Business of the Week: Weld Riley, S.C.

This week’s featured business is Weld Riley, S.C., a law firm in downtown Wausau that longtime residents will remember as the former Mallery & Zimmerman, S.C. The Wausau office joined the Weld Riley fold in July 2021, adding to the firm’s offices in Eau Claire, Black River Falls and Menomonie. Weld Riley represents the people and businesses that make up our central Wisconsin communities, as well as a number of government entities who create the ordinances and rules by which we live. From labor and employment to business law, estate planning, tax representation, municipal law, frac sand, mining and mineral rights, environmental law, banking and creditors’ rights, civil litigation, worker’s compensation defense, criminal defense, immigration, and divorce and family law, Weld Riley represents clients in a wide range of areas.

For the past 25 years, the team at Weld Riley has grown to include attorneys with a wide range of practical knowledge and litigation experience. The Wausau office, at 500 N. Third St. Suite 800, is centrally located with a group of attorneys who are accessible and ready to work with you when you need it.

Lawyers play a fundamental role in our daily lives and in our society. They protect you when harmed and defend you when accused. They’re trained to protect your rights and ensure that you’re treated fairly by the legal system. They can also help you pursue your life goals, ensure your future is protected and hold corporations, organizations and sometimes even the government accountable. Finding the right attorney to represent you, your business or your organization is vital.

At Weld Riley, attorneys Dean Dietrich, John Cravens, John Wagman, Nathan Miller, Mark Sauer, Evan Mayer, Davis Runde and Matt Mayer each bring a unique set of qualifications to the table, along with two paralegals and five legal assistants who work as a team to navigate even the most complex legal issues. Their lawyers offer clients the sophistication and experience of a large firm, paired with our comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the people, businesses, government entities and court systems of central Wisconsin. Smart, sophisticated, and collaborative,  this team of lawyers offers everything the nation’s best law firms do— minus the pretense. 

Matthew Mayer, Wausau managing partner and attorney, said the law is meant to help everyone.

“Too often, it is seen as a tool to take advantage of someone,” Mayer said. “Attorneys are for everyone, not just the big and powerful, and part of our job is to help everyone feel like they are protected from being disadvantaged. Weld Riley will do what is necessary to get every client a legal and just result.”

The perfect balance of personal and professional, Weld Riley combines industry-leading insight with responsiveness in a way that truly sets them apart. Here, Mayer shares Weld Riley’s vision, the staff’s passion for serving the community and what you should know before deciding on legal representation of your own.

A: Individuals and families are a key focus of Weld Riley. We provide services for wills and estate planning, real estate disputes and issues, as well as family law that includes divorce, custody, paternity, adoption and post judgment issues. We also represent individuals if they are being sued or with issues that require a lawsuit to be filed.

Weld Riley also takes great pride in its ability to partner with and assist businesses. Our attorneys have the knowledge and experience to handle all stages of the life of a business from creation and onwards, including mergers and acquisitions, transfer of interests and sales. Our business attorneys also have a broad knowledge of industry sector regulations from energy and banking to organized labor. Our employment law attorneys are also available to assist businesses navigate investigations, terminations, human resources issues, and collective bargaining. Weld Riley’s experienced litigators bring years of courtroom experience to assist our clients with lawsuits or when threats arise. 

For government entities, our attorneys have the knowledge, expertise, and skill to advise on all issues that cities, villages, towns and school districts face. 

With Weld Riley, a client will not wait for a response or action to be taken. The number one complaint we hear from our clients about their previous counsel was the lack of responsiveness. That is unacceptable to Weld Riley. 

Weld Riley’s size and expertise allow it to work efficiently and decisively to provide our clients with the resources of a large law firm while maintaining a high degree of personal client services at the reasonable costs of a small firm. We have an outstanding mix of attorneys that allows collaboration to address both common and novel issues our clients face. 

Google and other search engines can provide a bare essential education to the average person about many legal issues. However, the strength of an attorney is not just interpreting what a law says, but applying each situation’s unique facts. This allows the attorney to navigate around potential legal issues that broad information online will not. 

Often, people contact us when it is too late and we need to do a substantial amount of additional work to unwind simple mistakes. What could have started as a relatively quick transaction morphs into an expensive, time-consuming representation. 

Lastly, individuals often believe the cost of an attorney means tens of thousands of dollars. Often, however, the necessary work only involves a meeting or two, and can be accomplished for a fraction of that anticipated cost.