Attorney Profiles

Thomas C. Simon is the Senior Associate Attorney at Gatzke & Ruppelt, and specializes his practice in Criminal Defense, Real Estate, Probate and Litigation Support. Simon is currently involved in several Federal criminal defense matters, and he has, in the past, provided technical support on matters involving both criminal and civil litigation. Simon is the most widely published attorney at Gatzke & Ruppelt, having most recently been honored with publication in a State of Wisconsin civil case establishing new case law in the area of civil procedure. Simon's practice has evolved into handling a majority of the residential and commercial real estate and transaction matters, and much of the business litigation work at the firm. He is also the lead attorney on most of the basement litigation cases, both defending and as plaintiff counsel, and represents G&R clients in Landlord-Tenant disputes.

Simon has extensive experience in Labor and Employment matters as well, having handled hundreds of employment cases during his early years at G&R. Simon continues to coordinate and supervise activities in the labor and employment sector and provides support in that area on an as-needed basis. His technical expertise in matters involving employment discrimination, wrongful termination, sexual harassment and social security has been passed on to others in the employment law group, and Tom remains available to handle complex matters in this area as well.
During the extremely contentious 2004 Presidential elections, Simon, along with several other attorneys at the firm, provided legal assistance to the Republican Party, and on Election Day, oversaw the enforcement of election laws at two polling places in the City of Milwaukee.

Simon is also lead counsel at G&R for Wills, Trusts and Estates, and supervises the activities of staff and junior attorneys in the preparation of probate, trust and basic estate planning documents. Simon has an extensive background in information technology and computers, and in his position as coordinator of the Wills section of the firm, Simon has streamlined the handling of basic wills and related documents to the point that Gatzke & Ruppelt now has the ability to turn around basic probate related documents in as little as one day. The service has proven to be extremely popular among the firm’s busy clients who can now often expect to have a full range of will and basic trust related matters handled within days instead of weeks.

Attorney Simon, whose educational background is in Engineering, also handles the intellectual property, copyright and trademark work for clients of Gatzke & Ruppelt. He was born and raised in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and has an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a law degree from Marquette University. At Marquette, Simon served as the Graduate Assistant to the Dean of the Law School, Howard Eisenberg, and to Professor Daniel Blinka, a renowned expert in the area of Evidence. Simon assisted Blinka in updating three textbooks on the issue of Evidence, and worked as a student assistant in the State Public Defender's Office prior to graduation. A resident of Waukesha, Wisconsin where he lives with his wife and daughter,Simon has also been a member of the Waukesha County Bar Association and the State Bar of Wisconsin.

Simon currently resides in Waukesha County with his wife Jeanne and his daughter. Simon can be reached at tsimon@grlaw.info.