Kristen M. Ahart, Ciresi Conlin LLP

After graduating with distinction from the University of Northern Iowa in 2019, Kristen Ahart hoped to pursue her long-held dream to become an attorney. “But it was not the best time to enter law school, for financial reasons, so I decided to begin as a paralegal” with Minneapolis-based Waldeck and Woodrow.

“I was able to ‘reset’ and fell in love with the work.” She joined Ciresi Conlin LLP in 2024, focusing on complex civil litigation.

Ahart’s colleagues at the firm have lauded her skill, efficiency and “herculean” dedication in providing support to attorneys during the first federal remand trial related to the Bair Hugger multi-district litigation, a medical device-related trial held in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Over the course of the three-week trial, she worked days and nights managing logistics, including handling exhibit binders, demonstratives, and document tracking, making sure everything ran smoothly.

Each evening, Ahart continued working into the early morning hours.

“It was a larger-scale trial than I had worked on previously, and my first federal trial, with a larger team.  These kinds of cases are very intense. This is high stakes work, fast paced, and with not a lot of room for error. It can all culminate in a more stressful environment,” Ahart said.

Ahart enjoys working in the legal profession. “It helps me use my analytical skills and curiosity, paired together to help people — our clients and the attorneys — to make sure everything is running smoothly. I take a lot of pride in doing everything behind the scenes so our attorneys can do what they do for clients. I’m humbled by the amount of trust they put in me, and it helps fuel that passion.”

She enjoys challenging her own abilities, and the fact that “this job allows me to be a lifelong learner. This work is at the intersection of science and government, so you’re constantly learning new things.”

“In these mass tort cases we often represent plaintiffs who were injured by defective drugs and devices. So, we have a lot of passion to advocate for the truth in face of corporate [mistakes].”