Minnesota Law Overview
In terms of product and service offerings, Minnesota’s legal market has many similarities with other states. Like those in other states, many law firms in Minnesota provide basic legal services, business consultation, and related services to a variety of clients at the local, state, regional, and national levels. Although the number of firms and their respective employee headcounts vary by zip code – depending on the services provided, the requirements of the client, and the geographic location of the municipality – the state, itself , does have a handful of what can be considered significant market players.
Despite its significant size and output, there are no significant overlaps in what larger firms do compared to those in smaller states like North Dakota and South Dakota, where most members of the Bar work for firms that generate far less money than their counterparts elsewhere.
Minnesota claims about 10% of the nation’s top 100 law firms and also boasts one of the largest law schools in the Midwest (William Mitchell College of Law). Minnesota law firms, from small to large, employ nearly 20,000 people. This makes Minnesota both a regional and a national leader.
Top Minnesota Law Firms
The largest law firms in Minnesota are identified through surveys conducted by the Minnesota Lawyer magazine, which compiles the annual "Largest Law Firms" list, or by the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA), which includes the "Top 25 Firms" in its annual practice statistics issue. The largest law firms are not ranked in alphabetical order but, rather, on the number of full-time equivalent attorneys employed by each firm.
Minnesota has over 30,000 lawyers employed in approximately 2,800 law firms. As of 2017, the largest firm in the state is Dorsey & Whitney LLP, founded in 1895, with 207 attorneys and 115 staff. Second in line is Robins Kaplan LLP, founded in 1938, with 171 attorneys and 143 staff. Third is Faegre Baker Daniels, founded in 1886, with 167 attorneys and 77 staff. Others on the list include Lindquist & Vennum PLLP (141 attorneys), Larkin Hoffman Daly & Lindgren Ltd. (108), Winthrop & Weinstine P.A. (100), Fredrikson & Byron P.A. (81), Gray Plant Mooty P.A. (70), Briggs and Morgan P.A. (65), Lindjquist & Vennum PLLP (64) and Henson Efron Law Firm (62).
Common Practices Among Minnesota Law Firms
Labor & Employment: Within the top 10 largest law firms in Minnesota, there are eight that boost dedicated and longstanding labor and employment practices. Two of the largest firms also have extensive employment practices. With the health care and retail sectors driving the Minnesota economy, the group of firms above serve a large number of local health systems and hospitals, as well as large retail and manufacturing companies. While there are a few firms that advertise themselves as having large labor and employment practices, they have only one or two named attorneys within their practice groups. The largest labor and employment groups are those that have 20 or more attorneys, and the majority comprise two divisions (or groups) of both labor attorneys and employment attorneys.
Corporate: In terms of corporate practices, the largest firms tend to have more corporate attorneys than their smaller counterparts, with most having 15 or more attorneys. Though not all L100 firms have robust corporate practices, two of the largest firms are known nationally for their strong corporate practices. In addition to the firm of Faegre Baker Daniels, which has a top tier corporate practice, the other largest corporate practice among L100 firms is Dorsey & Whitney. Larkin Hoffman is another notable firm in this area.
Government: Though government relations is traditionally an area dominated by only a handful of attorneys within a large firm, this practice has grown considerably in the past decade. Dorsey & Whitney, Gray Plant Mooty and Popham Law Firm continue to have the largest sections of government relations professionals. Other firms who boast medium-sized teams, as well as focus industry practices, include Fredrikson & Byron, Gray Plant Mooty and Winthrop & Weinstine. At the same time, smaller firms within the Minneapolis market have high numbers of attorneys who practice solely in the area.
IP: Intellectual property practice is another growth area for the largest law firms in Minnesota. For example, three of the eight largest firms also have extensive intellectual property practices. Some firms who don’t have large IP departments market their group as much smaller and niche-specific practices. Still others, like Winthrop & Weinstine, have several core focus industries – such as health care and agriculture – that drive their practices. Many of these firms boast 15 or more attorneys within the practice.
Notable Firm Highlights
Noteworthy Achievements
As the state’s largest and most prestigious law firms, the largest Minnesota firms have achieved national and international recognition for both their size and quality of service. While not all of these achievements are visible to the general public, our research has uncovered a number of case-specific achievements that are of import to Minnesota residents or people beyond the state’s borders. Named "case wins" by the largest Minnesota firms include the following:
Halling & Cayo and Stinson Morrison Hecker have represented the Gallo family’s interests in the Gallo Vesiga wine fraud case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and have won at least $180 million in judgments for the Gallo family against defendants in the case.
