Attorneys of the Year

This annual event honors Attorneys of the Year for their work in procuring a successful result in an important case or business transaction, leadership in professional associations, participating in newsworthy events in the legal community, performing significant public services or excellence in providing in-house legal services.

Click here to fill out a nomination form for Attorneys of the Year 2023.

See the 2022 Attorneys of the Year

For questions about this awards event, please email [email protected]

Click to view the digital magazine with honoree profiles and more

GROUPS

Brewster v. United States of America

Amanda Williams, Cathy Smith and Mary Nikolai of Gustafson Gluek PLLC

Carlson Caspers’ Patent Litigation Team for CommScope Technologies LLC

Phil Caspers, Sam A. Hamer and William F. Bullard

Classic Collision M&A Matters

Clark D. Opdahl, Rochelle L. Hauser, Jeffrey W. Shea and Sarvesh Desai of Henson Efron

Dr. Jane Doe et al vs. State of MN et al, 62-CV-19-3868

Gender Justice legal team

Energy Policy Advocates v. Ellison: Recognizing the Common-Interest Doctrine

Oliver Larson, Jennifer Kitchak and Adam Welle of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office

Faegre Drinker Trial Team for Seagate Technology

Chad Drown, Kate Razavi and Kevin Wagner of Faegre Drinker

Holding Opioid Companies Accountable

James Canaday, John Keller, Eric Maloney, Carly Melin, Evan Romanoff and Laura Taken-Holtze of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office

In re Hope

Rana Alexander of StandPoint and Katie Barrett Wiik of Saul Ewing LLP

In the Matter of the Otto Bremer Trust, Court File No. 62-C9-61-315222 (Ramsey Co. Dist. Ct.)

Michael V. Ciresi, Katie Crosby Lehmann, Mathew Korte and Jan Conlin of Ciresi Conlin LLP

Jim Koch v. SKT/Koch Trucking, Randy Koch and Dave Koch, Hennepin County District Court, Court File No. 27-CV-18-20579

Richard T. Ostlund, Randy Gullickson, Shannon Awsumb, and Joe Janochoski of Anthony Ostlund Louwagie Dressen & Boylan PA

Koopman v. City of Robbinsdale et al.

Virginia R. McCalmont, Caitlinrose H. Fisher, Teresa J. Nelson, David P. McKinney, Clare A. Diegel and Howard Bass of Forsgren Fisher et al

LKQ Corp., et al. v. GM Global Technology Operations LLC, and 25 related matters before the PTAB

Joe Herriges, Craig Deutsch, Dorothy Whelan, Grace Kim and Jennifer Huang of Fish & Richardson P.C.

MPAY v. Erie Custom Computer Applications Inc., and Payroll World Inc.

David A. Prange, Christopher K. Larus, Benjamen C. Linden, Emily J. Tremblay and Rajin S. Olson of Robins Kaplan LLP

Murphy et al. v. Harpstead, 16-cv-2623 (DWF/BRT)

Justin Perl, Steve Schmidt, Justin Page and Eren Sutherland of Mid Minnesota Legal Aid; Peter J. McElligott and Steven M. Pincus of Anthony Ostlund Louwagie Dressen & Boylan PA; and Laura A. Farley of Nichols Kaster, PLLP

Nathan C. McGuire v. Julie A. Bowlin

Donald Chance Mark, Jr., David E. Runck of Fafinski Mark & Johnson, P.A. and Sharon Van Dyck, now with Van Dyck Law Firm

National Prescription Opiate Litigation: All MDL Tribal Cases

Tara Sutton, Holly Dolejsi and Tim Purdon of Robins Kaplan LLP

O.M., by and through her parent and guardian, K.C. Moultrie v. National Women’s Soccer League LLC, District of Oregon, Case No. 3:21-cv-00683-IM

Michelle Looby and Dennis Stewart (California office) of Gustafson Gluek PLLC, and Mickey Stevens, now of Dykema Gossett

Pitman Farms v. Kuehl Poultry, LLC, et al, 48F.4th 866 (8th Cir. 2022)

Jack Perry, Maren Forde and Andy Dosdall of Taft

Pooley v. Pooley, 979 N.W.2d 867 (Minn. 2022)

Michael P. Boulette, Seungwon R. Chung and Abby N. Sunberg of Taft

State of Minnesota v. Stevenson, A21-1142

Kate Baxter-Kauf, Kristen Marttila, and Arielle Wagner of Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P.

INDIVIDUALS

Alana Bassin

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Christopher Cadem

Cadem Law Group

Michael Collyard

Robins Kaplan LLP

Robert A. Correia

Robichaud, Schroepfer & Correia, P.A., PSC

Aaron Dean

Moss and Barnett

Richard Ruohonen

TSR Injury Law

Outstanding Service to the Profession

Clifford M. Greene

JAMS

Theresa Hughes

Stinson LLP

Adine S. Momoh and Dr. Artika Tyner

Stinson LLP; University of St. Thomas

Lewis A. Remele, Jr.

Bassford Remele

Tiffany A. Sanders

Engelmeier & Umanah, P.A.

Peter A. Schmit

Robins Kaplan LLP

Keiko Sugisaka

Maslon LLP

Jennifer A Thompson

TLO LAW, now with Ames Construction

William Ward

Minnesota Board of Public Defense

TEAMS

Rachel L. Barrett and Brandon E. Thompson

Ciresi Conlin LLP

Celeste Culberth and Leslie Lienemann

Culberth & Lienemann, LLP

Mark Johnson and Aaron Knoll

Greene Espel PLLP

Patrick Michenfelder and Mahesha Subbaraman

Throndset Michenfelder Law Office; Subbaraman PLLC

Megan L. Odom and Michael A. Sacchet

Ciresi Conlin LLP

Attorneys of the Year 2021

Click on the image to see the full magazine.

