Early Life
Andrea Gage knew that her life would be dedicated to helping others from a very young age. In fact, her grandfather, an attorney, started talking to her about attending law school at the age of 10. Prior to following in his footsteps and practicing, she had the incredible opportunity to represent the best interests of others and help them make informed decisions through working as a broadcast journalist, public relations professional, and elected official.
After graduating from Boston University with a B.S. in Journalism, Andrea moved to Eau Claire to be near family and worked as a reporter/producer at WEAU-TV. She then worked at TV stations in Greenville, South Carolina and Columbus, Georgia, before returning to Wisconsin to work in Madison.
Law School
Interviewing people in need of legal help inspired her to enroll at Marquette University, where she earned a J.D. and a Masters in Dispute Resolution. Like her other grandfather, a truck driver, Andrea has a tendency to work long hours, so she worked full time through school, first in media relations and then for a state senator. As a Senate staffer, she helped pass a sweeping drunk driving reform package and helped enact laws curbing some predatory practices by payday lenders.
After law school, Andrea worked as a regional director for the Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin, where she coached businesses on ethical practices and provided consumers with the information they needed to help them make wise decisions in the marketplace. She also worked for the State Bar of Wisconsin, where she helped educate the community about the court system.
Back Home
During her time at the State Bar, she was also elected to the Sun Prairie City Council, where she served from 2013 to 2015. Remarkably, she was only the ninth woman to be elected to the Council in the history of the city.
Andrea’s favorite part of serving as an alder was working directly with constituents in need. The work inspired her to become a litigator. She moved to Brown County to work for the Elder Rights Project at Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Green Bay office, where she also served as managing attorney. In that role, she helped elder victims of crime as they worked to stabilize their lives, live independently, and meet their emotional and physical needs.
Andrea then founded Silver Divorce Wisconsin, a firm that focused on providing people who are 50+ with representation in legal separations, divorces, restraining orders, and elder abuse related actions. She also worked as the child support attorney and a child abuse prosecutor for the Oneida Nation. She now serves as a senior associate attorney at Renier Hotopp Law Offices, where she works on issues affecting children, seniors, and everyone in between.
When she’s not working, Andrea enjoys traveling, doting on her niece and nephew, and playing with her miniature schnauzer, Walter Mitty.