Lester A. Pines Retired

Biography

Lester A. Pines is a Retired Senior Counsel and one of the founders of the firm.

Lester Pines is a founding partner of Pines Bach LLP, whose 50 years of practice started in 1975. On his retirement in 2025, The Capital Times wrote: “Pines made the law an instrument of justice” and “was a great guardian of the Constitution, the rule of law and justice.”
Those efforts started early in his career. In 1976, at the request of Governor Lucey, he faced armed prisoners who were holding fourteen hostages in a barricaded building and negotiated a peaceful resolution. For that, Pines was hailed in a local editorial as “a courageous Madison attorney.”

During his career, three other Wisconsin governors sought counsel from and praised Pines: Governor Earl, “Lester’s commitment to social justice is part of his core as a human being and we are all better for his efforts;” Governor Doyle, “Pines has fought for and furthered the highest values of this country . . . standing up for what’s right, equal and just. I called on him often to represent the State when these values were under siege;” and Governor Evers, “Human rights and civic engagement are what Lester Pines is all about.” President Obama, who had asked Lester to represent a friend’s son, which he successfully did, wrote: “Having an attorney of your caliber looking out for him really made a difference.”

In 2005 Pines was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an honor achieved by no more than one percent of the lawyers in any state, and has served as the chair of the College’s Wisconsin state committee. He taught at the University of Wisconsin Law School for fifteen years, was named its Adjunct Professor of the Year in 2010 and, in 2018, was one of only five alumni invited to speak at the Law School’s 150th anniversary. In 2011, the Wisconsin Law Journal named him a “Leader in the Law.” He was also recognized by the Madison NAACP and Fair Wisconsin for his equal rights work.

In 2026, in recognition of his substantial contributions to the welfare of the state and its people, Pines received a Fellows Award from the Wisconsin Academy of Science Arts & Letters. No other lawyer who was not a judge or law professor has ever received that award.

Numerous peer review organizations regularly recognized Pines as a leading trial attorney in general civil, employment, and criminal defense cases. In major policy cases before Wisconsin’s Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, Pines, along with his colleague,s maintained the constituional independence of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; defended the constitutionality of the state’s domestic partnership law; stopped an effort by a Wisconsin Attorney General to unlawfully purge qualified voters from the rolls; and obtained an injunction against the legislature’s facially unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers when it restricted the ability of the executive branch to provide guidance to the public about the meaning of laws and regulations and how to complay with them.

For decades Pines represented Madison Teachers Inc., the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, the Service Employees International Union, and the Office & Professional Employees International Union, protected reproductive healthcare through his representation of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, defended free speech, academic freedom, and voting rights, and fought race, sex, and LGBTQ+ discrimination.

Pines’ civic engagements include membership on the state Equal Rights Council, chairing Madison’s Plan Commission, serving as president of the Jewish Federation of Madison, and as board member of the Urban League and the Madison Symphony.

Education

University of Wisconsin Law School, Madison, Wisconsin
– J.D. – 1974
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University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
– B.A. – 1972
– Honors: With Distinction
– Major: History

Representative Cases