Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

Tamara B. Packard is a Partner in the Madison, Wisconsin law firm Cullen Weston Pines & Bach LLP. Ms. Packard has been practicing law since 1994, primarily in the areas of litigation and appeals, emphasizing employment, labor and civil rights law. She was named a Wisconsin Rising Star in Employment and Labor Law for 2006 and 2007, as announced in Milwaukee Magazine. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Ms. Packard frequently represents people with gender, disability and sexual orientation discrimination claims, as well as claims under the wage and hours laws, the State and Federal Family Medical Leave Acts, and in other employment and civil rights disputes. Her litigation and appeals practice also encompasses commercial disputes and serving as local counsel in complex federal litigation.

She is admitted to practice in the state courts of Wisconsin and Michigan, the Federal District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin, the Eastern District of Michigan and before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She also regularly appears on behalf of clients at the Wisconsin Equal Rights Division, the Federal Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, and other administrative agencies.

Ms. Packard currently serves on the Executive Committee of the James E. Doyle Chapter of the American Inns of Court as Program Chair. She is also active in the Legal Association for Women, the National Employment Lawyers Association and the Wisconsin Employment Lawyers Association.

In a decision released on June 5, 2008, Ms. Packard prevailed on behalf of Fair Wisconsin before the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a case involving free speech, gay rights, allegations of defamation, and a frivolous lawsuit. Partner Lester Pines was co-counsel. Donohoo v. Action Wisconsin, 2008 WI 56.

In 2007, Ms. Packard and Mr. Pines defended, in an Original Action before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the Wisconsin Ethics Board's right to discipline Judge Annette Ziegler for her violations of the State Ethics Code. The Supreme Court declined Judge Ziegler's request to take her case, and soon after Judge Ziegler admitted to the violations, agreed to pay a $5,000 forfeiture, and also paid the Board's attorney fees.

In 2003, Ms. Packard won her first case in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, In re Bar Admission of Vanderperren, 2003 WI 37. The Supreme Court found that the Board of Bar Examiners wrongfully denied her client the privilege of practicing law in Wisconsin.

In 2001, on behalf of Madison Teachers, Inc., Ms. Packard and Mr. Pines protected the teachers' union's ability to negotiate domestic partner health insurance for school district employees. This victory was achieved in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in cooperation with attorneys for the Madison Metropolitan School District. Pritchard v. MMSD and Madison Teachers, Inc., 2001 WI App 62.

Ms. Packard is a past-President of the Board of Directors of Fair Wisconsin Education Fund. She continues to serve on the Board. She also writes a regular column for Madison magazine Our Lives. She offers information on legal topics of particular interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.

By the appointment of the Honorable Shelley J. Gaylord, Dane County Judge, Ms. Packard is a Dane County Supplemental Court Commissioner. This appointment allows Ms. Packard to officiate at marriage ceremonies throughout Wisconsin.

Effective November 1, 2008, I opened my own law office in Brookfield, Wisconsin (in Waukesha County, a suburb of the City of Milwaukee). In addition to being more centrally situated to my personal client base, this move also reflects the fact that as my practice was increasingly focused on asset planning and debt reorganization, it resulted in my former law firm more frequently encountering conflicts of interest with business organizations and financial organizations it represented (or, desired to represent!).

Generally, I will continue to provide services in the following areas of concern as they tend to interact, and at the listed rates:

A. Personal/business debt reorganization/resolution. My services here are based on assisting clients either eliminating debt concerns that hamper their business, or in exiting the business under circumstances where protection of the owner's personal assets are maximized, to the extant legally possible. This involves the use of such tools as Chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcies; Chapter 128 state law liquidations: and personal asset protection plans. To that end, I am representing only a few area banking concerns [AnchorBank; NorStates Bank) to eliminate conflicts of interest which, far too often, may be influencing the vigor of representation offered by other firms in this locale. Fees in this practice area will range from $250 to $265 per hour.

B. Employment matters and litigation. For businesses, I offer services in responding to employee claims, and assisting in employment decisions where a claim potential exists. I also will counsel higher-compensated employees about exploring their options in conflict with their employer. To this area, I bring my experience as a former claims investigator for the Wisconsin Equal Rights Division and years of representing each side in - typically - contested employment disputes, where trials or administrative hearings are likely to occur. My litigation (courtroom work) matters will focus on misrepresentation, fraud and/or administrative code violations, such as deceptive business practices. Fees here will range from $225-$245, again driven by the complexity and breadth of the issues.

C. General business consulting, planning and setup matters, including subsidiary and affiliate implementation, as a means to protect the core business in the event a planned expansion or venture either fails, or is more successful than anticipated. Generally, these services will be at an hourly fee range of $200-225, based on the size and complexity of the client's project.

A note about the fee ranges: Generally, these ranges are markedly less than charged by similar practitioners with similar experience in the subject fields. Nor do I expect to increase them any time soon. The business model of a "downtown firm," with annual fee increases noted as
standard in their engagement letter is not one I care to follow. I have a long relationship with most all of my present client base; they expect effective service and I intend to keep my overhead under control to eliminate fee spiraling for such services.

It goes without saying that a business seeks customers that pay timely for fair services; but the larger you grow in the service fields, the harder it is to hold true to that goal . . . and other clients tend to suffer for the consequences of that growth. I am proud that my practice has been virtually client referral-based. After initial discussion on a matter, I quote a fee rate from the above ranges and confirm it by letter. I also charge as "expenses" only out-of-pocket fees (for legal filings, court reporter fees) and, occasionally, photocopying; scanning; mailing, if a large volume is handled on my end (versus being copied and issued at your own facilities).

Personally, I obtained the coveted A-V rating from Martindale-Hubbell (generally recognized as the foremost and longest-established lawyer evaluation service) back in 1991 (one of the first to achieve such at my former firm).

Prior to engaging in private practice, I served as a law clerk (legal researcher) to the Wisconsin Supreme Court after graduating cum laude from Marquette Law School, where I was one of the editors of its Law Review. During law school, I was employed as a field investigator for the Equal Rights Division (through a law school clinical program) of the State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (investigating discrimination claims).

I have also been president of the Alumni Association for the Law School, and served two terms as its representative on the Marquette University National Alumni Association's Board of Directors. Early on, I was awarded the Volunteer Lawyer of the Year for the Milwaukee Young Lawyers' Association/Legal Action of Wisconsin joint program for supplying legal services to the community for complex employment matters; and still provide services on bankruptcy matters for its current program.