HISTORY OF PETRIE & STOCKING S.C.

In 1895, a young man by the name of Max Nohl completed his law studies at Marquette Law School, and opened a modest law office at Room 18 of the Mack Block building. That building once stood at the Southwest corner of Wisconsin and Water streets in Milwaukee. He didn't know it then, but the solo practice of law that Max began that year would become the present firm of Petrie & Stocking S.C.

The Milwaukee of 1895 differed markedly from the present. Horses, wagons, trolleys and cobblestones dominated the street scene. The Milwaukee River was the center of commercial activity and gas street lamps provided illumination at night. There were no automobiles. Man had not yet learned to fly. A manual typewriter was to that age as Pentium processors are to ours. It was in this environment that our firm began.

Max was later joined by his brother Leo, who together moved the firm to the newer Caswell building in the early 1900's. It would prove to be our home until 1974. The Nohl brothers were joined by the first of our Petries in 1918. Nelson Petrie (whose son Jim is our senior partner, and whose granddaughter Laura is also a partner) would practice law with the firm for 60 years. In 1931, the Nohls and Mr. Petrie were joined by Lewis Stocking. Like Nelson, his son John, our second most senior attorney today, succeeded him in the practice of law. Lewis would practice law with the firm for 54 years. The firm would also have long and memorable associations with Earl Meixner and Edmond Zeisig, who practiced law with the firm for 50 and 42 years respectively.

Since 1974 we have been located at the Chase Tower (formerly Bank One Plaza and Marine Bank Plaza) in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, which, in an historical coincidence, was built on the site where our original office in the Mack Block Building once stood. There is a special sense of pride connected to the past labors of our founders in the practice of law, done at the very location where we stand ready to meet the present legal needs of our clients. The connection to that past is a special attribute which helps to set Petrie & Stocking S.C. apart from most of the other law firms in Wisconsin.




• Max W. Nohl Law Office 1895 to 1901
• Nohl & Nohl 1901 to 1926
• Nohl, Nohl & Petrie 1926 to 1930
• Nohl, Nohl, Petrie & Blume 1930 to 1934
• Nohl, Petrie & Blume 1934 to 1942
• Nohl, Petrie & Stocking 1942 to 1946
• Nohl, Petrie, Stocking & Meixner 1946 to 1961
• Petrie, Stocking, Meixner & Zeisig 1961 to 1969
• Petrie, Stocking, Meixner & Zeisig S.C.1970 to 1989
• Petrie & Stocking S.C. 1990 -