International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP announced today that 48 lawyers in the Firm’s Minneapolis and Fargo offices were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2017. In addition, four lawyers from the Firm’s Minneapolis office have been named Best Lawyers’® 2017 Lawyers of the Year. These are among a total of 100 Dorsey lawyers in 12 offices selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2017 and a total of seven Dorsey lawyers named Best Lawyers’ 2017 Lawyers of the Year.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Over 79,000 leading attorneys globally are eligible to vote, and we have received more than 12 million votes to date on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world. For the 2017 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America, 6.7 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in more than 55,000 leading lawyers being included in the new edition. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor.

The lawyers listed in Best Lawyers do not decide in which legal specialties they are listed. They are included in specialties as a result of the votes they receive from their peers. The specialties listed are based on information from a variety of sources. For more information, visit the Best Lawyers website.

Listed below are the Minneapolis and Fargo Dorsey lawyers named as Best Lawyers, the specialties in which they are named, the first year they were listed and their office location.

Best Lawyers’ 2017 Lawyers of the Year:

  • Michael J. Ahern
    Minneapolis – Government Relations Practice
  • Timothy S. Hearn
    Minneapolis – Securities/Capital Markets Law
  • Jocelyn Knoll
    Minneapolis – Construction Law
  • Stephen P. Lucke
    Minneapolis – Litigation – ERISA


The Best Lawyers in America 2017:
FARGO, ND

  • Sarah Andrews Herman (1995)
    Employment Law – Management
    Labor Law – Management
    Litigation – Labor & Employment

MINNEAPOLIS, MN

  • Jonathan B. Abram (2007)
    Securities/Capital Markets Law
  • Michael J. Ahern (2010)
    Administrative / Regulatory Law
    Government Relations Practice
  • Timothy B. Arends (2013)
    Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
  • William J. Berens (1993)
    Litigation – Trusts & Estates
    Trusts and Estates    
  • B. Andrew Brown (2007)
    Litigation – Environmental    
  • Elizabeth C. Buckingham (2010)
    Copyright Law
    Trademark Law    
  • Robert E. Cattanach (2008)
    Litigation – Environmental    
  • Ken Cutler (2006)
    Corporate Law
    Mergers & Acquisitions Law    
  • Ross D’Emanuele (2017)
    Health Care Law    
  • Skip Durocher (2013)
    Commercial Litigation
    Native American Law    
  • George G. Eck (2011)
    Commercial Litigation
    Litigation – Environmental    
  • L. Joseph Genereux (2007)
    Banking and Finance Law   
  • Mark E. Hamel (1995)
    Real Estate Law    
  • Joseph W. Hammell (2016)
    Litigation – Labor & Employment    
  • Timothy S. Hearn (2009)
    Corporate Compliance Law
    Corporate Governance Law
    Securities/ Capital Markets Law    
  • Stuart Hemphill (2016)
    Litigation – Intellectual Property   
  • Nathan E. Honson (2013)
    Tax Law    
  • J David Jackson (2016)
    Commercial – Litigation    
  • Gary M. Johnson (1995)
    Trusts and Estates    
  • Mark R. Kaster (2010)
    Administrative / Regulatory Law     
  • Jocelyn Knoll (2016)
    Construction Law
    Litigation – Construction    
  • Bridget A. Logstrom Koci (2008)
    Litigation – Trusts & Estates
    Trusts and Estates    
  • Peter M. Lancaster (2011)
    Litigation – Intellectual Property
    Litigation – Patent    
  • Thaddeus R. Lightfoot (2007)
    Environmental Law
    Litigation – Environmental    
  • Jay R. Lindgren (2006)
    Land Use & Zoning Law
    Public Finance Law   
  • Michael A. Lindsay (2008)
    Litigation – Antitrust    
  • Stephen P. Lucke (2010)
    Commercial Litigation
    Litigation – ERISA    
  • Edward B. Magarian (2011)
    Litigation – Antitrust   
  • Saiko Y. McIvor (2010)
    Immigration Law    
  • Peter Nelson (2017)
    Banking and Finance Law    
  • Steven C. Nelson (2013)
    Mergers & Acquisitions Law    
  • Robert J. Olson (2013)
    Construction Law    
  • Neal N. Peterson (2017)
    Health Care Law    
  • Michael J. Radmer (2007)
    Mutual Funds Law    
  • Melissa Raphan (2009)
    Employment Law – Management
    Litigation – Labor & Employment    
  • Julia L. Rau (2012)
    Tax Law
    Trusts and Estates   
  • Robert A. Rosenbaum (2006)
    Corporate Compliance Law
    Corporate Governance Law
    Corporate Law
    Mergers & Acquisitions Law    
  • Eric A. Ruzicka (2016)
    Construction Law   
  • Mary J. Streitz (2012)
    Native American Law
    Tax Law    
  • Jay L. Swanson (2007)
    Corporate Compliance Law
    Corporate Governance Law
    Corporate Law
    Mergers & Acquisitions Law   
  • Thomas W. Tinkham (1989)
    Commercial Litigation    
  • Gary L. Tygesson (2007)
    Corporate Governance Law   
  • Bryn R. Vaaler (2013)
    Corporate Law    
  • Thomas D. Vander Molen (2008)
    Non-Profit / Charities Law
    Public Finance Law    
  • J. Thomas Vitt (2013)
    Litigation – Intellectual Property    
  • Steven J. Wells (2012)
    Commercial Litigation
    Franchise Law    
  • RJ Zayed (2015)
    Criminal Defense: White-Collar
    Litigation - Intellectual Property