Attorney/Shareholder / Age 39
von Briesen & Roper, s.c.
Thomas Moniz grew up in Ripon, where he remembers the scent of Rippin’ Good Cookies permeating the air, and took his first job with the Heidel House Resort on the shores of Green Lake. His first professional opportunity, though, was working for Sorenson Law Office in his hometown.
“It was where I first really cut my teeth being a lawyer. But perhaps more importantly, it’s where I really learned what it meant to live, work and be part of a community,” Moniz says.
As a business and estate planning lawyer, “I have the pleasure of working with clients on the ‘fun stuff’ — solving problems, creating business structures, creative planning for wealth and asset protection, and assisting with mergers and acquisitions,” Moniz says.
Moniz graduated from Marquette University Law School during the Great Recession, which led him back to his hometown. “Looking back on it, I’m sure thankful for how it worked out,” he says. “My wife and I grew to love being back; and now, raising two boys, I couldn’t imagine a better place to be.”
Moniz co-founded a new nonprofit, First We Live Foundation, Inc., focused on mental health awareness and resources for the community. “In particular, the foundation is focused on ‘helping the helpers’ as we like to say — teachers, counselors, social workers,” he says.
At home, Moniz enjoys bird watching — a hobby developed during the pandemic — and cooking. He recently won the von Briesen chili cookoff.
