Firm Overview
Our firm founders shared two passions. First, they loved the law and viewed lawyering as a proud profession. Second, they believed that the cases they handled could bring justice to individuals and make a contribution to the community.
Five decades later, these passions continue to drive our attorneys every day and with every client.
Firm History
When firm founder Ted Warshafsky came to Milwaukee right out of law school, he made what, at the time, appeared to be a terrible mistake. After working at a local firm for less than a month, he realized that the character of that firm was not as it had been represented. He quit. To support his growing family, he took a third-shift pressroom job. At the same time, he founded his own firm and spent his days learning the city, meeting people, and making contacts in the community. Luck was with him; there was a burgeoning new Latino community in the city, and he was one of the few lawyers around at that time who spoke Spanish fluently. After 13 months, his practice flourished and he quit his factory job.
Within a year, there was more work than one lawyer could handle. Recognizing that the firm needed a strong, reliable, and levelheaded member, he hired Mert Rotter. Three years later, Mike Tarnoff was hired, not only for his remarkable legal acumen, but also for his talent as a point guard who hopefully could end the losing record of the office basketball team.
Over the years came Jerry Bloch, Vic Harding, Werner Reis, Frank Crivello, and Ann Jacobs—lawyers who brought strong trial skills and a devotion to their clients.
Today
Our firm has accomplished many of its early goals. We brought justice to individual clients. We have achieved a safer and more humane society through our cases. Our verdicts have led to the design of safer products and automobiles, the removal of dangerous drugs and pharmaceuticals from the market, the exposure of incompetent healthcare providers, and the recompense of consumers cheated by fraudulent security transactions.
Our attorneys have received national and local recognition. Several are SuperLawyers and have been listed in such publications as Best Lawyers in America, and in the Milwaukee Magazine Best of the Bar polls of judges and lawyers.
All members of the firm have been lecturers, presenters, and teachers in various areas. Ted Warshafsky has lectured at universities, state bar associations, and legal education seminars in almost every state, including being part of the faculty at a program on trial techniques and tactics at Harvard University. Frank Crivello has been a legal columnist and, along with Ted Warshafsky, authored the Trial Handbook for Wisconsin Lawyers. Victor Harding is a member of the Office of Lawyer Regulation—the body that supervises lawyers across Wisconsin. Mike Tarnoff authored Wisconsin's definitive book on damages in tort law. Ann Jacobs was an author of the Wisconsin Juvenile Law Handbook and a frequent lecturer to other attorneys. The list goes on and on.
The firm has formed a charitable foundation that distributes scholarships to needy, deserving young people in Milwaukee. It continues to be active in doing its share of pro bono work and supporting such groups as the Milwaukee Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, the League of Martin, the Police Athletic League, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, and various other civic groups that do so much to improve the quality of life in our community.
Perhaps the lesson to be learned from all of this is that doing the right thing can also be a fun thing. The oldest members of the firm and the youngest members of the firm are all trying and winning cases, serving the community, and enjoying the process.
