Six new assistant attorneys general have joined the team at the Wisconsin Department of Justice since the beginning of 2016.
“We are stocking the pond at DOJ with some of the most talented prosecutors and litigators from across the State and nation,” said Attorney General Brad Schimel.
The following assistant attorneys general have been hired by the Wisconsin Department of Justice since January 1, 2016:
Emily Ertel is an assistant attorney general in the environmental protection unit. Prior to joining the Wisconsin DOJ in 2016, Emily was an associate in the environment and energy practice group of a Wisconsin law firm. Emily graduated from Drake University Law School, where she was an Articles Editor for the Drake Law Review, captain of the National Moot Court team, and was elected to the Order of the Coif. After graduation, Emily served as an honors fellow in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Thomas Fallon is an assistant attorney general in the criminal litigation unit. Currently he is the State’s Child Abuse Resource Prosecutor. Prior to returning to the Attorney General’s Office Mr. Fallon, one of two Criminal Court Deputies in the Dane County District Attorney’s Office, supervising Assistant District Attorneys assigned to the criminal courts. Prior to assuming managerial responsibilities, Mr. Fallon was an Assistant District Attorney in Dane County where he was the prosecution coordinator and interagency liaison for child abuse cases. Previously, Mr. Fallon was an Assistant Attorney General with the Wisconsin DOJ in the Criminal Litigation, Antitrust and Consumer Protection Unit where he handled a wide variety of cases from arson to racketeering. He specialized in sexually violent person proceedings, sexual assault, murder, and child abuse prosecutions. Before joining the Wisconsin DOJ, Mr. Fallon Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office where he supervised other prosecutors and specialized in child abuse and drug prosecutions. Mr. Fallon began his career prosecuting paternity and child support enforcement cases for the Kenosha County Child Support Agency.
Mr. Fallon is nationally recognized for several publications and presentations he authored on topics such as Prosecutorial Ethics, Interrogation Law, Sexually Violent Person Proceedings and Child Abuse.
Laura E. McFarlane joins the Wisconsin DOJ as an Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Unit. Prior to joining the DOJ, Laura worked in private practice as a civil litigator and as a transactional attorney. In 2015, Laura was named an Up and Coming Lawyer by the Wisconsin Law Journal. Laura earned her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude and with distinction, in Political Science and History from Boston University. She was also inducted as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Laura earned her law degree, cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin Law School. While in law school, Laura was a Managing Editor for the Wisconsin International Law Journal and also studied abroad in Germany, South Africa, and India.
David Ross joins the Wisconsin DOJ from the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office, where he served as a senior assistant attorney general in the Water and Natural Resources Division. He represented the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality in federal and state courts, while providing strategic counseling and policy advice to the Department Director and Water Quality Division Administrator. Dave also represented the State of Wyoming on the Assumable Waters Subcommittee of the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology. Prior to entering the public sector, Dave served as a partner in the environmental and land use practice group of a large national law firm in Washington, DC. Dave attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for undergraduate studies, and earned his law degree, magna cum laude, and a Master of Studies in Environmental Law, summa cum laude, from Vermont Law School. While at Vermont Law School, Dave served as Editor-in-Chief of the Vermont Law Review.
Peter Tempelis is an assistant attorney general in the Medicaid Fraud & Elder Abuse Unit of the Wisconsin DOJ. Peter previously served as an assistant district attorney and team captain of the Domestic Violence Unit for the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office, where he led a team of ten prosecutors, handling misdemeanor and felony intimate partner violence cases. Beyond his management, training, and coordinated community response duties, Peter personally handled complex and high profile cases, including officer use of force matters. Before his departure, Peter helped lead the DV Unit's transition to serve the new Sojourner Family Peace Center, the largest, most comprehensive family justice center in the country. Peter began state service in 2006 as an assistant district attorney and public service special prosecutor for Jefferson County, where he handled an array of cases, including traffic, misdemeanor, felony, juvenile delinquency, child protective services, termination of parental rights, and homicide. While in Jefferson, Peter drafted the legal policy and procedure creating the first juvenile drug treatment court in Wisconsin. Peter earned a certificate in integrated liberal studies and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which included completion of its Washington, D.C. Program, a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and a master's degree in public affairs in management from the University of Wisconsin Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs. In 2015, Peter was selected as Wisconsin's Assistant District Attorney of the Year by the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association for his work as a prosecutor, leadership of the Domestic Violence Unit, including its homicide prevention efforts, and advocacy on behalf of Wisconsin's District Attorney Program.
Emily Thompson is an assistant attorney general in the criminal litigation unit at the Wisconsin DOJ. She began working with the DOJ as a second Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor in April 2016. Prior to being hired at the DOJ, Emily was a Deputy District Attorney in Dane County, where she also served as a prosecutor specializing in vehicular crimes. She attended law school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and also has a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and a masters’ degree from Boston University.
