Meet Our Legal Representatives
- Over 30+ Years of Experience
- Local to Wisconsin
- Knowledgeable
Attorney Dana W. Duncan
Attorney Dana W. Duncan is a native Wisconsinite whose family has lived in the State since the 1840s. He comes from a family of hardworking people – his grandparents were dairy farmers, and his parents were factory workers.
He grew up understanding about hard work and earning a paycheck. Attorney Duncan has the experience and an understanding of what clients are going through – his mother was a diabetic who went blind due to retinopathy in her 40's. He watched her cry over having to quit the job she loved.
He also looked on as his father fought an insurance company over a back injury and then fought the Veteran’s Administration to give him his VA rating. Next, his father had to fight Social Security to allow him disability benefits when his military injuries and age forced him to quit working later in life.
These events profoundly changed him and changed his views about disability and workers’ compensation. He has built his career to assisting those who need his aid. For these reasons, he established Duncan Disability Law, S.C.
Originally from Beloit, Wisconsin, Dana has lived in the Wisconsin Rapids area since 1994, where he founded Duncan Disability Law, S.C. He has represented thousands of disabled clients throughout the United States in Social Security law, and hundreds of Wisconsin workers for workers' compensation claims.
When Dana is not working - you'll find him reading, watching the Brewers, or his beloved Packers (he’s a shareholder). As an amateur historian, Attorney Duncan loves books on history and biography, leads a civil war roundtable, and has recently taken up coin collecting.
Duncan has become a well-known Social Security and workers' compensation attorney. In 2011, 2016, and more recently in 2018, he was a speaker at the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives (NOSSCR) convention, also in 2017, at the National Association of Disability Representatives conference, speaking as an expert in his field.
He continues to lecture on the law, recording webinars, and training tools for other attorneys and non-attorneys in the field. Call us to schedule an appointment with Dana W. Duncan.
Education:
Marquette University Law School – 1989 – Juris Doctor (Law JD)
Beloit College – 1986 – Bachelor of Arts (Political Science)
Admission:
Wisconsin, 1989
Illinois, 1990
- Federal District Court, Western District of Wisconsin, 2000
- Federal District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2002
- Federal District Court, Western District of Michigan, 2003
- Federal District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, 2013
- Federal District Court, Central District of Illinois, 2017
- Federal District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2017
- United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, Chicago, IL, 2002
- United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, St. Louis, MO, 2012
- United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, Richmond, VA, 2015
- United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, San Francisco, CA 2015
- United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, Cincinnati, OH 2015
- United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit, Boston, MA 2017
- United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, Denver, CO 2018
- Certification for Veterans’ Affairs, 2008
- United States Court of Appeals, for Veterans’ Affairs, 2008
Member:
NOSSCR – National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives
NADR – National Association of Disability Representatives
FBA - Federal Bar Association, Social Security Section - Vice Chair/Secretary
WAWCA - Wisconsin Association of Worker's Compensation Attorneys
Christine Duncan
Non-Attorney Social Security Representative (EDPNA) / Office Manager
Christine’s journey with Social Security disability began years ago when called to help in Attorney Duncan’s office while he was in-between secretaries.
Her love of people and her compassion developed toward those with disabilities began in her youth after meeting her in-laws suffering from blindness, diabetes, cancer, and lung problems. Afterward, her father became deaf from Meniere's disease. Both merged into full-time work with Attorney Duncan in August 2008, and there was no looking back.
Christine finished her degree in Business / Human Resources at UW, La Crosse, in 1989. It is with her business skills coupled with Dana's vision for helping others that they created Duncan Disability Law, S.C. in 2011, and after working for other firms for over 20 years.
Christine was Dana’s sole assistant doing both Social Security and workers' compensation from August 2008 until December 2009, when all levels of Social Security became Christine's specialty.
Christine has helped clients file initial claims and work through the entire administrative process. Christine enjoys taking on the more trying clients and special cases that require a bit more knowledge to build the case.
