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LGN Sponsors Women Winning Event

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LGN was proud to be a Champion sponsor of Women Winning’s Wine, Chocolate, and Choice event last week. It was an inspiring night of networking with powerful women from across the state. The fundraiser celebrated International Women’s Day and its long history of recognizing the power women have when gathered together.

Since 1982, Women Winning has been building a coalition of people of all backgrounds, identities, and political affiliations united in their mission to recruit, train, and elect pro-choice women to all levels of public office, from park board to President of the United States. They’ve supported thousands of pro-choice women candidates in an effort to elect the best advocates, protect and advance reproductive rights, and create a more equitable Minnesota. Women Winning’s endorsed candidates and elected officials follow and innovate on the achievements celebrated by International Women’s Day, including advocating for reproductive rights, better working conditions, and fair wages, and fighting for women and girls everywhere.

Pictured are LGN team members (left to right): Amos Briggs, Dan Pollock, Emma Ritter Gordon, Rachel Kitze Collins, Jess Lindeen, Kate Baxter-Kauf, Jasmine Epps-Flowers, Laura Matson.

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Trial Lawyers of Mass Torts Invites LGN Partner to Speak

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Trial Lawyers of Mass Torts

LGN partner, Kate M. Baxter-Kauf, spoke on a panel at last week’s Trial Lawyers of Mass Torts (TLMT) conference in Park City, Utah. She joined fellow class action attorneys across the litigation spectrum to discuss “Trends in Privacy Litigation.” With Morgan & Morgan attorney, John A. Yanchunis, a titan of the plaintiffs’ privacy bar, Mark C. Mao, of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, who represents both plaintiffs and defendants, and Paul G. Karlsgodt, the leader of BakerHostetler’s Privacy and Digital Risk Class Action and Litigation team, Kate discussed what’s next in privacy litigation.

The mission of TLMT is to foster collaboration and education among top-tier judiciary, plaintiffs, and defense bar professionals. The event is tailored to tackle contemporary issues in complex litigation, focusing on class actions and mass torts. Attendees gain empowerment, connection, and invaluable insights from top legal professionals.

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MN Radiological Society Day at the Capitol

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MN Radiological Society

The LGN Government Relations team was pleased to host the Minnesota Radiological Society (MRS) during their Day at the Capitol. MRS is an organization with 500 members and works to advocate for healthcare legislation on topics such as imaging, mammography access, and scope of practice policy. This event allowed MRS members the unique opportunity to interact directly with state legislators, discussing their roles as physicians in the practice of radiology and highlighting the challenges they face in our healthcare system. The goal of the MRS Day at the Capitol is to improve lawmakers’ understanding of MRS legislative priorities and facilitate meaningful conversations about issues impacting physicians in this field of medicine.

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LGN Joins Neighborhood House for March Food Drive

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Neighborhood House March Food Drive

In 2023, Minnesota witnessed a record-setting 7.5 million visits to food shelves – – shattering the record of 5.5 million visits set in 2022.  

To help alleviate food insecurity in our community, LGN is again raising funds for the March Food Drive organized by Neighborhood House, a St. Paul-based multi-service agency that has helped immigrant and refugee families since 1897.  LGN has supported its work for more than ten years.

Like other food shelves in the state, Neighborhood House’s food shelf is grappling with the daunting challenge of keeping up with the need. They are now serving over seventeen hundred unique families in a month—nearly double from this time last year.

Join us in helping support Neighborhood House and its mission to serve our community by donating at the link below.

Your generosity can alleviate the severity of this crisis and foster a community where no one is left hungry or forgotten.  Thank you for considering helping Neighborhood House with us.

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LGN Senior Counsel, Maureen Kane Berg, Directs Comedy Opera

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We proudly support LGN Senior Counsel, Maureen Kane Berg, as she opens the comic opera, “Utopia, Limited,” at the Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company tonight. As the director of the production, Maureen leads a talented cast of actors as they explore the timeless question: what if perfection isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?

Maureen shared, “I love this updated and reimagined comic opera because it presents a universal human story: Even people living in Utopia can’t help wondering what they may be missing. I also love that the hero is a young woman – Princess Zara—who brings “reforms” from England to rescue her father, the King, and her country from Utopia’s own plutocrat profiteers. As a writer as well as a director of musical comedy, I have found it a joy to collaborate with the GSVLOC on this fresh take of a classic piece.”

Maureen has poured heart and soul into this collaboration with the GSVLOC, infusing the production with wit, charm, and a dash of irreverence. Don’t miss your chance to experience the magic of “Utopia, Limited” – a delightful blend of humor, romance, and social commentary that will leave you singing and smiling long after the curtain falls.

“Utopia, Limited” is scheduled to run until March 24th at the Conn Theater at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. For more details and ticket information, please click below.

