Attorneys of the Year: Richard H. Kyle Jr.

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Focused, “going the distance” as MSBA president

As a competitive amateur cyclist and cross-country skier, Richard Kyle Jr. knows the importance of training and focus to “go the distance.”

Friends say Kyle’s approach toward participating in sports is an apt metaphor for his work ethic as a white-collar criminal defense attorney at Minneapolis-based Fredrikson & Byron and as the current president of the Minnesota State Bar Association.

Active in Twin Cities and state bar circles for more than 20 years, Kyle is bringing high-energy and a “long-term commitment” mindset to his year-long stint as head of the Minnesota State Bar Association, said Michael Unger, who nominated him as one of Minnesota Lawyer’s 2014 Attorneys of Year.

Building on the efforts of past state bar association presidents, Kyle’s goal “is to streamline and reshape the 16,000 plus-member MSBA to meet the challenges of a changing legal profession while responding to the needs of an ever-more diverse membership,” Unger added.

Kyle told Minnesota Lawyer that he is working to focus the organization’s resources and increase the value that it provides to solo and small-firm lawyers, while also continuing to address issues that confront new attorneys and other lawyers. “We’ve launched a new directory with the goal of helping lawyers get clients and communicate with each other,” Kyle said.

The MSBA has also started discussion groups called “Cohorts” to focus on areas such as marketing or virtual law practices.

“Our focus is to help all of our members because these are difficult and trying economic times for all lawyers,” Kyle said. “The MSBA is in it for the long haul.”

Kyle is a past president of the Ramsey County Bar Association and a former member of the Minnesota Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board and the Call for Justice Board. He received the MSBA President’s Award for his service on the Task Force on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

Kyle is a fourth-generation attorney in his family. His father has served as a U.S. District Court judge in St. Paul since 1992 and now is on senior status.

Initially, Kyle considered a career in either journalism or the ministry but he likes working with individuals and helping them solve difficult problems and overcome personal challenges.

“But in the end, the law struck me as the way to go,” he recalled. “With the law, I could do writing like a journalist and learn people’s stories. There seemed like there were parallels.”