GASPARRI & JOYCE S.C.

Education
 

• Marquette University Law School, J.D.,1988

• Marquette University, B.A., 1985

Bar Admissions
 

• Wisconsin Supreme Court

• Federal Eastern District of Wisconsin

Areas of Practice
 

• Family law, including divorce, paternity, child support, custody and placement cases

• Residential and commercial real estate transactions

• Extensive courtroom experience

• Over 30 years of regular courtroom practice

Counties of Practice
 

• Milwaukee

Languages - verbal fluency
 

• Spanish

• Italian

• French

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Biography

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Sandra was born to Dr. Piero and Lucia Gasparri  who emigrated to the United States from Italy months before her birth.  Sandra grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She attended Marquette University, majored in French and Spanish, and graduated with the award of highest distinction in each of these chosen disciplines.  Sandra attended Marquette University Law School and graduated in the top 20% of her class.

 

“When I entered law school, I was determined that I would secure my law degree and move abroad, where I would work as an attorney and use my languages every day.”

 

And so she did.  Upon graduation, Sandra secured employment with GE Medical Systems and worked in Paris, France, as counsel in the litigation office.

 

“My dreams had come true.  I had combined my love for language and law, and  I had accomplished each of the objectives which I had worked so hard to attain.  My husband, John, who also speaks four languages and had similar objectives, secured employment in Paris soon after, and we were well on our way.”  But life had other plans.

 

Sandra’s father unexpectedly became ill with cancer, and her family’s world was turned upside down.  John and Sandra returned to Milwaukee, where they both worked for a personal injury firm until Sandra’s father died, months later.  It was then that John persuaded Sandra to remain in Milwaukee, with her family, and to open Gasparri and Joyce S.C. in the building from which her father had practiced medicine.

 

“My father had built his medical office and had served the community for over 25 years as a physician, providing excellent medical care to much of the South Side of Milwaukee, which, by that time, included a growing Hispanic population.  He spoke five languages fluently, and was able to use his skills to help those who needed him. Whether they could or could not afford his services, it did not matter. He found a way and gave of himself. ... John loved my father immensely, and did not want to close my father’s office.  He did not want to end all of the good that my father had done for so long. And so, we changed the intended direction of our lives, and opened this law office. We sent letters to each of my father’s patients (over 12,000 letters) telling them what we were doing, and we started working in areas neither of us had ever dreamed we would be practicing.  Divorces, paternities, criminal defense, real estate, traffic tickets, bankruptcy... We dedicated ourselves to provide exceptional work to all who needed it, heart and soul, just as my father had done from this same building until the day he died. ...

 

When we opened the law office, my mother joined us, and she has worked alongside of us since each day.  She loves being here, and our clients love her. She has been invaluable to us and has dedicated herself to making sure that each client is made to feel special. She never turns a client in need away because there is no time – she finds an appointment for them. That is not always easy for me to do, especially after a long day in court or with counted hours in a day.  But I can’t say no to her, because she doesn’t take “no” for an answer.

I have been blessed to raise my three sons in this office while I worked, and have been able to give them the example my father gave to us as young children: to use the talents God gave us to serve others.  Now, as I watch them begin their professional lives as young men today, I can see them temper their professional and personal actions with conscience, and I am immensely proud of each of them. I deem them my greatest accomplishments, by far.

 

If you had asked me so many years ago where I would be today, I would have described the street Rue St. Jacques in Paris, France, or Via Veneto in Rome, Italy.  Surely, I would never have imagined that I would be working in Milwaukee, on East Oklahoma Avenue, in my father’s original medical practice. I reflect upon this often, especially on the greyest and darkest days in February each year, when the bleakness of my surroundings cause me, and probably most Wisconsin residents, to question what in world they are doing here.   I indulge myself in a bit of self-pity (in my overly-dramatic-Italian- Sandra style), until reason takes over, and I appreciate that all the dreams I had as a young student have been satisfied right here: I use my languages every day, as I serve so many immigrant populations of our city. I use my legal skills and abilities to really make a difference in the lives of those around me.  I have earned a reputation of respect and competence among my colleagues and the court officials before whom I practice each day. And I have been able to do all this with my husband and best friend, John, at my daily side, surrounded by my family ... It’s usually then that I akin myself to the fictional character ‘George Bailey’ when he discovers that this really is a Wonderful Life...

 

Gasparri and Joyce S.C. has been here now for over 30 years.  I concentrate my practice on family law matters (which include divorce, paternity actions, child support, custody cases) and the sale and purchase of residential and commercial real estate.  I have represented many thousands of clients in the Circuit Court of Milwaukee and I have extensive courtroom experience, as I appear in Court almost daily. I take matters to trial when necessary and am always prepared to do so.  

 

I pride myself on the quality of work which John and I provide to our clients.  We take only cases in which we believe. We treat our clients with respect and understanding. We listen.  We study. We prepare. We charge fairly, and we work diligently. We provide outstanding legal work because it is our name and our reputation -- and that of my father -- which follows every act we perform.  Still, after so many years, there is not a week that goes by that someone does not come in to the office and tell us they were a patient of my father, or knew my father, and tell a story about him, or of something kind he did for them.  It is amazing that a man can be remembered by so many people for his professional care and goodness so long after he has left this earth. If a client would remember me for that decades after I am gone, well then, I think I would have lived a life well worth it.”