injury
Laurence J. Fehring, Habush Habush & Rottier, Personal Injury
Nathan A. Fishbach, Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek, Criminal Defense
Michael J. Fitzgerald, Glynn, Fitzgerald & Albee, Criminal Defense
Robert H. Friebert, Friebert, Finerty & St. John, Business Litigation
Lori Gendelman, Otjen, Van Ert & Weir, Insurance Defense
Stephen M. Glynn, Glynn, Fitzgerald & Albee, Criminal Defense
Robert L. Habush, Habush Habush & Rottier, Personal Injury
Philip J. Halley, Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek, Estate & Probate
Scott W. Hansen, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, Business Litigation
Gregg M. Herman, Loeb & Herman, Family Law
Stephen P. Hurley, Hurley, Burish & Stanton, Criminal Defense
Jesse S. Ishikawa, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, Real Estate
Robert L. Jaskulski, Habush Habush & Rottier, Personal Injury
Terry E. Johnson, Peterson, Johnson & Murray, Insurance Defense
J. David Krekeler, Krekeler Strother, Bankruptcy
Dean P. Laing, O'Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong, General Litigation
Lynn R. Laufenberg, Laufenberg Law Group, Personal Injury
Michael P. Malone, Hinshaw & Culbertson, Insurance Defense
Stephen J. Meyer, Meyer Law Office, Criminal Defense
James T. Murray, Jr., Peterson, Johnson & Murray, Insurance Def.
Timothy F. Nixon, Godfrey & Kahn, Bankruptcy
Frank T. Pasternak, Pasternak & Zirgibel, Personal Injury
Bruce M. Peckerman, Peckerman & Klein, Family Law
Charles I. Phillips, Phillips & Gemignani, Family Law
Don C. Prachthauser, Murphy & Prachthauser, Personal Injury
Daniel A. Rottier, Habush Habush & Rottier, Personal Injury
Thomas W. St. John, Friebert, Finerty & St. John, Family Law
Carlton D. Stansbury, Burbach & Stansbury, Family Law
Marie A. Stanton, Hurley, Burish & Stanton, Dispute Resolution
Dean A. Strang, Hurley, Burish & Stanton, Criminal Defense
Daphne Webb, Stafford Rosenbaum, Family Law
Todd M. Weir, Otjen, Van Ert & Weir, Insurance Defense
Brady C. Williamson, Godfrey & Kahn, Business/Corporate

Congratulations to all who made Super Lawyers! It surely is an honor to be listed given that there are about 14,000 lawyers in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Personal Injury Lawyer

16.7.09

Top Wisconsin Lawyers List

I blogged on Wisconsin personal injury Super Lawyers before. But I just received great news from one of Super Lawyers editors via email. Specifically, I was told that in 2009, I will be rated one of the TOP 50 Wisconsin Super Lawyers.

This honor is pretty cool considering that the answer to the question How many lawyers are in Wisconsin? is about 14,000. After the full top lawyers in Wisconsin list is published in the December 2009 issue of Milwaukee Magazine, I'll try to let you know specifics. Based on last year's list though, I feel honored since among Wisconsin lawyers, I appear to be the youngest by about 17 years with only 10 or less Wisconsin attorneys who limit their practice to plaintiff's personal injury law appearing in the Top 50.

No surprise, none of the "have a wreck, get a check" suspects are on last year's list and no more than two partners at any large personal injury firm made that list (see, How many lawyers do you need?).

Wisconsin Personal Injury Lawyer

2.3.09

How many lawyers do you need?

Saw an outstanding Wisconsin employment discrimination lawyer today and one topic was a personal injury attorney who boasts about the size of his law firm. The discrimination attorney (who's firm has about 10 employees or so) said overhead would concern him there and I've always had issues with unusually large personal injury firms. One concern I've had in Milwaukee is that personal injury lawyers use paid advertising excessively adding to overhead and causing some injury firms to need thousands of clients. At a certain point, partners in these firms lose the ability to see to it that paralegals and lawyers give top level service even if named partners are great lawyers. The next thing that may happen is that associate lawyers feel a need to bring in money and then because they have hundreds of clients at a time, these injury atttorneys settle cases cheaply, which may turn a law firm into a personal injury mill.

