Minnesota Lawyer

Although retired attorneys Peter Gorman and Mary Rice aren’t law partners in the traditional sense — they don’t work together on cases, for example — they do have a shared vision when it comes to volunteer work.

For Robins Kaplan partner Holly Dolejsi, having George Floyd killed in her neighborhood, and staying during the increasingly violent protests, gave her a new perspective on diversity and inclusion she didn’t expect.

In past years, Athena Hollins has met considerable resistance when trying to inform those in the legal community about systemic racism and its implications. But not this year.

Addressing diversity, equity and inclusion within the legal profession is laudable, but there also needs to be work done at a legislative policy level. That’s where Tisidra Jones is making an incredible impact.

In 2018, when Sarah Oquist received a major award for the law firm she co-founded, Sapientia Law Group, she spoke publicly about her experiences and fears in being the only Black person on her high school basketball team and having to play in a city where the KKK is headquartered.

As senior vice president and chief legal counsel at Fairview Health Services, Trudi Trysla has helped the organization navigate through many issues related to legal and ethical adherence to federal and state law.

When Dan West drives around the Twin Cities, he’s in a unique position as an attorney, because he can point to the buildings he’s worked on.

Although some areas of the law can be adversarial, being an in-house counsel lends itself to collaboration with those who hold the same role at other companies.

In 2019, Chief Judge John Tunheim issued a decision in Portz et. al. v. St. Cloud State University et. al. that found the university was in violation of the law.

In 2019, Clark Opdahl of Henson Efron navigated through one of those rare deals when he represented Space Center Inc. and sister company Logistxs in what turned out to be the third-largest sale of an industrial real estate portfolio in the county.