Heath P. Straka

Attorney Heath Straka is a partner at Axley and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and Personal Injury Practice Group. He is the Past President of the Wisconsin Association of Justice (WAJ). WAJ is the state-wide association for trial attorneys and has over 800 professional members. His practice focuses on personal injury actions, general litigation involving employment and construction disputes and also complex litigation and class actions involving product liability claims and wage and hour violations. He has successfully argued multiple cases in front of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Attorney Straka received his law degree from the UW Law School in 2000. He has extensive litigation experience in the State and Federal Courts of Wisconsin and has practiced in the successful resolution of numerous Civil Rights and Personal Injury cases. He was recently appointed to be the Chair of the Dane County Civil Service Commission. In that role, Attorney Straka serves as the presiding attorney regarding employment disputes with Dane County Civil servants. He is also an editor and contributor to the Great Lakes Employment Law Letter.

As a member of WAJ, Attorney Straka has been the Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President, and President and is past chair of the Program Committee and New Lawyers Section. He was also active for many sessions of the Wisconsin Legislature acting as Chair of WAJ’s Legislative Task Force. In 2024, Attorney Straka was appointed to the Wisconsin Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection Committee by the State Bar President, Dean Dietrich.

Attorney Straka is also a founding member and the President of the Cottage Grove Community Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit organization that strives to improve the quality of life of the people and the community it serves through promotion and facilitation of charitable giving.

He has been consistently voted by his peers to be both a Super Lawyer and among the Best Lawyers in America. Attorney Straka has been recognized by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel and was awarded the Top 40 Under 40 Award by The National Trial Lawyers in 2012.

Attorney Straka is fluent in Spanish and has volunteered with the Dane County bar for non-English speaking legal services. He also volunteers in the community. He is the Past-President of the Patriots Youth Hockey Association; is a past Board Member with Madison Festivals, Inc. (which runs Taste of Madison); and coached both youth hockey and soccer for over 20 years. Attorney Straka is married with three children.

Admitted to practice in the State Courts of Wisconsin, Federal Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin, for the District of Colorado, for the Northern District of Iowa, for the District of Minnesota, for the Northern District of Ohio, for the Northern District of Texas, and for the Southern District of West Virginia, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and United States Court of Federal Claims.