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Team Led by LGN Partner Wins National Moot Court Competition

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Moot Court Team led by LGN partner Rachel Kitze Collins

Congratulations to LGN partner, Rachel Kitze Collins, and the University of Minnesota Law School‘s Environmental Moot Court Competition team, who just won the Jeffrey Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition at Pace University in New York. Rachel coaches the team along with Emily Polachek, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota. The winning team members consist of Hanna Weil (’24), Maria Pfister (’24), and Poojan Thakrar (’24), all 3Ls at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Instituted in 1989, the Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition (NELMCC) is one of the nation’s largest interschool moot court competitions. Every year law student advocates nationwide assemble to compete under one roof. More than 200 competitors and 150 attorneys participate in grading briefs and serving as judges for the three-day competition. The NELMCC tests students’ skills in appellate brief writing and oral advocacy and uses issues drawn from real cases to provide students with first-hand experience in environmental litigation in a rigorous academic experience.

Congratulations to all involved on an outstanding accomplishment!

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LGN Invited to Speak at Humphrey School of Public Affairs

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LGN at the Humphrey School

LGN Government Relations team members, Amos Briggs and Jess Lindeen, were invited to speak with a graduate class at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota called “State Governing and Legislating: Working the Process.” The course is instructed by Briana Bierschbach who is a political reporter for the Star Tribune. 

This course aims to give students practical experience in government. Speakers visit the class each week to talk about a different aspect of working at the Capitol. LGN was invited to “lobby” day to share more about the important work we do on behalf of our clients. It was a great discussion with a class full of future leaders.

The Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota ranks among the country’s top professional public policy and planning schools, widely recognized for its success in advancing the common good through a comprehensive, world-class program. The school offers six distinctive master’s degrees, a doctoral degree, and five certificate programs that match students’ passion with the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to solve real-world challenges. We were honored to be invited as guests and are excited to see where the future leads these students.

LGN Government Relations at Humphrey School
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Twin Cities Diversity in Practice Connect – Leftover Litigators Take First

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Twin Cities Diversity in Practice Connect

Congratulations to LGN partner, Kate Baxter-Kauf, former LGN law clerk, Madeleine Kim, and the Leftover Litigators for getting the highest score in the first round of scoring for Twin Cities Diversity in Practice Connect!

TCDIP Connect is a guided 7-month small-group mentoring program that purposefully brings together attorneys and law school students of color with the goal of developing authentic professional interconnectedness.

Over the past scoring cycle, the Leftover Litigators (one of 11 TCDIP Connect teams) bonded through team-building activities and monthly meetups. Consistent small group meetings provide a safe space for sharing experiences and building relationships. Group interactions also earn points!  By getting to know attorneys through the Leftover Litigators, law students and early career attorneys feel increasingly more confident to present themselves on bigger stages.

The Leftover Litigators intentionally choose discussion topics. Conversations during meetups cover a spectrum of topics, from discussions around linguistic profiling, which have heightened awareness regarding language’s impact in the legal field, to personal motivations like competitive drive to resilience in the face of challenges. Attorneys in the Leftover Litigators have found TCDIP Connect to be a resounding success. The diversity of perspective—in terms of race, age, gender, and practice type—makes for lively discussion. Through TCDIP Connect, the Leftover Litigators have built a space where members learn from each other.

LGN is proud to have many of our team involved with the Twin Cities Diversity in Practice organization.

  • LGN partner, Heidi Silton, is a founding member of the TCDIP Connect program.
  • LGN associate, Arielle Wagner, is the current treasurer for the TCDIP Board of Directors and sits on the executive committee.
  • LGN partner, David Asp, is LGN’s member representative.
  • LGN associate, Steve Owen, is LGN’s Emerging Leaders group representative.
  • LGN partners, Karen Hanson Riebel and Kate Baxter-Kauf, are TCDIP Connect mentors.

You can read more about TCDIP Connect by clicking below!

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Twin Cities Diversity in Practice Connect - Leftover Litigators
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Landmark Decision Recognizing Rights of Indigenous Peoples

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Rights of Indigenous Peoples

In March of 2022, LGN associates Laura Matson and Arielle Wagner spearheaded an effort to draft an amicus curiae brief on U.S. Federal Indian Law which was joined by some of the leading scholars in the field. The brief was submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in support of the Comunidad Indígena Maya Q’eqchi’ Agua Caliente, an indigenous community that made land and resource rights claims against Guatemala.  (Comunidad Indígena Maya Q’eqchi’ Agua Caliente v. Guatemala, Case No. 13.082).

In a landmark decision issued in December of 2023, the court found in favor of the Maya Q’eqchi’ Agua Caliente. Among other measures, the Court ordered Guatemala to pass legislation recognizing the rights of indigenous peoples, particularly related to collective land ownership, and to establish a procedure for effective consultation with indigenous peoples prior to approving projects affecting their lands and resources.

You can read more about this decision by clicking below.

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Rachel Kitze Collins to Moderate Important Voting Rights Panel

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Voting Rights Panel

Lockridge Grindal Nauen partner Rachel Kitze Collins will moderate an important panel regarding voting rights on February 15, 2024. The panel will be hosted by the Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York, and Washington State American Constitution Society (ACS) Lawyer Chapters. The discussion will center on the Eighth Circuit’s recent decision holding that there is no private right of action under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The distinguished panel will discuss the case, its implications, and where we go from here to protect voting rights in the courts.

Panelists:

David Lillehaug, Senior Counsel, Fredrikson & Byron; Former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice

Jeff Justman, Partner, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

David McKinney, Attorney, ACLU of Minnesota

You can learn more and register by clicking below.

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