I don't know the perfect way how to hire a Wisconsin personal injury lawyer, but I gave direction in Wisconsin personal injury Super Lawyers too. Let me add, that unlike Milwaukee's corporate law firms (e.g. Michael Best, Reinhart, Whyte) where companies need lots of "specialists" (e.g. real estate, regulation, intellectual property, tax, etc.), personal injury clients don't. Rarely, if ever, will an injured party need more than two lawyers at any one injury law firm, so you really shouldn't care "how big" a firm is or "how many" lawyers such a firm has, only whether the one or two attorneys you hire are the ones you're willing to live with for your personal injury case.

Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorney

22.11.08

Wisconsin Personal Injury Super Lawyers

Super Lawyers published its list of the best lawyers in Wisconsin, which you may find in the December, 2008 Milwaukee Magazine. The list tries to identify the top 5% of all Wisconsin lawyers and its Rising Stars list tries to identify the top 2.5% of Wisconsin attorneys under age 40.

Fortunately, this Wisconsin personal injury attorney and my partner Jeff Zirgibel are listed again as Super Lawyers. I previously wrote on how to hire a personal injury lawyer and consider a Super Lawyers designation another tool for finding a personal injury attorney.

With respect to the Super Lawyers list, keep in mind that many lawyers making the list make it for a reason other than their plaintiff's personal injury practice and may not do such litigation exclusively. All are Wisconsin lawyers but many practice in other areas and the list below includes attorneys practicing plaintiff’s personal injury law and possibly in one or more of the following areas: Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate, Business/Corporate, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation Defense, Civil Rights/First Amendment, Criminal Defense, DUI/DWI, Employee Benefits/ERISA, Employment & Labor, Estate Planning & Probate, Family Law, General Litigation, Government/Cities/Municipalities, Immigration, Personal Injury Defense, Social Security Disability, and Workers' Compensation. Thus, conduct your investigation to find out if the lawyer you find is actually a good criminal lawyer (voted a Super Lawyer due to that) or whether they are truly a Wisconsin personal injury lawyer. Finally, keep in mind, that some lawyers listed are there because they are under 40 years old, Rising Stars.

Since more than two lawyers nearly never handle a particular personal injury case or trial, I thought it was important first to identify the Wisconsin law firms having two or more Super Lawyers listing plaintiff’s personal injury as at least part of the firm’s practice:

Aiken & Scoptur SC, Milwaukee
Anderson, O'Brien, Bertz, Skrenes & Golla, Stevens Point
Atterbury & Kammer, S.C., Middleton
Axley Brynelson, LLP, Madison
Bye, Goff, Rohde & Skow Ltd., River Falls
Cannon & Dunphy SC, Brookfield
DeWitt Ross & Stevens SC, Madison
End, Hierseman & Crain LLC, Milwaukee
Gass Weber Mullins LLC, Milwaukee
Gingras, Cates & Luebke, S.C., Madison
Habush Habush & Rottier SC, Various
Hale, Skemp, Hanson, Skemp & Sleik, La Crosse
Herrling Clark Law Firm Ltd, Appleton
Jacquart & Lowe SC, Milwaukee
Lawton & Cates, SC, Madison
Meier, Wickhem, Lyons & Schulz SC, Janesville
Murphy & Prachthauser, Milwaukee Peterson, Berk & Cross SC, Appleton
Pasternak & Zirgibel, SC, Brookfield
Previant, Goldberg, Uelmen, Gratz, Miller & Brueggeman SC, Milwaukee
Schoone, Leuck, Kelley, Pitts & Knurr, S.C., Racine
Warshafsky, Rotter, Tarnoff & Bloch, SC, Milwaukee


The following Wisconsin law firms have one Super Lawyer and at least one Rising Star (under 40) listing plaintiff’s personal injury as at least part of the firm’s practice:

Curtis Law Office, Oshkosh
Domnitz & Skemp, S.C., Milwaukee
Fitzpatrick, Blackey & Associates LLC, La Crosse
Fox & Fox SC, Monona
Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown, Milwaukee
Laufenberg & Hoefle SC, Milwaukee
Liebmann, Conway, Olejniczak & Jerry SC, Green Bay
Menn Law Firm, Ltd., Appleton
Pitman, Kyle & Sicula SC, Milwaukee

Truth be told, you could do ALOT worse than researching and interviewing some of the above 30 law firms to help with your personal injury case. Of course, I'd like you to interview these Wisconsin personal injury attorneys.

