President's Message: New Achievements and Initiatives 
Nicole Marklein, President, Wisconsin Defense Counsel

My term as WDC President has just begun, but I am pleased to report that we are hitting the ground running! By the time you read this message, the WDC Board of Directors and Committees have already accomplished many of our goals and are making headway toward achieving the vision for our organization as laid out in our current strategic plan. Of course, all of this will only serve as a springboard for even further growth and improvement in the future. Please take the time to thank our Immediate Past President Chris Bandt for his leadership and service over the past year, which has paved the way for such exciting accomplishments.

Those who are actively involved in WDC continue to stay engaged because we know that our involvement makes us better lawyers and provides a deeper level of satisfaction in our legal careers. We have long urged our members to become involved and reap all the benefits WDC has to offer. I will highlight three recent achievements and initiatives that are helping to bring those benefits directly to you.

New Website

Our website contains a wealth of useful tools and information for our members, from directories and contact information, to archived editions of our well-respected Wisconsin Civil Trial Journal, to outlines, presentations, and updates. However, if you have had the frustration of attempting to navigate our site over the past couple of years, you will agree that it was well overdue for an overhaul. Many thanks to Chris Bandt, Nicole Radler, Vince Scipior, and WDC staff members Jenni Kilpatrick and Veronica DeMore for making that happen. Due to their hard work, I am proud to introduce to you the new www.wdc-online.org!

The new website will help streamline continued education, event registration and payment, membership renewal, listserv/community discussion forums and direct access to all Members Only items contained within the WDC website!

Here is how to get started: A username has been provided to you by a personalized email. Please let one of our staff know if you have not received an email. Use the new username and new password to login. To create an individualized password, please click the “Login” button in the top right-side of the website. Enter your Username and click “Reset Password.” On the next screen, enter the email address associated with your account, and click “Send Password Reset Email.”

Once updated, you can login using your Username and New Password. While you are logged in you can access features on our website and update your information with ease! Remember to keep your username and password private.

New Membership Categories

The Board of Directors has been working to balance our goals of appealing to a wide range of legal professionals who work in the defense of businesses and individuals in Wisconsin with providing candid conversations and targeted content for countering emerging plaintiff’s tactics and better representing defendants in litigation.

We are exploring a redesigned membership structure designed to maximize the benefits to all our members. We are also continuing our efforts to involve law students and new bar members. Stay tuned!

Intensive New Board Member Orientation

This past September, the newly elected Board Members and Executive Committee participated in an intensive orientation to get up to speed on all things WDC, our goals and initiatives and the issues currently facing our members and organization. This new event helped prepare our newest leaders to hit the ground running and best serve our members. We did a deep dive into WDC’s history and structure and discussed issues facing our organization and brainstormed practical steps to make it even better. It also provided yet another opportunity to network and connect with each other outside the strictures of board meetings and casework. I hope we will continue this event with new Board Members and leadership so that they can better understand our organization and better serve our members.

Thank you to our Executive Committee Monte Weiss, Heather Nelson, and Grace Kulkoski and (welcome!) our new Board Members Amy Freiman, Heidi Melzer, Charles Polk, Patti Putney, Nicole Radler, and Vincent Scipior for starting this new WDC year with such great energy and commitment to our organization.

What steps will you take to continue this momentum? Is it volunteering for a committee, authoring an article or contributing a recent verdict for the Wisconsin Civil Trial Journal, or submitting a proposed post, link, or circuit court decision for our Advance eSheet email? Perhaps it is nominating a fellow member for one of our many awards or making a point to speak with at least one new person at each conference this year. Or maybe it is just recommitting to staying in the loop by following WDC on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, or subscribing to the Political Tidbits provided to us by Hamilton Consulting, our governmental relations firm (https://www.hamilton-consulting.com/political-tidbits/).

Wherever you are currently in the state, in your career and in your WDC involvement, we are glad you are here. Over the years, so many of our colleagues have remarked how their involvement in WDC has garnered benefits that far outweigh their efforts. I have no doubt that you will feel the same.

Author Biography:

Nicole Marklein is a partner with the Baraboo firm of Cross Jenks Mercer & Maffei LLP, Sauk County’s longest-running law firm. She specializes in the areas of employment law and insurance defense litigation, including coverage issues. She is a frequent presenter on employment law and defense litigation topics.