Minnesota Lawyer
Click here to read the Attorneys of the Year 2013 digital edition.
Minnesota Lawyer is very pleased to announce the 2013 Attorneys of the Year.
This year’s honorees were chosen based on their leadership in the profession, involvement in a newsworthy case, excellence in corporate or transactional service and commitment to the judicial system in Minnesota. There is a broad cross section of lawyers from small and solo firms, private practice, in-house legal departments and public service. The honorees were nominated by their peers and colleagues, clients, judges and bar groups.
We have several team awards this year. In 2007 three women founded the Infinity Project with the goal of promoting gender diversity on the U.S. Eight Circuit Court bench. Last April Jane Kelly became the second woman judge confirmed in the district. Almost 10 lawyers from Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi represented Kraft Foods in a contract dispute with coffee giant Starbucks. Last November, Kraft won a $2.23 billion arbitrator’s award with $557 million in interest.
We also recognize a group of attorneys for a career’s worth of service and sacrifice on behalf of the justice system in Minnesota with the Outstanding Service to the Profession award. This year’s honorees are John Stuart, the State Public Defender, Ron Meshbesher, Justice Rosalie Wahl, Judge Kathleen Gearin, Ken Tilsen and David Brink, the past president of the American Bar Association.
Click the names below to read about each honoree.
The 2013 Attorneys of the Year:
Jeff Anderson — Anderson and Associates
Norman Baer — Anthony Ostlund Baer & Louwagie
Stephen R. Baird — Winthrop & Weinstine
Dana Bartocci — Minnesota Women Lawyers
Jennifer Reedstrom Bishop — Gray Plant Mooty
Felicia J. Boyd — Barnes & Thornburg
Morgan Burns — Faegre Baker Daniels
Patrick J. Ciliberto and Todd P. Zettler — Scott County Attorney’s Office
Michael O. Freeman and Michael Richardson — Hennepin County Attorney’s Office
David A. Davenport — Winthrop & Weinstine
Robert Bennett and Jeffrey S. Storms — Gaskins Bennett Birrell Schupp
Mark Fiddler — Fiddler Law Office
Michael E. Florey — Fish & Richardson
Daniel E. Gustafson — Gustafson Gluek
Kay Nord Hunt — Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg
Kraft Foods trial team (Michael V. Ciresi, David Beehler, Katie Crosby Lehmann, Tom Hamlin, Mathew Korte, Melissa Goodman, Michael Reif, and William Bornstein) — Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi
Jeanette Bazis, Marie Failinger, Mary Vasaly, and Lisa Brabbit — Infinity Project
Chris Madel — Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi
Katherine McBride — Minnesota Supreme Court Historical Society
William L. H. Lubov and Robert Bennett — Lubov & Associates/Gaskins Bennett Birrell Schupp
MICO case team (Douglas R. Peterson, Wade Davis, Jennifer Ives, Andrew Davis, and Daniel Oberdorfer) — Leonard, Street and Deinard
Nancy A. Haas and Dale Carpenter — MN United
Charles P. Moorse — Lindquist & Vennum
David Bradley Olsen — Henson & Efron
Devan V. Padmanabhan — Winthrop & Weinstine
Tony Palumbo — Anoka County Attorney
Matthew Ralph — Dorsey & Whitney
Privacy Legal Team (Larry Fett, Jon Strauss, Kenn Fukuda, Mark Zitzewitz and Sonia Miller-Van Oort) — Sapientia Law Group
Kim Schmid — Bowman and Brooke
Susan Segal — City of Minneapolis
Hal Shillingstad — Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart
Mike Snyder — Meshbesher & Spence
Charles Spevacek — Meagher & Geer
Byron Starns — Leonard, Street and Deinard
David March and Timothy Baer — Target Corp.
Barbara Zurek — Meagher & Geer
In addition, the following are being recognized for Outstanding Service to the Profession:
David Brink — American Bar Association
Judge Kathleen Gearin — Ramsey County District Court
Ron Meshbesher — Meshbesher & Spence
John Stuart — Minnesota State Public Defender
Kenneth Tilsen — Attorney at Law (posthumous)
Justice Rosalie E. Wahl — Minnesota Supreme Court (posthumous)
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2012 Attorneys of the Year: Read the special section here.
Click here to view photos from the 2012 awards presentation.
2011 Attorneys of the Year: Read the special section here.
Click here to view photos from the 2011 awards presentation.
2010 Attorneys of the Year: Read the special section here.
Click here to view photos from the 2010 awards presentation.
