field of elder law by members of the Minnesota State Bar Association Elder Law Section. John supervises the law school’s Elder Law and Guardianship Alternatives Clinic and is also an attorney at Estate and Elder Law Services in Minneapolis, a not-for-profit law firm owned by Volunteers of America, Minnesota. In the later part of his career, John vows that he’ll stop being so self-centered and set aside some time for the good of the community and those on the margins. In February, Elissa Meyer started at Dorsey &Whitney in professional development and events, primarily working on the Corporate Counsel Symposium it holds each fall. Congratulations to Eric Palmer and his law partner Lindsey Carpenter for securing a nearly $1 million personal injury verdict on behalf of their client. The claim stemmed from a motorcycle accident that occurred when landscaping rocks/debris fell off a truck and caused Eric’s client to lose control, leave the highway and collide with a highway barrier. Significant injuries were sustained. The case turned on impeachment of mismanaged truck tracking data. Prior to trial, the defendant had offered zero. Eric is a partner at Meshbesher & Spence (Minneapolis). Teddy Michel (pictured below) ran into Santa while flying through MSP. Their son, Nick, asked for a LEGO set, while their daughter, Sage, sat on her dad’s shoulders and covered his eyes and attempted to drive him like a blind reindeer.
everybody will be running. While the year had many highs, it also had a significant low as Nina lost her father last fall. Nina also had her first case published, Hollywoodians Encouraging Rental Opportunities v. City of Los Angeles , 37 Cal.App.5th 768 (2019), a case in which she defended the city of Los Angeles’ approval of a proposal to convert a vacant apartment building into a hotel. If nothing else, the case solidifies the correct spelling for the demonym for Hollywood. AdamCox , the chief wealth management officer of First National Wealth Management (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), launched a new podcast, “Common Cents on the Prairie.” Adam and his colleagues share some of their passions to help make your money work for you. The main goal is to provide timely, relevant and thought- provoking financial advice, and of course, common sense. I searched for the podcast and after sifting through a bunch of Laura Ingalls Wilder “Little House on the Prairie” stuff, I found it. It looks really helpful and surprisingly doesn’t mention burying things of value for future benefit, so I guess squirrels and pirates have it all wrong. Congratulations to Richard Crabb and Stephanie Hill ’08 J.D. on the opening of Hill Crabb, LLC (Edina, Minnesota). The firm provides representation in all areas of family law and criminal defense. Up to this point, horseshoe crabs, hermit crabs and king and ghost crabs have taken the spotlight, but the elusive Hill Crabb will get its moment in the sun! I think the firm should collaborate with a local brewery – “Hill Crabb Hazy IPA” would be amazing and the can art would be even better. John Kantke was awarded the Mary Alice Gooderl Award at the 2019 Minnesota Elder Law Institute. The award is presented annually (or less frequently) to acknowledge outstanding contributions to the
Carrie says that big brother, Alexander (pictured above) , is 4 and enjoys his role as the older sibling, as long as Annette does not approach any of his toys. Carrie and her family live in Washington, D.C. In October 2019, Charlie Austinson joined the firm Smith, Jadin, Johnson, PLLC, founded by fellow 2006 grad, Alex Jadin . Charlie continues to serve clients in the areas of corporate and business formation and transactions, tax and estate planning. Mark Haase was appointed by Gov. TimWalz as the ombudsperson for corrections. As ombudsperson, Mark oversees an office and staff to field and investigate complaints regarding the Department of Corrections and to provide policy recommendations to the Department of Corrections commissioner and Legislature/ governor. Jessica Slattery is assigned to theOffice of Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France, where she covers environment, science, technology and health issues. Jessica previously was assigned in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where she principally provided consular and emergency services to U.S. citizens. In November, Rhonda (Gruber) Skoby was named one of the TopWomen in Finance by Finance & Commerce. See the article about this honor at https://finance-commerce. com/2019/11/top-women-in- finance-rhonda-skoby/ . On Feb. 20, Dr. Artika Tyner was honored with a 2020 History Makers at Home award by the city of Minneapolis Government Department of Civil Rights and Black Employee Network for her work as the founder and director of St. Thomas Law’s Center on Race, Leadership and Social Justice. The History Makers at Home award recognizes Minnesota African American leaders who are advancing civil rights and removing barriers to equity in the areas of business, criminal justice, education, economic development, health,
housing and beyond. Tyner is pictured below with Deborah Watts, who was the keynote speaker at the ceremony.
Thanks for those of you who provided updates, and we will wait to hear from the rest of you soon! Class of 2007 Send your 2007 class notes and photos to Chuck Berendes (chuckberendes@gmail.com). Mike Baker is a senior recruiter at Cargill, where he continues to work on legal roles. Chuck Berendes continues to practice immigration, Social Security disability, and estate planning at Pittman & Pittman in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His daughter, Charlotte, turned 13 and is a great kid, but Chuck officially doesn’t know what she is talking about much of the time. Nina Berglund completed her first 50K race. For those of you who have reasonable hobbies like baking or woodworking and don’t know what a 50K is, this means that she ran 31.0686 miles – on purpose. Nina also set personal records at the half marathon distance twice last fall. Interestingly, if I decide to run a half marathon this year it will be a personal record for me as well! Nina is coaching a Girls on the Run team at her daughter Juliet’s school. She is confident her passions for fitness and empowering young women will make it a positive experience, even though it sounds like
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