Managing partner and chair
Quarles | Milwaukee
Michael Aldana, a labor, employment and benefits attorney, was named managing partner of Quarles in 2018 and added the role of executive committee chair in 2020. The Milwaukee-based firm has about 550 attorneys practicing in its 13 offices nationwide. Its clients include major national and multinational corporations, including Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Molson Coors and Wells Fargo Bank. In addition to leading the daily management and operations of the law firm, Aldana works with employers on human resources issues, including layoffs and employment issues related to mergers and acquisitions. In 2023, he was elected a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a global honorary society for attorneys, judges, law faculty and legal scholars. He is also a board director of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.
Education: Bachelor’s, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; J.D., University of Michigan Law School
2022 Wisconsin 275 Profile
Business Services | Law
Managing partner
Quarles & Brady | Milwaukee
In 2018, Michael Aldana was named managing partner of Quarles & Brady LLP and assumed leadership of the Milwaukee-based law firm. Aldana has been with Quarles more than 24 years and worked previously as a partner in its Labor & Employment Group.
He is a frequent lecturer on employment, civil rights, educational and constitutional topics. He also regularly counsels employers on human resources issues, including layoffs and employment issues related to mergers and acquisitions. He has experience in defending employers in employment discrimination cases, wrongful discharge lawsuits, wage and hour claims, and union litigation in federal and state courts and before federal and state agencies.
Participating in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s Leaders at the Front initiative, Aldana created a pledge detailing his personal and organizational commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Among them, he pledged to sponsor one diverse junior associate and one diverse new partner each year. He is also co-chair of Q&B’s diversity and inclusion committee.
With 150 lawyers and 340 total employees in Milwaukee, Q&B is the region’s second-largest law firm. The firm, which also has an office in Madison, has provided representation in a wide range of high-profile matters, including Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation stem cell patents and the development of the $200 million Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Education: Bachelor’s, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; J.D., University of Michigan Law School