Wisconsin attorney Michelle Behnke becomes ABA treasurer

NEW YORK, Aug. 15, 2017 — Michelle Behnke of Madison, Wis., principal of Michelle Behnke & Associates, today became the treasurer of the American Bar Association at the organization’s Annual Meeting in New York.

As ABA treasurer, Behnke will serve a three-year term as one of five officers on the ABA’s Board of Governors.

A practicing attorney for almost 30 years, Behnke primarily litigates matters concerning business mergers and acquisitions, real estate and estate planning. In the past 19 years of managing her firm, Behnke has applied her 25 years of real estate experience to deal with issues of cross-border asset acquisition, real estate refinancing with insurance companies and annexation of property into city limits. Behnke began her legal career with Stolpter, Koritzinsky, Brewster & Neider, S.C., in Madison, then practiced as in-house counsel for CUNA Mutual Insurance Society, before opening her own firm.

Behnke has a long history of service with the ABA. She previously served a three-year term on the Board of Governors, and formerly served as chair of the Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services. She also served as an ABA Wisconsin state delegate to the House of Delegates.

Behnke has been involved in the Madison community since her graduation from the University of Wisconsin (1983) and the University of Wisconsin Law School (1988). She has been a member of the University of Wisconsin’s Board of Visitors since 2005, and served as president of the State Bar of Wisconsin from 2004-2005.

In 2015, Behnke was named Real Estate Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in Wisconsin. She was also recognized by the Wisconsin Association of African American Lawyers for Outstanding Leadership in 2004, and named one of the Best Lawyers in America every year from 2005-2015.

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