Minnesota Lawyer

As an associate in the trial group at Dorsey & Whitney's Minneapolis office, Laura Hammargren gets to not only practice law but also indulge her first love: writing.

Andrea Gothing confesses she was "a bit of a geek growing up." But that fascination and proficiency with science and technology ultimately has served her, and especially her clients, well.

As a paralegal, Lara Glaesman assisted attorneys in both environmental and bankruptcy cases, and she definitely preferred the former because the latter "was just about dollars." She changed her mind later, however, while interning for bankruptcy Judge William Houston Brown in Memphis as a law student.

Just in case law school didn't work out, Britt Gilbertson majored in business as an undergraduate at Augsburg College.

Christianna Finnern knew she wanted to be a lawyer while still in elementary school.

Elation is the best word to describe the feelings of Koua Fong Lee, his family and his legal team after a Ramsey County judge exonerated him from a wrongful conviction and ordered his immediate release.

Choosing the somewhat esoteric area of adoption law as a specialty was a logical move for Stacia Driver; her father, Wright Walling, has practiced in family law since the late 1970s and co-founded Walling Berg & Debele in 1991. She also has an adopted sister, Bria.

With her cheery demeanor, one would never guess that Lindsey Davis is a hardened litigator. But as an associate in the Minneapolis office of Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason, Davis represents clients in all aspects of litigation in federal and state courts.

After 10 years as a social worker, working in child welfare, foster care and adoption, Colleen Daly made a career shift into law. Since 2007, she has worked as a consumer attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis, which provides free civil legal services to low-income and senior residents in Hennepin County.

As an associate in the business litigation section and energy law group at Briggs and Morgan, Aakash Chandarana has built a reputation for excellence in his legal practice. But very likely, he would have had a similar reputation no matter what field he chose.