The POWER 30: Jennifer L. Carey

Hanft Fride

Hanft Fride, in different iterations and with different names, has been a fixture in Duluth for more than a century. In 1899, in State of Minnesota v. Duluth Gas & Water Co., the defendants were represented by the firm of Washburn, Lewis and Bailey, Hanft’s predecessors. In the 1970s, the groundbreaking United States v. Reserve Mining Co., an epic environmental case, gave the Environmental Protection Agency new powers to regulate corporate pollution. Hanft Fride’s client, the mining company, which began in 1955, stayed open pursuant to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order.

The firm still finds itself central to construction and development in the Duluth area, according to Jennifer L. Carey, shareholder and real estate attorney. Carey says that residential, mixed-use and business development is active and important to the community.

One project has been the revitalization of the Silver Bay Business Park on Highway 61 into an eco-industrial park with integration of a renewable energy production system. Another significant project for the firm was the redevelopment of Essentia Health medical facilities. Essentia Health opened its new $900 million hospital replacing St. Mary’s Medical Center in downtown Duluth.

The firm represented Essentia and Silver Bay, among other clients, and “has a sophisticated enough practice that clients don’t have to go to the cities for legal services,” Carey said.

Carey agrees with other attorneys who worry about attracting lawyers who want to live and practice outstate. When the financial crisis hit in 2008, the market quit making houses and real estate lawyers, Carey said. “We have to play catch-up. It will take time to correct itself.”