The Nebraska State Bar Association welcomed new leadership at the conclusion of its Annual Meeting held last month in La Vista.

William J. Mueller, senior partner and co-founder of Mueller Robak LLC, accepted the gavel from outgoing NSBA President Jill Robb Ackerman.

Here is a look at other leadership transitions:

• Jason Grams of Omaha became the president-elect of the NSBA. He will succeed Mueller for the 2022-23 presidential term.

Grams is a partner of Lamson, Dugan & Murray LLP.  He advises businesses and individuals in complex litigation matters.

Prior to joining the firm, he served as a law clerk to Chief Judge William Jay Riley of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and to Senior Judge Lyle E. Strom of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska.

Grams has served the NSBA as a House of Delegates member since 2013, is a graduate of the NSBA Leadership Academy, and a member of the Practice and Procedure Committee and the Appellate Practice Section.  He is also the president-elect of the Eighth Circuit Bar Association and the Nebraska delegate to the Eighth Circuit Advisory Committee.

Grams is also a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a member of the Omaha Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Federal Bar Association.  He has been a member of the Robert M. Spire American Inn of Court for many years and served as its treasurer from 2010-14 and its president from 2014-15.

• Michael McCarthy of North Platte is the new president-elect designate. He plans to serve in the 2023-24 presidential term.

McCarthy is of counsel at Dvorak Law Group LLC in North Platte. McCarthy’s practice focuses on estate planning, probate, real estate, and corporate and business planning. He advises individuals in the structuring of their estate plans and assists in preparation of their wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and advance directives/living wills. He also represents clients in probate and trust administration matters.

McCarthy has served the NSBA as a House of Delegates member representing the 11 Judicial District and served as chair of the House of Delegates in 2019.

McCarthy also represented the 6th Supreme Court Judicial District on the NSBA’s Executive Council from 2013 to2016 and chaired the Nebraska Commission on the Unauthorized Practice of Law from 2008 to 2012. On a local level, McCarthy served on the North Platte Board of Education and the Great Plains Health Board of Directors as both a board member and as board chair.

• Jason Doele is the new chair of the House of Delegates.

Doele is a partner with Stratton, DeLay, Doele, Carlson, Buettner & Stover PC LLO in Norfolk, practicing in the areas of personal injury, criminal defense, family law and civil litigation.

Doele has served as the president of the Madison County/7th Judicial District Bar Association and serves on the Nebraska Lawyers Assistance Program Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys, American Association for Justice, Nebraska Criminal Defense Attorneys Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Doele is also licensed in South Dakota.

• Yvonne Sosa started her term on the Executive Council representing the 4th Judicial District.

Sosa is a lifelong resident of South Omaha and is currently an assistant U.S. federal defender in the District of Nebraska, with offices in Omaha and Lincoln. She is an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at the University of Nebraska  College of Law.

Sosa is the chair and interim executive director of the newly formed Legal Diversity Council. She has been an active NSBA member since 2010, including serving on the Practice and Procedure Committee, Committee on Equity and Fairness and Legal Services Committee. She graduated the NSBA Leadership Academy. Sosa also serves the Nebraska Supreme Court as a member of the Access to Justice Commission. She received the 2019 Diversity Award.           

• Pierce Fiala started his Executive Council term representing the Young Lawyers Section. Fiala is an associate attorney at Skalka & Baack Law Firm LLC in Hastings, and he assists clients across central Nebraska with estate planning, business planning, probate, and real estate related matters.