A Bit About Bill
With over three decades of leadership in cooperative law and governance, Bill
Oemichen has significantly contributed to advancing cooperative development and
governance in the U.S., Canada, and abroad.
As a Professor of Practice-Law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bill provides
legal guidance to the University's Center for Cooperatives and is engaged in
cooperative governance and development. As a former senior governmental official,
he administered trade, public health and food safety, agricultural policy, business
risk, and disaster preparedness and response programs.
Bill’s tenure as President and CEO of the Cooperative Network, the largest statewide
all-cooperative trade association in the United States, highlights his role in
modernizing cooperative statutes and advocating for cooperatives at various levels.
Bill holds a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a B.A. in
Economics from Carleton College along with a Concentration in Science, Technology
and Public Policy.
Bill is a Fellow with the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-
operatives, served as Public Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota, and is a
Ph.D. Dissertation Candidate in Business Risk & Public Policy at the University of
Saskatchewan. Bill is a member of the State Bars of Wisconsin and Minnesota, a
member of the Law Society of Alberta and is a Partner in Oemichen and
Bridgewater, LLP, an-Alberta-based law practice serving co-operatives across
Canada. His prior legal career at the international law firm of Robins Kaplan LLP
specialized in cooperative, taxation, and antitrust law.
Bill serves on the boards of several leading American co-operatives, including the
insurance and education arm of the $500 Billion (USD) American Farm Credit
System, and the $65 Billion (USD) collaboration of three major local Farm Credit
Associations serving 40,000 farmer-owners in eight Midwest states where he chairs
the Business Risk Committee. He recently served on the board of one of the top
health care providers in the U.S. owned by more than 85,000 members in South
Central Wisconsin, and currently serves as the elected president of a public school
district that owns a Wisconsin public school district service co-operative.
Bill is passionate about ownership of businesses through co-operative ownership
and governance. He went to his first co-operative AGM with his father before he
turned ten years old and learned from his farmer father that there is a substantial
difference between member-owned co-operatives and investor-owned businesses.
Bill's view was strengthened during his nearly six years protecting Wisconsin
consumers from business fraud. His governmental work includes taking successful
legal action against some of America's largest for-profit corporations and banks for
business fraud, unfair trade practices and/or predatory pricing. In short, Bill thinks the
only way consumers are truly protected is by actually owning and governing the
business.