Leece and Phillips: Ward D. Phillips

Ward D. Phillips
- Personal Bio -
Born in Benton, Illinois on January 20, 1961; admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin in May of 1986. Married 17 years, with four (4) children. Resident of the Elkhorn community.

Education: Illinois State University - May, 1983 (B.S. English) (minor Economics); Marquette University (J.D., May, 1986).

Bar Admission: Admitted to practice in May 1986 before the State of Wisconsin; Federal Court for Eastern District of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Appellate and Supreme Courts

Member: American Bar Association; State Bar of Wisconsin (Family Law and Office Management Sections); Walworth County Bar Association; Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc.; Past Walworth County Bar Association Representative for Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc.; Past Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. - Past Executive Managing Committee Member; Former City of Elkhorn Assistant City Attorney (negotiated labor contracts) and current City Attorney; City of Elkhorn Zoning and Planning Commission; City of Elkhorn Extraterritorial Zoning Committee; City of Elkhorn Tax Incremental Financing District Citizen At Large Member of "TIF" I, II and III; Past Alderman for City of Elkhorn; Elkhorn Rotary Club; Lakeland Leadership (An organization affiliated with Lakeland Medical Center Foundation, Inc.) and Sugar Creek Lutheran Church; (Past Church board member).

Attorney Phillips has a practice devoted primarily to the areas of family law practice, including divorce, custody, post-divorce, child support and juvenile matters, as well as Wills and any other matter associated with families and their day-to-day needs in the legal arena.

Practice is further devoted to municipal law as City Attorney for the City of Elkhorn, currently and for the past 4 years.

Mr. Phillips is involved in several civic organizations. He was a past member of the Kiwanis and a current member of the Elkhorn Rotary since 1986. Judicial counsel to several public and private charitable organizations and non-profit 501(c )(3) organizations.

Mr. Phillips is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. pro bono legal services organization (the Wisconsin portion of the Federal Legal Services Corporation providing pro bono services nationwide).

Mr. Phillips is an active member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, as well as the American Bar Association and local Walworth Bar Association. Mr. Phillips is particularly involved in the family law and office management sections of the State Bar of Wisconsin, both attending available continuing legal education seminars to remain abreast of the current status of the law in these areas as well as conducting educational matters for the general public on the same areas and development of the law.

Mr. Phillips has successfully represented clients in the southeastern Wisconsin area, specifically in the counties of Walworth, Rock, Waukesha, Racine and Kenosha areas over the last 17 years with a focus on resolving cases by settlement wherever possible that are fair and reasonable and in the best interest of children but taking an aggressive stance where necessary to protect clients' interests. Mr. Phillips attempts to take a holistic approach to the problems associated with dissolution of marriages and blended family issues in a manner least disruptive to children as possible.