Groups

3M N95 Mask Seizure Litigation 
Bair Hugger MDL Plaintiffs 
Brown, Lee, and Young v. Reese Pfeiffer and United States v. Pfeiffer 
The Hall Law Team
Minor Does v. The Hills Youth and Family Services
Mohamed Noor appellate team 
N.H. v. Anoka Hennepin School District 
Protecting Minnesotans from Medicaid Fraud, State v. Remona Lysa Brown 
Protecting Tenants as Consumers, State v. Steven Meldahl 
ResCap Liquidating Trust Litigation Team
RightCHOICE Managed Care, Inc. et al v. Hospital Partners Inc. Case Team
Shefa v. Attorney General Keith Ellison, et al. 
University of Minnesota Law School Clemency Project 

Individuals

Patrick Arenz, Robins Kaplan 
Alain Baudry, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP
Mai Moua, Mai Neng Moua Law Office 
Kaarin Nelson Schaffer, Conard Nelson Schaffer PLLC
Melissa Nilsson, Henson Efron
Matthew Pelikan, Madel PA
Paul D. Peterson, Founding partner, Harper & Peterson, PLLC 
Eric Rice, The Law Office of Eric A. Rice
Chris Sailors, SailorsAllen Law
Erin Sindberg Porter, Jones Day 
Jeff Storms, Newmark Storms Dworak LLC 
Aaron Van Oort, Faegre Drinker 

Teams

Court J. Anderson  and Benjamin J. Hamborg , Henson Efron
Tim Barnett and Ryan Schildkraut, Winthrop & Weinstine
Kathleen Flynn Peterson  and Robert King Jr., Ciresi Conlin
Dan Guerrero and Perry Moriearty, Meshbesher & Spence and University of Minnesota Law School
Brooke Holmes and Randall Knutson , Knutson + Casey
Willow Anderson and Jack Rice, Willow Anderson Law and Jack Rice Defense

Outstanding Service to the Profession

Beth Bertelson, Bertelson Law Office
Abigail Cerra, Minneapolis Police Conduct Oversight Commission
Derek Chauvin Prosecution 
Rita Coyle DeMeules, Minnesota Supreme Court

Dyan Ebert, Quinlivan & Hughes
David Herr, Maslon 
Mark Myhra, Boston Scientific Corporation
Eric Nelson, Halberg Criminal Defense

 = Circle of Excellence Attorney of the Year

 

Attorneys of the Year 2020

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Groups:

In re: 20 Day Revocable Trust Trial
District of Minnesota Compassionate Release
Mayo Clinic and Fish & Richardson
Protecting Minnesotans in a Pandemic
Bde Maka Ska Name Restoration
Creating Peacetime Emergency Precedent
State COVID Legal Team, Executive Order Drafting Team      
2020 Election

 

Two partners:

 

Thomas Hagen and Steven Groschen
Andrew Irlbeck and Paul Applebaum
Jan Conlin and Mathew Korte
Jerry W. Blackwell and Corey L. Gordon
Thomas Boyd and Michael Rosow
Imran Ali and Karen Kugler
Kevin Sieben and Samuel Edmunds
Peter Gorman and Mary Rice
Paul Dworak and Jeff Storms
Gerald Laurie and Kelly Jeanetta
Larry J. Chiat and Alan S. Milavetz

Individuals:

Andrew Carlson, Taft
David Davenport, BC Davenport
Greg Merz, Lathrop GPM
Irene Kao, League of Minnesota Cities/The Infinity Project
Jill Brisbois, Brisbois Defense PLLC
Leita Walker, Ballard Spahr
Masha M. Yevzelman, Fredrikson & Byron
Michael Sacchet, Ciresi Conlin
Sybil Dunlop, Greene Espel

Outstanding Service to the Profession, group

Jeff Shorba, Dawn Torgerson, AnneMarie O’Neill and Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea

Outstanding Service to the Profession, individuals

Cindy Telstad, Streater & Murphy
Edward J. Cleary, Chief Judge, Minnesota Court of Appeals, retired
David Lillehaug, Fredrikson & Byron
Sharon Sayles Belton, Thomson Reuters
Tom Nelson, Minnesota State Bar Association

 = Circle of Excellence Attorney of the Year

 

Attorneys of the Year 2019

Click on the image above to see the entire magazine

 

Groups

Aida Al-Kadi v. Ramsey County et al.
Blackwell Burke Bair Hugger Team 
Leonard Pozner/Sandy Hook defamation case
LGBTQ+ asylum matters
Lor Ler Kaw, Lor Ler Hok Koh, Mary Jane Summerville and George Thawmoo v. ISD #625
Minnesota Attorney General’s Office prosecution of Minnesota School of Business/Globe University for fraud
Minnesota prisoner hepatitis C litigation 
Portz et. al. v. St. Cloud State University 
Ramsey County juvenile detention alternatives initiative and juvenile justice reform leaders

Team

Jacob Campion and Janine Kimble
Jessica L. Kometz and Amie E. Penny Say­ler
George W. Soule and Melissa R. Stull 

Individual

John Arechigo 
Patrick J. Casey
Sara Karki
Paula Jossart 
Teresa Lavoie 
Amy Lawler
Nicholas G.B. May
Nicole Moen
Clark Opdahl
Stephen Safranski
Jon Schmidt 
Stacey Slaughter 
Amy Sweasy
Marshall Tanick
Eva Wailes

Recognition of outstanding service

Senior U.S. District Court Judge Joan Ericksen
Magistrate Judge Steven E. Rau
Judge Peter M. Reyes Jr. 

 = Circle of Excellence Attorney of the Year

Reprints

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