Chris Bellini, shareholder at Cozen O’Connor, chairs the firm’s Private Equity practice and co-chairs its Capital Markets & Securities practice. He focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, capital markets, securities and compliance, representing clients across manufacturing, financial services, health care and technology industries.

Bellini has more than 25 years of transactional experience and brings a background in investment banking to his practice. He regularly guides clients through deals ranging from $50 million to $500 million on local, national and international levels. Among his representative matters, he served as lead attorney representing a private equity investor in a strategic partnership with a digital product engineering company operating 10 development centers across the United States, Europe and Latin America, headquartered in the Twin Cities.

As co-chair of the Capital Markets & Securities practice, Bellini helped establish and grow the firm’s underwriters’ capital markets practice. He has been a key figure in Cozen O’Connor’s Minneapolis office since its early days and is a member of the firm’s Corporate Practice Group.

Dorsey & Whitney LLP Partner Rachel Benedict represents public and private company clients in mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, joint ventures and technology transactions. She advises both buyers and sellers across asset purchases, stock purchases, mergers, divestitures, carve-outs and joint ventures, with industry experience spanning health care, food, beverage and agriculture, and technology.

Benedict’s representative matters include advising Optum in numerous acquisitions of physician practices, benefits management companies and health technology companies; United HealthCare in the acquisition of a hearing services plan, a third-party administrator and a medical transportation benefits provider; Best Buy in the acquisition of a senior remote monitoring company and a consumer goods company; and Land O’Lakes in multiple joint ventures for its feed and agronomy businesses. She also represented Chelan Fruit Cooperative in its sale to an agricultural investment manager and a major medical device company in the divestiture of an international business unit.

Beyond transactional work, Benedict serves as firm recruiting co-chair at Dorsey & Whitney and is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association.

Fredrikson & Byron P.A. Shareholder Frank B. Bennett has closed hundreds of transactions and served as outside general counsel to businesses across numerous industries for more than 35 years.

Bennett advises private equity sponsors and public and private clients on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, venture finance and general corporate law. He represents U.S. and international private equity groups, strategic buyers and sellers, financial advisors, management teams and minority shareholders in leveraged and management buyouts, corporate restructurings and related transactions across sectors including software and technology, food processing, manufacturing, healthcare, insurance and financial services.

His representative matters include advising the owners of a privately held software and operating technology company in a $1.6 billion sale to a public company, representing shareholders of a software and financial services firm in a sale exceeding $400 million in enterprise value, and counseling a nutrition company founder in a subsequent platform sale exceeding $600 million.

Bennett serves on multiple nonprofit boards and the boards of Center National Bank and Coulee Bank.

Fredrikson & Byron P.A. Shareholder Ryan C. Brauer co-chairs the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Department and brings nearly two decades of experience in corporate transactions and securities law. His practice spans private equity, strategic buy-side and sell-side deals, ESOP transactions, growth equity financings and capital markets work for publicly traded companies.

Brauer earned his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2003. He previously co-chaired the firm’s Corporate and Securities Department.

His representative matters include advising Celcuity Inc. on its initial public offering, representing AGA Medical Holdings Inc. in its sale to St. Jude Medical Inc., counseling a filtration device manufacturer in a $225 million sale, and advising a software-as-a-service company in a $90 million sale. He has represented more than 100 sellers in transactions ranging from $5 million to $1.3 billion across a wide variety of industries. He also represents underwriters and placement agents in equity and debt financings and on FINRA compliance matters.

Max Bremer is the Minneapolis office managing partner at Saul Ewing LLP, a role he assumed in February 2024. He was instrumental in the opening of the firm’s Minneapolis office and has helped guide its growth since its founding. Bremer advises entrepreneurs, private equity funds and established operating companies on transactions throughout the business life cycle, from formations and financings to mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.
Notable representations include advising R.D. Offutt Company on the sale of Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels to The Hershey Company in a transaction valued at approximately $900 million, the largest divestiture in R.D. Offutt’s history. He also represented Hand Family Companies in four separate transactions in 2025 as part of their entry into the California market and a related refinancing of credit facilities, represented Proterra Investment Partners in its buyout of its partner in Central Valley Eggs, and guided Dakota Supply Group through three acquisitions over the past two years.
In addition to his transactional practice, Bremer mentors associates across the firm and regularly speaks on mergers and acquisitions topics.

Harleigh E. Brown, shareholder at Fredrikson & Byron P.A., co-chairs the firm’s Cross-Border M&A Group and is a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions, International and Corporate & Securities Groups. He represents clients based in and outside the U.S. in mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, entity formation and contract negotiations across manufacturing, automotive, oil and gas, health and professional services industries.

Brown earned a B.A., magna cum laude, from Minnesota State University Moorhead, a J.D., magna cum laude, from Hamline University School of Law in 2002, and an LLM in International and Comparative Law with honors from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium in 2003. He clerked for Judge Donovan W. Frank of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota from 2003 to 2005 and was a Fulbright Scholar in 2002-2003.

His representative matters include serving as primary M&A counsel for PremiStar across 27 or more acquisitions spanning two private equity ownership phases, and advising Smart Care Equipment Solutions in its secondary buyout and 17 subsequent add-on acquisitions.

