Attorneys

Lester Pines is a Senior Partner in the firm. In practice since 1975, he leads the Litigation area, concentrating in civil trials, criminal defense, labor & employment, and business.

Professional Activities and Experience
A Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, Mr. Pines is a highly respected civil and criminal litigator who has appeared in courts throughout Wisconsin and litigated federal matters in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio and New York.

His criminal defense work has involved many high profile cases, especially involving teachers, police officers and other public employees. His civil trial practice encompasses constitutional and civil rights claims, employment, personal injury and commercial disputes. He is counsel for Madison Teachers, Inc., which represents the employees of the Madison Metropolitan School District. Most recently he successfully represented the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board in a lawsuit by Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen that was widely believed to be an attempt to suppress voting in the 2008 Presidential election.

Mr. Pines has been appellate counsel before the Wisconsin Court of Appeals and Supreme Court and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Among the cases he successfully argued in the Wisconsin Supreme Court is Thompson v. Craney, 199 Wis. 2d 674 (1996), an original action in that court, which has been described as one of the Court's most significant interpretations of the Wisconsin Constitution. He argued another original action in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Wisconsin Professional Police Association v. Lightbourn, 243 Wis. 2d 512, 627 N.W. 2d 807, 2001 WI 59 (2001), which challenged the constitutionality of legislation requiring certain distributions from the trust funds of the Wisconsin Retirement System.

Mr. Pines is a Master in the James E. Doyle Chapter of the American Inns of Court. He maintains membership in the American Bar Association, Litigation Section, Wisconsin Association for Justice, Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Association for Justice, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School teaching Civil Trial Advocacy.