Lindner & Marsack, S.C., one of the region’s most respected and longstanding management-side labor and employment law firms, announced that three attorneys – Daniel Finerty, Chelsie Springstead and Melissa Stone – will join the Firm’s leadership as partners. In addition, Jerilyn Jacobs joins the Firm as a partner. At the same time, pursuant to its long-term succession plan, Thomas Mackenzie has assumed the duties of President of the Firm.
Mackenzie, who has been with the Firm since 1980 and a shareholder since 1985, succeeds Jonathan Swain who has served as President of the Firm since 2007. Swain will continue to serve on the Firm’s leadership team and will be devoting his efforts to serving the Firm’s clients on full-time basis.
“Every law firm needs to constantly adapt to the changing legal landscape and in recognition of this fact we long ago recognized that we needed to develop a succession plan that will continue to guarantee the success we have enjoyed for more than 100 years,” says Swain. “Tom is not only an exceptional lawyer but he is a great leader and cutting edge thinker. It has been an honor to lead this Firm and I am proud to say that the Firm is in good hands going forward.”
Mackenzie is committed to carrying forth the Firm’s long-standing commitment to unparalleled client service, and is looking forward to doing so with the expanded leadership team. “Employers today face a broad and complex scope of legal challenges and considerations,” says Mackenzie. “Our job is to help clients navigate the challenges and find the best path to success. Dan, Chelsie and Melissa, along with the rest of our team and now with the addition of Jerilyn, have a proven record of success in helping clients reach their goals while assessing costs and managing risks along the way.”
Finerty joined Lindner & Marsack, S.C. in 2012 and works with clients to aggressively defend discrimination, retaliation and harassment claims as well as health care retaliation claims under Wisconsin’s Health Care Worker Protection Act and other employment litigation matters. He represents clients in federal, state and tribal and appellate courts as well as in various regulatory agencies such as the Department of Workforce Development’s Equal Rights and Unemployment Insurance Divisions, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor. Finerty is AV Rated by Martindale Hubbell in Labor and Employment Law, has been recognized with a ‘First Tier’ ranking by Best Lawyers and U.S. News & World Report in the area of Appellate Practice and was selected for inclusion among Wisconsin’s Super Lawyers in 2014 and 2015 and among Rising Stars five times in Employment Litigation – Defense.
Springstead joined Lindner & Marsack, S.C. in 2009. Her practice focuses on worker’s compensation defense, employment defense, subrogation, and Medicare-related issues. Springstead is a frequent speaker and lecturer on worker’s compensation, labor and employment law, and Medicare-related topics, and also provides training to employers and insurance carriers in these areas. She has been recognized as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers each year since 2013.
Stone joined Lindner & Marsack, S.C. in 2012, but has been exclusively practicing worker’s compensation defense and § 102.29 Wis. Stats. subrogation for nearly a decade. In her practice, she represents insurance carriers and self-insured employers, providing legal guidance and counsel on highly complex fact and legal issues as well as establishing action plans for case investigation and litigation through hearings and appeals. Stone is a frequent lecturer and presenter on worker’s compensation law topics in Wisconsin.
Springstead and Stone are both members of Lindner & Marsack’s highly regarded worker’s compensation defense team, which received a ‘first tier’ ranking by U.S. News & World Report.
Lastly, Lindner & Marsack is welcoming Jerilyn Jacobs as the Firm’s newest partner. With an extensive background in employment related litigation, Jacobs is a 1998 graduate of Cornell Law School and had previously been with the Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan firm since 2005. Her practice focuses on defending employers in discrimination, harassment, tort, and contract lawsuits before federal and state courts and administrative agencies and counseling employers on complex day-to-day issues, compliance with federal, state and local laws, and best practices. Jacobs also defends plan administrators, insurers, and employers in ERISA litigation matters in federal court.