The numbers behind W. Morgan Burns’ career are striking — more than 100 M&A transactions and more than 100 capital markets transactions spanning over 30 countries, with deal sizes ranging from under $100 million to more than $2 billion. A partner at Faegre Drinker, Burns advises public and private companies, boards of directors and investment banks on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions and corporate governance.

His M&A practice spans acquisitions and sales of public companies, private equity and venture-backed companies, family-owned enterprises and carveouts from large multinationals. In capital markets, Burns has served as primary counsel for IPO and follow-on equity offerings and high-yield and investment grade debt issuances, representing both issuers and investment banks in transactions denominated in multiple currencies. He also advises public company boards on fiduciary duties, SEC and stock exchange compliance and activism defense.

Burns brings firsthand business perspective to his practice, having served as a corporate development executive and as co-founder of a software company. He currently serves on the board of governors of the Children’s Theatre Company.

William M. Burns is a shareholder at Hanft Fride whose practice encompasses private and public financing of business enterprises, healthcare business issues, mergers and acquisitions, and general business advice. He also manages litigation and dispute resolution services and maintains an active real estate practice focused on multifamily and commercial real estate development. His clients include large and small businesses, banks, real estate developers, educational institutions and medical specialists.

Burns earned a Bachelor of Arts with distinction and a Juris Doctor cum laude, both from the University of Michigan, where he served as an editor of the University of Michigan Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. He served as associate dean of the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science and Arts from 1966 to 1968.

Active in his community, Burns has served as a trustee emeritus and former board chair of the College of St. Scholastica, former president of Legal Aid Service of Northeastern Minnesota, and former chairman of the United Way. He is a strong supporter of legal services for low-income individuals.

Christopher Carlisle is a partner at Taft where he focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and emerging company and venture finance. He is admitted to practice in Minnesota and North Dakota and earned his law degree from Mitchell Hamline School of Law and his undergraduate degree from the University of St. Thomas.

Carlisle represents a broad range of clients — from startups to publicly held enterprises — including founders, entrepreneurs, venture capital funds, and private equity firms across industries such as software, health care technology, consumer products, franchise, agriculture, and industrials.

His M&A experience spans domestic and international transactions, with clients based in the U.K., Canada, Italy, Belgium, and other EU and Pacific Rim jurisdictions. Notable representations include Drylock Technologies in its acquisition of Presto Absorbent Products, WellBeats in its sale to LifeSpeak, and ExperienceIT in its acquisition by Globant. He also provides ongoing M&A counsel to the world’s largest hearing aid retailer.

Al Coleman is a partner and transactional department chair at Saul Ewing LLP’s Minneapolis office. His practice primarily involves representing private equity sponsors and domestic and international companies in mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures. He advises senior executives, high net-worth individuals and corporate clients across sectors including manufacturing, food and beverage, agriculture, health care, energy, technology and professional services.

Before joining Saul Ewing, Coleman served as assistant general counsel and chief corporate attorney for a billion-dollar financial services firm. He has taught contract and transactional drafting as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School since 2012 and previously taught at the University of St. Thomas Law School. He is also the author of the career development guide “Secrets to Success” and regularly writes for Forbes.com and other national publications.

He serves as board president of the Raymond W. Cannon Educational Foundation and as a board member of the Hennepin Theatre Trust.

Tammera R. Diehm is a partner and firm president at Winthrop & Weinstine, where her legal practice focuses on real estate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, franchise transactions, campaign finance, and election law. She earned her law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in 2003, and holds a certificate in law firm leadership from Harvard Law School Executive Leadership. She is admitted to practice in Minnesota and before the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Diehm co-leads the firm’s downstream energy practice, representing gas and convenience store owners and fuel distributors on supply contracts, zoning, environmental compliance, and financing matters. Notable representations include the $85 million sale of Erickson Oil Products to CrossAmerica Partners LP and the acquisition of Captain D’s Seafood Kitchen and Grandy’s on behalf of Sentinel Capital Partners.

She previously served as city attorney for a first-ring suburb for eight years and served three terms as an elected city council member in Columbia Heights.

Katie Eisler is a partner and chair of the Corporate & Securities Group at Maslon LLP. Her practice centers on complex mergers and acquisitions, with additional work as outside general counsel on corporate governance, reorganizations, succession plans, technology-related agreements and commercial contracts. She also advises clients on data privacy, website policies, trademark management and day-to-day business operations.
Recent notable representations include serving as co-lead counsel in the acquisition of Epika Fleet Services, a nationwide network of commercial fleet services, by a private equity fund, and lead counsel in four subsequent Epika acquisitions. She also represented fourth-generation, family-owned retail insurance agency Dyste Williams of Minneapolis in its acquisition by Arthur J. Gallagher & Company. Additional work includes negotiating master supply and hosted services agreements with Tesla and Walmart on behalf of a payment terminal manufacturer.
Eisler co-authored the LexisNexis volume on Minnesota Business and Commercial Law and regularly presents continuing legal education seminars on M&A topics including earnouts, rollover equity and asset versus stock sales.