Minnesota Lawyer Blog

Yesterday, more than 200 people gathered in the Nicollet Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Minneapolis for Minnesota Lawyer’s annual luncheon honoring the region’s top young attorneys. The Up and Coming Lawyers event is a bit different from other events that pay tribute to the cream of the legal profession in that none of the honorees have been practicing law for more than 10 years.

While that doesn’t guarantee any degree of wetness behind the ears (the eldest honoree was 43), it does mean these folks are brimming with the kind of enthusiasm and zest that can be hard to find among more experienced folks in any field, not just law.

All 20 honorees spoke with sincerity and wit about the people and places that got them to this point in their careers; a few speeches had to be cut short when their presenters became overcome with emotion. This was not just another rubber-chicken lunch where trophies were handed out; it was an occasion that demonstrated the future of the legal community in Minnesota is in good hands.

You can read about this year’s Up and Coming Attorneys in a special section included in next week’s Minnesota Lawyer. Meanwhile, congratulations to this year’s honorees:

Amy K. Amundson, Rider Bennett, L.L.P.
Dawn R. Bakst, Ramsey County Attorney’s Office
Harleigh E. Brown, Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.
Patrick R. Burns, American Arbitration Association
Clayton W. Chan, Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A.
Carrie A. Daniel, Graco, Inc.
Aaron W. Davis, Patterson, Thuente, Skaar & Christensen, P.A.
Gloria L. Contreras Edin, Centro Legal, Inc.
David Galle, Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, L.L.P.
Jennifer K. Huelskoetter, Bowman and Brooke, L.L.P.
Saran B. Jenkins, Legal Rights Center
Christopher A. Johnston, Johnston | Martineau, P.L.L.P.
Brian M. Meloy, Leonard, Street and Deinard, P.A.
Tamika R. Nordstrom, Blackwell Burke, P.A.
Sarah L. Oquist, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
Lori D. Semke, Flynn, Gaskins & Bennett, L.L.P.
Amy M. Sieben, Foley & Mansfield, P.L.L.P.
Mathew A. Soberg, Krekelberg, Skonseng & Hastings, P.L.L.P.
John T. Soshnik, Dorsey & Whitney, L.L.P.
Aaron D. Van Oort, Faegre & Benson, L.L.P.

On Tuesday, May 22, Minnesota Lawyer will have its 7th annual Up & Coming Attorneys Awards luncheon at the Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis, starting at 11:30 a.m.

This year we are recognizing 20 outstanding newer lawyers (admitted within the last 10 years) who have stood out from the crowd. This event is an excellent way to network with some of the rising leaders in the profession and to learn about some of their accomplishments. I usually walk away with a good feeling about the legal profession and a sense that the future of the bar is in excellent hands. I am told that a couple of hundred guests have already signed up.

As an added bonus(?) the awards will be presented by the Minnesota Lawyer editorial staff -- the same folks whom I am sure you have already grown to know and love through our postings on this blog. While I would not presume to speak for my esteemed colleagues, I promise to be short and to the point -- or at least 5'11 and in the general vicinity of the point, anyway ...

For more information about the luncheon event, click here. Hope to see you there!