The POWER 30: Jennifer Thompson

Listen to this article

Her career trajectory coincided with sharp uptake in construction defect cases in single-family housing in the early 2000s. Research has led to the conclusion that defect claims were most common in homes built between 1990 and 2000 in the fastest-growing outer-ring suburbs of Minneapolis and St. Paul and that many involved mold and water intrusion. Thompson began working on behalf of owners and has since branched out into other areas.

Her practice now includes multiparty construction litigation as well as multiparty, multitier transactional work, including contract negotiation and drafting. She also found that once construction work was deemed an essential service during the pandemic, payment issues became prominent. Mechanic’s liens were not always available or hadn’t been perfected, and sometimes payment bonds were the avenue of recovery.

Thompson’s clients, like the entire industry, are encountering supply problems but those tend to work themselves out, she said.

While much of the water intrusion litigation involved single-family homes, in 2018 the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed a summary judgment order dismissing Thompson’s client’s multimillion-dollar construction defect claim in Town Center Office Plaza Association v. Carlson Real Estate Ventures, et al. The appellant’s express warranty claims were not time-barred per Minn. Stat. sec. 541.041, subd. 4, said the court, paving the way for settlement on remand.

The statute of limitations was also at issue in Moore v. Robinson, for which Thompson co-authored an amicus brief on behalf of the Minnesota State Bar Association construction law section. (See Becker, Page 5)

Thompson is the legal counsel to the Association of Women Contractors which provides support to women in construction in Minnesota through camaraderie, networking, advocacy and connection to other construction organizations. “It’s a fantastic way to meet and educate women who often have to plow new ground,” Thompson said. “I can’t think of a general contractor who doesn’t want to be part of what AWC is doing.”

But there’s more. Thompson is about to start her upcoming term as president of the Minnesota State Bar Association on July 1. Thompson’s bar trajectory has included serving as chair of the MSBA Membership Committee, as a member of the MSBA Council and Assembly, and as chair of the Construction Law Section. She participated in the Minnesota Women Lawyers Leadership Council and formerly served on the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission.

Recently the MSBA General Assembly granted a request from members to ask the Supreme Court to appoint a task force to study the bar examination. The request stemmed from the traumatic events of last summer when George Floyd was killed by police and the pandemic lockdown took hold. Thompson said that some newer lawyers found the bar exam during that traumatic period extremely difficult, but it went forward. The assembly afforded complex discussion and attention to the proposal before granting the request, Thompson added. Next year will also see dedication to the MSBA’s strategic plan, she also noted.