Minnesota Lawyer

Landon Ascheman, recipient of this year’s Minnesota State Bar Association Professional Excellence Award, attributes the honor to his extensive pro bono service and encouraging more attorneys to volunteer.

Ryan C. Smith worked as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office before going into private practice, which helps him counsel clients.

Fish & Richardson patent litigator Betsy Flanagan was already chairperson of a program to increase opportunities for female attorneys in the firm’s Twin Cities office when she recently was named the office’s managing principal, one of few women in such a role at local firms.

Veena Iyer’s leadership at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota during the pandemic recently earned her a Hennepin County Bar Association 2021 Excellence Award.

Stephanie Sarantopoulos, shareholder in the Minneapolis office of Littler, is now overseeing legal operations of the firm’s online platform for answering companies’ workplace legal questions as program director of Littler onDemand.

Stinson partner Andrew Davis is proud to be “part of a case where justice is served” in having won a Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling recognizing a transgender student’s right to use a locker room aligning with his gender identity.

Inti Martínez-Alemán’s use of technology to advance innovation and reassure Hispanic clients is what earned him a Hennepin County Bar Association 2021 Excellence Award.

Ballard Spahr associate Sonja (Sunny) Beddow increased her existing pro bono service representing foster children and immigration clients when the pandemic slowed her commercial real estate practice.

Courtland Merrill brings more than 20 years of experience litigating claims involving patent enforcement and intellectual property rights as well as commercial disputes to Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Minneapolis office.

For 2nd Judicial District Judge Edward Sheu seeking a judicial appointment was a natural step after gravitating toward public interest — “people-minded work” — while in private practice.