News

LGN Celebrates Give to the Max Day 2022

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This Holiday Season, and in recognition of Give to The Max Day, Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P. is proud to support Agate Housing + Services in Minneapolis, and Neighborhood House in St. Paul. On #GTMD22, LGN will be matching donations to both of these organizations up to $10,000 each.

Agate Housing + Services’ mission is to end homelessness and relieve hunger through action and advocacy. In 2021 alone, Agate Housing + Services served nearly 70,500 meals, provided 50,000 nights of service, and gave emergency shelter to over 450 individuals. Agate’s Rapid Re-Housing and Permanent Supportive Housing programs help families and individuals move quickly from shelter to scattered-site permanent housing with long-term supportive services to help households maintain housing stability through a range of services. LGN is proud to support their important mission.

Neighborhood House helps people with basic needs, education, multiple youth programs, and health and well-being. All programs are offered for free to participants, with the mission of helping people gain the skills, knowledge and confidence to thrive in diverse communities. Neighborhood House has been serving the St. Paul community since its founding in 1897, and today serves more than 15,000 people at their six locations throughout the City of St. Paul. LGN has supported Neighborhood House for over a decade, routinely collecting food and monetary donations during Neighborhood House’s annual food drive.  

On this #GTMD22, please join us in supporting Agate Housing + Services, Neighborhood House, and the critical missions they carry out in our community.

News

LGN Attorneys Attend Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers Gala

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Lockridge Grindal Nauen lawyers were thrilled to attend the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers Gala as a Silver Sponsor! We celebrate the scholarship recipients and are committed to doing our best to advance and support Black lawyers in Minnesota.

News

LGN Attorney Rachel Kitze Collins Recognized by Minnesota Lawyer as One of its 2022 Diversity & Inclusion Award Honorees

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Rachel Kitze Collins

Congratulations to LGN Associate Rachel Kitze Collins who was recognized by Minnesota Lawyer as one of its 2022 Diversity & Inclusion Award honorees.  As Co-President of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Chapter of the American Constitution Society, Rachel helped plan and organize a virtual CLE titled, “What Every Lawyer Should Know About the Future of Transgender Student Rights,” which sought to educate lawyers about the challenges that transgender students face, the laws that protect them, and steps that schools and educators can take to protect these students. Rachel and the other CLE panelists were honored at an event on October 6 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Learn more by following this link.

News

LGN Attorneys Attend Page Education Foundation Gala

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Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P. attorneys were thrilled to participate in and attend the 2022 Justice Forward Gala supporting the Page Education Foundation, which raised over $500,000 to support 250 Page Scholars.  LGN Partners Karen Riebel and Rebecca Peterson both sit on the board of the Page Education Foundation, which provides post-secondary scholarships to Minnesota students of color and requires those students to work with younger students as mentors.  LGN Partner Kate Baxter-Kauf and Associates Arielle Wagner and Develyn Mistriotti also attended the event, which was held at U.S. Bank Stadium and attended by hundreds of Twin Cities business, legal, and education leaders.

Pictured: LGN attorneys Kate Baxter-Kauf and Arielle Wagner are pictured with LGN alumnae Elizabeth Odette and Anna Horning Nygren.

News

LGN Partners Receive Patriot Awards

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Left to Right: COL Doug Peterson, M.D., USA Retired and Virginia Peterson (Rebecca Peterson’s parents and Catherine Peterson’s aunt and uncle), Rebecca Peterson, Rob Shelquist, Catherine Peterson, John Kingrey, ESGR.

On August 24, 2022, LGN Partners Rob Shelquist and Rebecca Peterson each received Patriot Awards in recognition of their support of the National Guard and Reserve. They were nominated for this award by LGN attorney Catherine Peterson, who has served in the North Dakota National Guard since 2008. The award is given by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) program, an office of the Department of Defense established to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve Component Service members and their civilian employers. The award recognizes employers’ efforts to support citizen warriors by providing understanding and healthy work environments that offer flexible schedules, including time off for training and deployment.  

