Madison, WI – On Thursday, November 21, 2024, the Wisconsin Law Journal honored Axley Brynelson attorney Erika Bierma with the Women in the Law award. This is the third year of Wisconsin Law Journal’s Legal All-Star awards.
The Women in the Law award was created to celebrate the “outstanding achievements of exceptional women in the legal community.” Attorney Bierma is a pivotal member of the Axley team and has a plethora of achievements under her belt.
Erika Bierma is a partner at Axley focusing her practice on criminal defense and university discipline which includes non-academic and academic misconduct. She’s a member of the firm’s hiring committee and serves as a mentor to our summer associates. “Attorney Bierma is held in high regard throughout the justice system for her hard work, honesty, and integrity. Her clients could not have a better advocate, and Axley is honored to have her as a member of our team,” said Managing Partner Judd Genda.
A former associate federal defender, Attorney Bierma is a member of the National, Wisconsin, and Dane County Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She is a board member of the Wisconsin Equal Justice Foundation Board of Directors and serves on the Criminal Law Section Board for the State Bar of Wisconsin.
In 2023, Attorney Bierma was awarded the Kuchler-Nicholson-Stilling Sensitive Crimes Award by the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (WACDL). “The WACDL seeks to acknowledge and honor the particular combination of sensitivity, toughness, research, and trial advocacy skills” that attorneys must showcase in order to secure an acquittal for their clients in these demanding and complicated cases. The winners of the Kuchler-Nicholson-Stilling Sensitive Crimes Award are handpicked by the WACDL Board of Directors.
Additionally, Attorney Bierma is on the federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals’ Panel of attorneys. In 2023, the Court specifically recognized her hard work in a written opinion, thanking her for her assistance on an extremely difficult appeal.
The nominees were celebrated during a networking, luncheon and awards event on November 21, 2024.