Rhona Schmidt, Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Rhona Schmidt, partner in Dorsey & Whitney LLP’s Technology Commerce Practice Group, has spent more than two decades driving success for leading companies by helping them commercialize their technology products and services. As an expert in structuring, drafting and negotiating technology product and services contracts, Schmidt ensures businesses effectively license or outsource their technological assets.

Schmidt’s approach centers on creating win-win situations for all parties involved, recognizing that sustainable business relationships require meeting the needs of both sides. She possesses the foresight to anticipate potential future complications and builds protective measures into contracts, enabling parties to work through challenges while maintaining their relationships.

Born and raised outside Edinburgh, Scotland, by a single mother who ran her own successful business, Schmidt came to the United States at age 19 as part of a student exchange program, working as a camp counselor at Ruttger’s Bay Lodge, where she met her future husband. She earned her J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law and received her LL.M. with thesis from the University of Minnesota Law School. She also graduated from the University of Aberdeen Scotland with a Dip., L.P. and an LL.B.

Schmidt joined Dorsey in 1999 as a newly married attorney and has since built an impressive practice while raising four children. She credits her success to maintaining a strong support system and sense of humor.

As a member of Dorsey’s management committee, Schmidt has been instrumental in restructuring the firm’s resource and allyship groups, which form the core of the firm’s efforts to build an inclusive environment. She champions diversity initiatives and has helped establish Dorsey as a leader in recognizing, recruiting and advancing diverse individuals.

Schmidt actively mentors associates across Dorsey’s corporate, technology commerce and other industry groups. She serves on the firm’s cyber security committee and provides pro bono services. Her mentorship has shaped many successful attorneys who consider her both an inspiration and role model inside and outside the workplace.