Cathy, who served in two deployments to the National Capital Region, in 2013-2014 and 2017-2018, is also an extremely talented lawyer and a vital member of LGN’s Product and Consumer Litigation team. During the awards ceremony, she thanked Rob and Rebecca for their support, noting that flexibility in her work schedule “is a huge stress reliever: employers take on a sacrifice when they employ members of the National Guard and Reserve who have commitments not only to their civilian job but also to the military. Employers and supporting colleagues and staff have to figure out a way to adapt when a Soldier has to leave. And Rob and Rebecca’s willingness to do this has made balancing my civilian job and military service very smooth.”

LGN is extremely proud of Cathy’s service and of Rob and Rebecca’s efforts to support her, and we wish Cathy the very best in her next deployment, which starts in October.

News

LGN Attorneys Successfully Argue Criminal Appeal in Pro Bono Matter

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LGN attorneys Arielle Wagner, Kate Baxter-Kauf, and Kristen Marttila successfully worked on and argued a criminal appeal in a pro bono matter involving a client who was unlawfully detained by police. On August 8, 2022, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that the sheriff’s deputy unconstitutionally expanded the scope of a traffic stop by opening the client’s car door without an individualized, reasonable, and articulable justification, and reversed the district court’s denial of the motion to suppress evidence obtained after the car door was opened. The team considers this a victory for individual rights and hopes this decision helps clarify the boundaries of these types of traffic stops in the future. Read the full opinion here.

LGN attorneys participate in criminal appeals through the MSBA Appellate Section’s Pro Bono Project with the Appellate Public Defender.

News

Class Act Completes 2022 Lawyer League Co-Ed Softball Season

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Class Act, featuring many LGNers, recently completed the 2022 season of the Minneapolis Park Board’s Co-Ed Lawyer League softball. Class Act posted a 6-4 record, but recently lost in the playoffs. Congrats to Class Act on a great season!

News

LGN Proud to Announce Six Attorneys Recognized as North Star Lawyers

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LGN prides itself on our commitment to pro-bono volunteer work. We are thrilled to announce that LGN attorneys (pictured from left to right) Arielle Wagner, Rachel Kitze Collins, Kailey Mrosak, Maureen Kane Berg, Kate Baxter-Kauf, and Stephen Owen have been recognized as 2021 North Star Lawyers. The Minnesota State Bar Association designates North Star Lawyers as those who provided 50 hours or more of legal service in 2021. More information about the North Star Lawyers program is available here; the full list of 2021 North Star Lawyers can be found here.  This listing was also published in the May/June 2022 Bench & Bar Magazine.

Community

LGN Proud to Sponsor WomenWinning’s 40th Annual Luncheon

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LGN was proud to sponsor WomenWinning’s 40th Annual Luncheon, which featured U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, State Representative Kelly Morrison, former State Representative Erin Maye Quade, Dr. Sarah Traxler, and Dr. Julie Amaon. WomenWinning’s mission is to encourage, promote, support, and elect pro-choice women of all political parties to all levels of public office.

Pictured from left to right, seated: Cate Crowe, Maureen Kane Berg, Laura Matson, and Heidi Esparza.

Pictured from left to right, standing: Abby Ward, Amos Briggs, Karen Hanson Riebel, Dave Zoll, Kate Baxter-Kauf, and Rebecca Kanninen.

News

LGN Attorney Appointed to Merit Selection Panel to Aid in Selection of U.S. Magistrate Judge

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Rachel Kitze Collins

LGN congratulates Rachel Kitze Collins on her appointment to the Merit Selection Panel which will advise the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota on the selection of a new U.S. Magistrate Judge.  The panel will evaluate and recommend the best candidates to the District Judges for consideration.

Rachel practices in LGN’s environmental litigation, election law, business litigation, and employment groups, representing clients in complex, high-profile litigation in state and federal court.  Rachel also serves as Co-President of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Chapter of the American Constitution Society.  Prior to joining LGN, Rachel clerked for the Honorable James B. Loken of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.