A century of counsel – Menn Law Firm

Lori Kaye Lodes

Contributor

July 13, 2026

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – Tucked inside a commemorative book produced for Menn Law Firm’s centennial is a newspaper clipping announcing the formation of a new legal partnership on Jan. 1, 1926.

President and CEO Will McKinley said few could have predicted that the modest practice founded by Homer H. Benton and Alfred C. Bosser would still be thriving 100 years later. 

During the past century, McKinley said the legal profession has changed; law firms have merged, expanded into new markets, disappeared through retirements or acquisitions and increasingly consolidated.

Yet, McKinley said Menn Law has remained something increasingly uncommon: a locally headquartered, full-service law firm that has grown without losing sight of the relationships that built it.

Today, he said the Appleton-based firm serves clients with full-time staff located in offices in Appleton, Green Bay, Seymour and Chilton, along with meeting offices in Hortonville, Oconto and Marinette.

Along the way, McKinley said Menn Law has developed one of Wisconsin’s premier agribusiness law practices, while continuing to offer a broad range of legal services to businesses, families and individuals.

For him, McKinley said the firm’s longevity has never been about chasing growth for growth’s sake, but about three guiding principles: relationships, reputation and investing in people. 

Staying true to the founders’ vision

When Benton and Bosser opened their practice in downtown Appleton in 1926, McKinley said they established a business model that remains relevant today.

Their vision, McKinley said, was to build a law firm equally devoted to advocacy and counsel, with one group of attorneys focused on litigation and another dedicated to advising clients on business, estate planning and transactional matters.

That balance, he said, still defines the firm.

“Our firm, since its founding, has always been half litigation and half transaction lawyers,” he said. “Even our building in Appleton was designed so that half accommodates litigation attorneys and half accommodates our transactional attorneys and the middle is all our conference room.”

Over the decades, McKinley said the firm’s name evolved from Benton & Bosser to several others before becoming Menn Law Firm in 2004, reflecting the reputation earned by longtime attorney John B. Menn.

McKinley said its headquarters moved from downtown Appleton to Enterprise Avenue in 2007 to better accommodate a growing client base.

But while offices, technology and personnel have changed dramatically over the decades, he said the firm’s foundation has remained remarkably consistent.

A different kind of law firm

McKinley said Menn Law occupies a unique position in Northeast Wisconsin’s legal market as its largest local, full-service law firm.

“We have 30-plus attorneys who practice in a wide variety of practice areas, so if you are a client and you need legal services, you can come to our law firm, and odds are, there is an attorney who can serve you,” he said.

McKinley said that distinguishes Menn from firms that concentrate on only one or two specialties – such as family law, divorces, criminal defense or business work. 

Equally important, McKinley said, is what the firm has not become.

“We’re local,” he said. “There are a lot of firms in Northeast Wisconsin [whose] headquarters might be Milwaukee, Madison or Chicago. We were founded in Appleton, and our headquarters are here. All our attorneys are based in Northeast Wisconsin, and many of them are from Northeast Wisconsin.”

McKinley said that familiarity helps the firm build lasting client relationships.

“We pride ourselves on providing really good client support because for us, it’s a relationship, not just a transaction,” he said. “Our attorneys live in the communities [we serve]. They go to the same church as clients, and their kids go to the same schools, so there is a certain higher level of respect and attention to the relationship.”

The firm’s client base today, McKinley said, is broad, describing it in simple terms as “everyone.”

And though the firm’s primary service area generally extends about 100 miles from Appleton, he said several practice groups operate statewide.

McKinley said one of the firm’s key differentiators is its agribusiness law practice.

The firm, he said, has four attorneys, including himself, devoted nearly their entire practice to agricultural law, representing clients across Wisconsin.

McKinley said that specialization has positioned Menn Law as one of the state’s leading agribusiness law firms, while complementing its broader range of services for businesses, families and individuals.

Growing through relationships

McKinley said Menn Law’s geographic reach has been shaped by relationships developed over decades with attorneys throughout Northeast Wisconsin. 

“As a historically bigger firm, we have been a reference point for a lot of smaller law firms, especially smaller law firms in smaller communities,” he said.

