The POWER 30: Lola Velazquez-Aguilu

Listen to this article

The Starkey case was the prosecution in 2018 of Jerome Ruzicka and W. Jeffery Taylor for embezzling more than $15 million from Starkey Laboratories in Eden Prairie.

What she said recently about the Starkey trial was her recollection that she and one of the defense attorneys were “short with each other.” She apologized and suggested, “Let’s be better with each other.”

More recently she served as part of the prosecution of Derek Chauvin, the police officer convicted of killing George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for about nine minutes.

What’s remarkable about that is that she did the Chauvin prosecution while working her day job at Medtronic. Medtronic was supportive of her efforts, but she kept them on her own time, using vacation time to be in the Hennepin County Government Center during the trial.

Like others who worked on the Chauvin case, the situation was personal to Velazquez-Aguilu. It has been reported that when tapped by Attorney General Keith Ellison to join the team, she was reluctant because it would be difficult for her family. But her 11-year-old son, who was listening to the conversation from the back seat of the family car, told her she had to do it. He told her he would be OK.

Velazquez-Aguilu has said that she thought a lot about that statement. Her son is tall for his age, and he has brown skin and a shy personality. She wondered how he’d fare with police, and decided to join the prosecution team. She left her post as chair of the Commission on Judicial Selection to join the effort.

The remaining three police officers charged with Chauvin are scheduled for trial in March. Chauvin has appealed his conviction.

Brain modulation is part of the neuroscience portfolio at Medtronic and it involves an implant that reduces seizures and tremors, Velazquez-Aguilu explained, calling it “miraculous.”

She calls her position at Medtronic a combination of counselor, concierge and air traffic controller. Some tasks she will do herself and sometimes she’ll tap into the resources of a large company.

“What I love is working with and consuming legal services,” she said. She spends a lot of time with the business people at Medtronic.

As a trial lawyer, she uses her experience to avoid problems as well as solve them. It informs the guidance and counsel that she gives to Medtronic.

While she occasionally misses litigation, she loves the “forward thinking” of her position.

“I love seeing good lawyers do something amazing. I’m perfectly fine not being at the podium,” she said.

She also credits all the lawyers working behind the scene including those at the firm owned by Jerry Blackwell, who was one of the trial attorneys in the Chauvin case.

At the time this story was written Velazquez-Aguilu was one of three finalists under consideration for the U.S. attorney spot in Minneapolis. The others are former U.S. attorney Andrew Luger of Jones Day and Surya Saxena, currently an assistant U.S. attorney.