Henson Efron
In January 2026, Henson Efron’s first woman president, Lisa Spencer, will hand the reins to Rochelle Hauser, demonstrating “continuity in leadership that further strengthens our services, culture, and community impact.”
Jeff Sjerven//September 29, 2025//

Founded in 1983, Zelle employs nearly 100 attorneys in nine domestic offices and one in London. The firm represents many of the largest insurance carriers in insurance-related disputes, as well as clients in antitrust/competition and other complex business litigation.
The firm’s 19-lawyer Minneapolis office is overseen by Office Managing Partner Lindsey Davis. Half of Zelle’s 10 office managing partners are women, and nearly half of the firm’s partners/counsel are women.
Also in Minneapolis, Elizabeth Kniffen was named Zelle’s firm-wide managing partner in 2024, the first woman to hold that position. That came a little more than a year after the firm’s partnership elected her to be the first female member of Zelle’s Executive Committee.
Zelle is a longtime supporter of Minnesota Women Lawyers and Zelle attorneys serve in leadership roles: Laura Bartlow is a member of the MWL Board of Directors, and Mackenzie Moy is a member of the MWL Leadership Council.
In January 2026, Henson Efron’s first woman president, Lisa Spencer, will hand the reins to Rochelle Hauser, demonstrating “continuity in leadership that further strengthens our services, culture, and community impact.”
Greene Espel doesn’t use the traditional model of firm governance.
Fredrikson & Byron prides itself as a top law firm for female attorneys.
In 2022, Nilan Johnson Lewis earned certification by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, making it one of the largest certified women-owned law firms in the nation.
Maslon LLP has provided counsel to the Minnesota business community for 80 years.
Stoel Rives is a U.S. corporate and litigation law firm that provides “sophisticated business clients high quality legal services,” according to its website. It has offices in seven states and Washington, D.C.
Norton Rose Fulbright is a global firm that “provides a full scope of legal services to the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions,” according to its website.
Founded in 1999, Fafinski Mark & Johnson is a commercial law firm serving a diverse portfolio of multimillion-dollar businesses, as well as smaller organizations, sole proprietors and individuals.
A premier commercial litigation firm representing a diverse clientele, Anthony Ostlund Louwagie Dressen & Boylan P.A. uses its experience and business-minded focus to achieve advantageous results for clients.
The firm was founded in 2015 by three lawyers, two of whom are women: Jan Conlin and Katie Crosby Lehmann.
The boutique, all-women family law firm Honsa Mara & Kanne is led by partners Anne Honsa, Kristy Mara and Kari Kanne.
Tracing its origins to 1885, Ballard Spahr specializes in matters of litigation, transactions and regulatory compliance. It also has a reputation as a good place for women to practice law.
Heather J. Kliebenstein is managing director of the intellectual property law firm Merchant & Gould’s seven offices across the country.
Founded in 2003, the firm of Gustafson Gluek was created when Karla Gluek’s mentor Dan Gustafson asked about starting a firm of their own. Within a week, the firm was launched.
Tammera Diehm serves as the first female president of Winthrop & Weinstine.
Barnes & Thornburg is a full-service firm that has provided legal services to businesses and individuals in the Twin Cities area for 30 years, according to its website.
The attorneys at Berens Miller like to say they “deliver big-firm legal services in a small-firm setting.”
Concluding that the “old law firm model is broken,” a group of experienced lawyers formed Sapientia Law Group in 2011 in Minneapolis.
MADEL calls itself a firm full of attorneys who “truly love what we do.
The firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough is a “diversified law firm of more than 1,000 attorneys, policy advisors, and professionals,” with offices across the United States, according to its website.
An IP law firm with offices across the globe, as well as more than 450 attorneys, Fish & Richardson asserts that diversity, equity, and inclusion has been essential to its success.
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