Dera L. Johnsen-Tracy, J.D.

I started my legal career as a paralegal in Texas in 1994. In 1998, I moved to Wisconsin and began working in a law firm dedicated to estate planning. This is where I discovered my passion for helping families plan for death, disability, and taxes. For more than a decade, I worked full-time as an estate planning paralegal during the day and attended college, then law school, at night while raising my oldest daughter as a single mom. By the time I graduated from Marquette University Law School in 2008, I had gained 14 years of experience working as a paralegal, including 10 years working specifically in the areas of estate planning, probate, and adult guardianship. As an attorney, I have continued to focus my practice exclusively in these areas.

In furtherance of my passion for helping families plan, I was an active participant in the Wisconsin Wills for Heroes program and the Basic Estate Planning Clinic for Seniors and Veterans for which I was honored to receive the 2015 Individual Attorney Pro Bono Award by the Dane County Bar Association and for which I was also honored to receive the 2016 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award by the State Bar of Wisconsin. I was selected by Super Lawyers to the 2016-2019 Wisconsin Rising Stars list, which is an exclusive list recognizing no more than 2.5% of attorneys in Wisconsin. In addition, I was selected in 2016 as a member of the Fellows of the Wisconsin Law Foundation, a professional honor also limited to 2.5% of attorneys in Wisconsin.

I believe strongly in the importance of education. For more than 5 years, while practicing law, I also taught as an adjunct professor in the paralegal studies program of a local university. I continue to teach regularly for PINNACLE (State Bar of Wisconsin’s Continuing Legal Education Department) and the National Business Institute (NBI).