Since forming Duncan Disability Law, S.C., she has taken (and passed) a certification exam through Social Security and became a non-attorney representative who can work with and represent claimants in their administrative law hearings and write briefs for the Appeals Council.
In addition to working with claimants, she manages the office, hires and maintains the staff, and works with the marketing aspect of the business. In her spare time - Christine enjoys reading, knitting, and cooking, and recently took up golf again after a 20+ year hiatus.
Education:
University of Wisconsin, La Crosse – 1989 – Business Administration / Human Resources, minor: German
Member:
NOSSCR – National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives
NADR – National Association of Disability Representatives
Attorney Adam Vanderwerff
Attorney Adam Vanderwerff is a native Wisconsinite who spent a few years exploring the mountains of Colorado. Adam is an avid outdoorsman who loves to run, hike, bike, camp, canoe, and kayak. Attorney Vanderwerff is the son of an engineer and a musician who taught him that he should creatively think through every problem.
Adam has had an extremely varied early career in litigation, including family law, landlord-tenant issues, and personal injury. Adam also served as an Assistant Attorney General for Consumer Protection and Antitrust for two years, helping ensure fair, safe, and effective pharmaceutical treatment for the Citizens of Wisconsin.
Adam learned the value of hard work from his father, who showed him that the work was not done until it was done right.
Education:
Marquette University Law School – Juris Doctor – 2016
University of Wisconsin La Crosse – Bachelor of Science – 2013
University of Wisconsin Waukesha – Associates of Arts and Sciences – 2010
Admissions:
Wisconsin - 2016
U.S. District Courts Eastern District Wisconsin – 2019
U.S. District Courts Western District Wisconsin – 2020
Member:
NOSSCR – National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives
NADR – National Association of Disability Representatives
WAWCA - Wisconsin Association of Worker's Compensation Attorneys
Lawyer Braden Ganter
Braden grew up in a small town in Southwest Wisconsin. His mother is a nurse, and his father is an engineer who works part-time at a local funeral home. Braden loves the outdoors and enjoys camping, canoeing, and hiking. But his favorite hobby is reading classic literature.
While in school, Braden worked many summer and part-time jobs, including fieldwork for a corn-seed company, construction work, and work at a farm equipment dealership.
Braden left the area to attend law school in Kansas, where he clerked for a district court judge. Upon graduating, he returned to the area to work at an area banking company specializing in legal issues.
Education:
University of Wisconsin, Platteville – 2014- Bachelor of Science
University of Kansas School of Law -2018- Juris Doctor
Attorney Kira L. Koelling
Kira is a transplant from Oklahoma and Texas who moved to Wisconsin to attend law school. She enjoys going for walks, board games, and cooking good food. Before law school, Kira drove for a living, delivering medical supplies and pizza. She ended up at the legal department of a major automotive manufacturer, investigating breach of warranty and lemon law claims.
She left the South to attend law school in Madison, where she became passionate about criminal justice. She spent several years taking overflow cases from the public defender, making sure those too poor to afford an attorney could have their rights defended in court.
Education:
University of Texas at Austin – 2012 – Bachelor of Arts in Art History
University of Wisconsin Law School – 2018 – Juris Doctor
Thomas Duncan
Thomas is currently a law student at Cleveland State University. He passed his EDPNA exam in 2024. He has worked for Duncan Disability Law since its founding in 2011 first as a part-time brief editor, then as Atty. Duncan's Executive Assistant and the Federal Appeals Director until 2020. Thomas has also held the titles of Executive Committee, Finance and Budget Committee, and Future Planning Committee member, has served as the firm's Chief Legal Fees Negotiator since 2013, and is the current Head of the Intakes Department for Duncan Disability.
In his free time, Thomas hosts a weekly podcast on movies with Atty. Duncan enjoys watching the Packers, Brewers, Badgers, and Bucks. He is also a trivia fanatic.
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