Finally, here is a list of all the 2008 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars (under 40) listing plaintiff’s personal injury as at least part of their practice:

Victor M. Arellano
Lee R. Atterbury
Charles W. Averbeck
Bruce R. Bachhuber
John A. Becker
Brian P. Beisenstein
Joseph J. Beisenstein
Robert E. Bellin, Jr.
Keith A. Belzer
Avram D. Berk
Thomas W. Bertz
Gerald J. Bloch
Steven T. Botzau
Larry B. Brueggeman
George Burnett
C.M. Bye
John C. Cabaniss
Steven M. Cain
Kelly L. Centofanti
William M. Cannon
Kent I. Carnell
John L. Cates
Craig A. Christensen
John D. Claypool
Keith R. Clifford
Patrick J. Coffey
Terence R. Collins
Byron B. Conway
Shawn R. Crain
Robert D. Crivello
Rodney L. Cubbie
George W. Curtis, Jr.
Jane Cuthbert
Christine Davies D'Angelo
Bruce M. Davey
Michael R. Davis
M. Angela Dentice
Frank M. Doherty
Merrick R. Domnitz
Christopher A. Duesing
Patrick O. Dunphy
Brett A. Eckstein
Gregory J. Egan
J. Michael End
Eric A. Farnsworth
Laurence J. Fehring
David J. Fitzpatrick
Tom Fitzpatrick
Thomas J. Flanagan
Pamela Wiza Flores
Alex Flynn
Michael R. Fox
Peter J. Fox
Paul V. Gagliardi
James W. Gardner
Eugene A. Gasiorkiewicz
J. Ric Gass
Michael W. Gill
Robert J. Gingras
Steven B. Goff
Russell T. Golla
Jonathan P. Groth
D. Michael Guerin
Robert L. Habush
Charles E. Hanson
Victor C. Harding
Michael F. Hart
Webster A. Hart
C. Michael Hausman
Michael M. Hayes
Jerome A. Hierseman
Ann S. Jacobs
Paul R. Jacquart
James R. Jansen
Thomas J. Janssen
Robert L. Jaskulski
Michael J. Jassak
James A. Johnson
Alexander S. Kammer
David B. Karp
Robert J. Kasieta
Kenan J. Kersten
Timothy S. Knurr
Jason Knutson
Kevin J. Kukor
Dean P. Laing
Lynn R. Laufenberg
Michael L. Laufenberg
Thadd J. Llaurado
Kevin Lonergan
David P. Lowe
Michael J. Luebke
Theodore V. Lyons, Jr.
Craig Mastantuono
Robert A. Mich, Jr.
Leah M. Michaelson-Link
Mark J. Mingo
Thomas J. Misfeldt
Gerald W. Mowris
Thomas K. Mullins
Jason R. Oldenburg
James A. Olson
Robert A. Parsons

Frank T. Pasternak
Mark A. Pennow
Ricardo Perez
John C. Peterson
Jeffrey A. Pitman
James A. Pitts
Kenneth C. Pletcher
Don C. Prachthauser
Ken Quincey
Jacob R. Reis
Jason S. Richard
Michael Riley
F. William Russo
J. Drew Ryberg
Werner Erich Scherr
Charles D. Schmidt
Raymond E. Schrank, II
Jacob L. Schrinsky
Paul J. Scoptur
Michael S. Siddall
Anthony J. Skemp
Ardell W. Skow
Marie A. Stanton
Christopher J. Stawski
Phillip M. Steans
Susan R. Steingass
Charles F. Stierman
Jamie Stock-Retzloff
Heath P. Straka
Christopher L. Strohbehn
Brenda K. Sunby
David E. Sunby
Michael I. Tarnoff
Ralph J. Tease, Jr.
Willard P. Techmeier
Frank R. Terschan
Mark L. Thomsen
Timothy S. Trecek
Jay A. Urban
Edward J. Vopal
Benjamin S. Wagner
William J. Waltenberger

John Walsh
Ted M. Warshafsky
David H. Weber
D.J. Weis
Robert J. Welcenbach
Daniel D. Whetter
James D. Wickhem
Geoffrey D. Wilber
Gregory R. Wright
Mark S. Young

Jeffrey R. Zirgibel

Wisconsin Personal Injury Lawyer

28.12.06

Milwaukee Magazine Super Lawyers honor

Milwaukee Magazine Super Lawyers honored me in this month's issue. It's great to get this Rising Star designation, which means Wisconsin lawyers voted me into the top 2.5% of Wisconsin attorneys under age 40. However, I can honestly say my greatest "award" to date is CNI Newspapers readers naming me "Best Attorney." Why? Well, it's great if lawyers know your very good at your job, but I'd rather my clients feel that way.

Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorney