People & Practices: Nov. 7, 2022

Listen to this article

Merchant & Gould P.C. has announced that Brian H. Batzli, partner and chairman emeritus, is the new president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). His term began on Oct. 29. The AIPLA is a national organization that supports intellectual property professionals and advances an effective and balanced IP system through advocacy, education, training, and community outreach.

As president, Batzli will help further AIPLA’s mission as an innovator, powerful advocate, and visible global leader in intellectual property, representing U.S. interests throughout the world and guiding AIPLA’s domestic policy. As an active member of AIPLA, he has held a number of positions within the organization. Batzli just completed his term as president-elect (2021-2022); was AIPLA’s treasurer for three terms (2016-2019); and has served on the organization’s Board of Directors for five years (2016-present).  In addition, prior to serving on the Board, Batzli held a variety of committee leadership positions.

Founded in 1897, AIPLA is a national bar association constituted primarily of Intellectual Property professionals in private and corporate practice, in government service, and in the academic community. The AIPLA represents a wide and diverse spectrum of individuals from law firms, companies, and institutions involved directly or indirectly in the practice of patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and unfair competition law, as well as other fields of law affecting intellectual property.  Its 7,500 members represent both owners and users of intellectual property, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations.

First hired as an associate in 1987, Batzli is now in his 35th year at Merchant & Gould. He was elected as the firm’s managing director, CEO and chairman of the board in 2010. Batzli completed his term in those roles in 2018, when he welcomed his successor, Chris Leonard. He now serves as chairman emeritus and continues his practice of strategic IP counseling, licensing, and patent prosecution in the electrical, mechanical, and software arts.

***

Faegre Drinker has announced that Shane Barnes has joined the firm as counsel in the real estate practice group. Barnes joins the firm in the Minneapolis office from U.S. Bank National Association, where he served as assistant general counsel and vice president.

Barnes provides guidance for clients engaged in the sale and purchase of commercial real estate, leasing for retail, industrial and office spaces and real estate financing. He works with clients to perform real estate due diligence and drafts and negotiates loan purchase agreements.

Barnes earned his bachelor’s degree from Huntingdon College and his Juris Doctor from Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

***

Faegre Drinker has announced that Brianna Mooty has joined the firm as counsel in the corporate practice in Minneapolis. Mooty comes to the firm from Fiduciary Counselling Inc.

Mooty advises tax-exempt organizations on their governance, operations and tax compliance. She regularly helps private foundations navigate the complex excise tax rules that impact their grantmaking, investments and other financial activities. Mooty also helps families carry out their charitable goals through planned gifts, charitable trusts, private foundations and other giving opportunities.

Mooty has extensive experience working with individuals on estate, trust, tax and philanthropic planning. Most recently, she served as a senior estate planning, trust and legal consultant at a single-family office in St. Paul. In that capacity, Mooty strategized and implemented legal and philanthropic solutions for individual and private foundation clients. She worked across departments and collaborated with internal financial advisers, accountants and trust administrators to develop those plans. Prior to that role, Mooty served at another financial firm in Edina as director of estate and charitable planning. She also served as an attorney at a Minneapolis-based law firm in their trust, estate and charitable planning department, where she drafted and implemented complex and tax-advantageous estate planning strategies.

Mooty earned her bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Hamline University, her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School, and her Master of Laws from the New York University School of Law. She also holds a designation as a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy from the American College of Financial Services.

***

Meagher + Geer announces that Martha Snipstad has joined the firm’s Catastrophic Loss, Commercial Litigation, Construction, Intellectual Property, and Products Liability practice groups.

Snipstad graduated with a B.A. in communications and journalism from the University of St. Thomas, where she served as fundraising chair of the Dance Club. She received her J.D. from the University of St. Thomas School of Law. During law school, Snipstad participated in the University of St. Thomas Trademark Clinic, where she argued before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Snipstad served as a Street Law Teacher through the Minnesota Justice Foundation. In that role, she taught legal rights, responsibilities, and resources to middle school students. She also serves on the Board of Community United Methodist Church.

***

Maslon LLP has added attorneys Carmen Carballo and Abigail Maier to the firm’s Litigation Group, attorney Yemaya Hanna to the Estate Planning Group, and attorney Jessica Karp to the Corporate & Securities Group.

Carballo represents clients in a wide range of general commercial litigation matters. She gained valuable experience working as a judicial law clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. While studying for her law degree at the University of Minnesota, she also clerked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, and she served as online editor of the Minnesota Law Review. Carballo volunteered as a street law instructor at the Hubert Humphrey Job Corps Center, helping at-risk youth understand their legal rights and obligations; as a law clerk volunteer for Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid; and as a diversity and inclusion mentor for under-represented students at the University of St. Thomas, where she earned her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in political science and communications and journalism.

Maier assists clients with a broad range of general commercial litigation matters and business disputes. During law school at the University of Minnesota, she completed a judicial externship with Judge Thomas A. Gilligan Jr. of the Second Judicial District, gaining valuable experience in legal research and writing. She also served as an editor for the law school’s Journal of Law and Inequality and is a Rule 114 qualified neutral from her time in the school’s Community Mediation Clinic, which works in partnership with the Conflict Resolution Center Minneapolis. In addition, Maier has demonstrated commitment to community service and pro bono work; she worked as a legal volunteer with the University of Minnesota Law School’s Asylum Law Project in conjunction with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, Texas, and regularly volunteers as a writing mentor. Maier earned a bachelor’s degree in English and communication from Texas A&M University.

Hanna works with clients to help them achieve their wealth management and legacy goals. She served as an estate planning law clerk for Maslon while in law school at the University of Minnesota, gaining experience alongside seasoned practice group partners. She brought skilled leadership and compassion to the many roles she held as a law student, which included serving as student director of the University of Minnesota Law School Immigration and Human Rights Clinic, as co-president of the Black Law Students Association, and as vice president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association Student Affiliate. For her dedication to the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic and its clients, Hanna was awarded the 2022 Clinical Legal Education Association’s Outstanding Clinical Student Award. She completed her bachelor’s degree with distinction at the University of Minnesota, majoring in political science with a minor in American studies.

Karp assists clients in general corporate law, nonprofit formation, contracts, and mergers and acquisitions. She graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri School of Law, where she assisted first- and second-year law students as a teaching fellow and teaching assistant for a number of courses. Karp also served as a lead article editor for the Missouri Law Review and won the global antitrust invitational moot court during her 3L year. While pursuing her law degree, she externed for Judge Daniel C. Moreno of Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District. Prior to attending law school, Karp earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in art and museum studies, studying for a semester at Sotheby’s Institute of Arts in London. She earned her bachelor’s degree in art history and Italian from the University of Minnesota, after which she interned at the U.S. Supreme Court in art collections management.

***

Merchant & Gould P.C. has welcomed one partner and two associates to its Minneapolis team: Christian J. Hansen, partner; Heather S. Chatterton, associate; and Ariel O. Howe, associate.

Hansen, partner and experienced IP attorney, provides enforcement strategies and patent protection for both domestic and international clients. For more than 10 years, he has helped a range of large corporations and small startups with their technological innovations and ideas in some of the following industries: manufacturing, consumer products, aerospace, computer software, medical devices, electrical vehicles, agriculture, and metallurgy. Hansen focuses on drafting and preparing patent applications; following up with the USPTO; and negotiating licensing agreements to monetize patent applications. He also provides client counsel, including freedom-to-operate, clearance, and non-infringement opinions.  Hansen received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota and his J.D. magna cum laude from the William Mitchell College of Law.

Chatterton, associate, supports inventors and companies through patent prosecution. She began her career as a patent agent; and, now, as an attorney applying that experience, develops patent strategies and defending patents before the USPTO. Chatterton works with clients in a wide range of industries, including software, mechanics, medical device, and biotech. She received three degrees from the University of Minnesota, including a B.S. in genetics, cell biology, and development; an M.S. in patent law; and a J.D. from the Law School.

Howe, associate, helps companies protect their intellectual property through strategy and litigation. Her practice includes utility and design patents, trademark, trade secret, and copyright litigation, as well as pre-litigation support. Howe has enforced and defended many industries, including medical device, pharmaceutical, HVAC, and farming equipment. She earned her B.S. in chemistry from Minnesota State University and her J.D. magna cum laude from the William Mitchell College of Law.

***

Moss & Barnett, A Professional Association, announces that attorney Jill L. Strodthoff has joined the firm.

Strodthoff is a member of Moss & Barnett’s real estate and real estate finance teams, representing clients in a broad range of general real estate transactions and representing lenders who originate and sell loans secured by multifamily projects to secondary market investors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Within this practice, she examines title, survey, and other due diligence items, reviews legal opinions, prepares loan documents, and works with all transaction parties to ensure a smooth closing. Strodthoff received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of St. Thomas School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

***

Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A., has announced that the firm’s associate attorney, David Tanabe, was selected by the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ) for the 2022 Blackshear American College of Bankruptcy Presidential Fellowship. This annual special recognition is given in memory of Judge Cornelius Blackshear of the Southern District of New York. The prestigious fellowship is bestowed upon a rising attorney from a culturally diverse heritage who has made an outstanding contribution to bankruptcy jurisprudence.

Over the past year, the American Bankruptcy Institute published an article authored by Tanabe titled, “Enforcing Motion-to-Dismiss Deadlines in Subchapter V Cases.” Further, Tanabe has served as the co-editor-in-chief of the Minnesota State Bar Association Bankruptcy Bulletin and has authored numerous summaries for bankruptcy cases. He is also on the governing counsel of the Bankruptcy Section for the Minnesota State Bar Association. Tanabe has presented on non-debtor agreements and was selected to present at the 2022 Bankruptcy Institute for Minnesota CLE. He is a member of the Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and the firm’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee.

Tanabe focuses his practice on bankruptcy and commercial litigation, insolvency and restructuring, banking and financial services litigation, and judgment enforcement. Prior to joining the firm, Tanabe clerked for Judge William J. Fisher of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota, as well as for several judges in Minnesota State Courts.

Tanabe is a former National Hockey League defenseman who set his sights on a second act in the legal profession. He is a member of the Hobey Baker Committee for the Hobey Baker Award, which is given each year to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s ice hockey player.

***

Stellpflug Law PLLC, a WBENC-Certified Women’s Business Enterprise, has been recognized in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report – Best Lawyers^® “Best Law Firms” list. The firm received the following ranking: Regional Tier 3 – Minneapolis – Commercial Litigation.

Ranked firms, presented in tiers, are listed on a national and/or metropolitan scale. Receiving a tier designation reflects the high level of respect a firm has earned among other leading lawyers and clients in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism and their integrity.

***

Winthrop & Weinstine has been ranked in 31 practice areas in the list of “Best Law Firms,” which is published by U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers and distributed worldwide.

In addition to being ranked in Minneapolis, Winthrop & Weinstine was ranked nationally in the areas of Appellate Practice, Banking and Finance Law, Land Use & Zoning Law, and Litigation – Banking & Finance. Firms included in the 2023 “Best Law Firms” list are recognized for their professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal experience. Winthrop & Weinstine was ranked in the following practice areas:

Administrative / Regulatory Law; Appellate Practice; Arbitration; Banking and Finance Law; Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Corporate Law; Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law; Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law; Employment Law – Individuals; Employment Law – Management; Energy Law; Energy Regulatory Law; Environmental Law; Franchise Law; Health Care Law; Insurance Law; Land Use & Zoning Law; Litigation – Banking & Finance; Litigation – Insurance; Litigation – Labor & Employment; Litigation – Real Estate; Litigation – Trusts & Estates; Mediation; Mergers & Acquisitions Law; Municipal Law; Real Estate Law; Securities / Capital Markets Law; Tax Law; Trusts & Estates Law.

People & Practices is a lightly edited compilation of news releases from law firms and organizations. Minnesota Lawyer welcomes news about hires, promotions and other activities in the legal profession. Send releases (and photos if desired) to [email protected].