Often, McKinley said solo practitioners referred clients whose legal needs extended beyond their own expertise to Menn Law.

Over time, he said those referral relationships created something more substantial.

As many of those attorneys approached retirement, McKinley said they struggled to find younger lawyers willing to relocate to smaller communities.

“It was difficult for them to recruit a younger attorney to come into Hortonville or come into Seymour and say, ‘Hey, I want to set up roots here,’” he said.

Rather than allowing decades of client relationships to disappear, McKinley said many approached Menn about taking over their client base, while maintaining a presence in the community.

“These smaller practitioners were very community oriented and [wanted to] make sure their smaller towns would have access to good legal help,” he said.

The answer, McKinley said, was “yes,” time and again. 

“It was a very logical, almost organic process by which we’d say we’re happy to take on your clients and maintain a physical presence and service those clients,” he said.

McKinley said the approach eventually led to affiliations and acquisitions in Seymour, Green Bay, Hortonville, Oconto, Marinette and Chilton.

Unlike expansion strategies driven by market share or advertising, McKinley said Menn’s growth followed existing trust.

“It was more a natural development of very long-term relationships over time,” he said. 

Reputation built over generations

McKinley said one of Menn Law’s key assets isn’t financial at all – it’s the firm’s standing within the legal community.

He said being a trusted resource for other attorneys has long been central to the firm’s identity.

“Our tagline is regarded by our peers, recommended by people you trust,” he said.

McKinley said that reputation allows other attorneys to confidently refer clients requiring specialized legal expertise.

“In many respects, we are a second law firm to that client that has a primary relationship with another lawyer,” he said.

McKinley said that respect extends well beyond Northeast Wisconsin.

“When I say I’ll be at a meeting and talking to a lawyer in Milwaukee or Madison, and we say I’m with the Menn firm, that lawyer will know by reputation who our firm is,” he said. “Reputationally, we are well known throughout the state, and that means something.”

Relationships measured in decades

Perhaps no accomplishment better illustrates the firm’s staying power, McKinley said, than its client relationships.

“We have multigenerational clients,” he said. “We service clients whose parents and grandparents were clients of this law firm.”

McKinley said sometimes, those relationships are literally preserved in paper files.

“Occasionally, I have a file where I’ll see documents or correspondence from the ’70s or ’80s because that’s how long those relationships have lasted,” he said.

McKinley said the same continuity exists among business clients.

“We’ve been able to work with businesses that have evolved alongside us, and we have multiple clients founded around the same time we were,” he said. “I met with one the other day whose grandfather formed their corporation in 1930 with an attorney with the firm.”

Investing in the next century

Like many professional service organizations, McKinley said Menn Law recognizes its future depends on attracting and retaining talented professionals.

Associate development, he said, is one of the firm’s defining priorities.

As such, McKinley said the firm’s recruiting strategy begins earlier than many of its competitors.

He said Menn Law hires seniors in college who are accepted to law school, welcoming them to work at the firm in internships before they even start law school.

Many of those students, McKinley said, return after their first year of law school and clerk again following their second year.

“The hope is that they will come back, so when they are ready for graduation, they have spent three summers with us,” he said. “We know them, they know us, and it’s much easier for them to decide to join us as a practitioner. It enables them to hit the ground running because they know how our law firm works.”

McKinley said the firm’s size also gives young attorneys flexibility to discover where their interests lie.

“We’re a bigger firm,” he said. “For young attorneys who don’t know what they want to practice – [this is an] opportunity to come into a multidisciplinary firm and figure it out here. They’re not having to do just divorce work or insurance defense work. If they’re interested in litigation and hate it, [they can consider] estate planning or probate administration.”

Honoring the past while preparing for the future

Throughout 2026, McKinley said the firm is marking its centennial with celebrations that recognize both its history and the people who shaped it.

A spring open house, he said, welcomed clients and community members, while a black-tie gala planned this fall will bring together every living attorney who has practiced with the firm.

“We’re inviting every living alumni [lawyer] who worked at the firm at some point in time to come back for a class reunion of sorts,” he said. “Our oldest living lawyer practiced with our firm in the ’60s. [It’s a] unique opportunity to get [people] together from various generations.”