Carlson McCain was the lead land use firm for the Gopher Link Right-of-Way Project, which is part of the Central Corridor Light Rail Project, and negotiated a number of settlements in condemnation litigation with affected property owners.
Hemming Morse was a part of the trial team which won a $210 million jury award in oncologist Dr. James Foote vs. Swedish Hospital and Primus Clinic. The case involved claims of improper bulky thoracic surgery by Dr. Foote.
Shook Hardy & Bacon is handling environmental cigarette slip-and-fall litigation in numerous of its offices, or in 45 of the firm’s 53 offices nationwide. The case involves claims of slip and fall incidents at Walgreen retail stores due to cigarette cartons being left too close to store aisleways.
Does Law Firm Size Matter for Clients?
One of the most conspicuous benefits of being a large law firm is that it will always be fully staffed, and very likely have more combined staff than the average American business. This means that no matter what happens in your legal case and how many surprises it throws, there will be resources and expertise on hand to tackle the issue and come up with a workable solution.
In contrast, smaller law firms tend to have smaller staffs who in turn have to juggle their availability with the availability of attorneys with whom they regularly work . Depending on the firm, this might not matter as it is sometimes possible for smaller staff to make themselves more available than their larger counterparts. But in those situations with client and attorney availability issues, the large firms will be better prepared simply because they have more staff on hand.
This means that one of the most important advantages a large law firm offers is convenience, time savings, and the ability to handle the unexpected. When a sudden issue arises that means you need assistance at short notice, it can be difficult to connect with a smaller law firm that may not be able to find someone to help you. But larger ones will always be prepared.
Trends in Minnesota Law
The future of Minnesota’s largest law firms will be directed heavily by their successful adoption of technology and innovation, both in the recruitment of legal talent and the expansion of geographical footprint. Minnesota is already one of the leading legal markets in the country that use technology to enhance their operations and service delivery to clients.
Technology is nothing new to the large law firms in Minnesota. Their recruiting practices would suggest that they would be much less inclined to hire any attorney who lacks the fundamental basics of technology. They are all focused in their hiring efforts on locating and attracting the best legal minds with the strongest client development skills. That includes advisory services in technology and its uses in all facets of running a law firm. Law firms across the country are rapidly expanding their use of Artificial Intelligence in a number of ways. Their utilization of AI tools is at a level that no other industry has realized. Since no other industry is as highly regulated by the bar association, there is a huge opportunity for the investment in artificial intelligence to bring down the legal costs for both the corporate executive and the business owner and I anticipate its use will continue to increase dramatically. Once attorneys show the capabilities and the use of AI, their career opportunities over the coming years will be significantly enhanced.
Minnesota continues to expand into another critical segment of law firm success moving forward: vertical integration. Over the past 20 years, there has been an increased focus on investment banking, human resources and other horizontal integration strategies for law firms. The new focus will be on vertical integration strategies. Building new law firms focused on certain areas of practice like tax law, intellectual property law, personal injury law, real estate law and corporate law, will present new law firm opportunities within the entire state of Minnesota.
Law firm mergers will continue to be another important strategy by current firms and active investment groups to expand the size of their law firms and expand their geographical locations. Many law firms are continuing to look for new and unusual opportunities that may not have been considered a few years ago.
I recently found a very interesting article on Minneapolis I-35W Bridge collapse by Matt Ballal, which I think brings up another issue facing law firms in Minnesota.
"According to my insurance company’s Rough Estimate Report, I traded in my house in Fridley and purchased a Townhouse in the North Loop in Minneapolis. I have a huge loss in my home, but I am not getting compensated for depreciation, my negligence, nor my liability for a hazmat evacuation. After talking to the experts, loss of value will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
My point — It is illegal for me to add on to my structures in Minnesota. Forcing me to move is quite different. The pressure (if you want to call it that) on the City of Minneapolis and Highland Bank over the collapse of the I-35W Bridge will hopefully allow me to benefit from their mistake."
Future trends in Minnesota’s legal sector will be dictated by the ability to understand and leverage integrated technology into all the legal services offered by law firms to their clients. Legal practitioners must be more skilled and knowledgeable in the area of technology to better serve their clients. The move to vertical integration will also be mandatory in order to keep pace with these new trends.
Choosing a Minnesota Legal Partner
For clients with diverse needs, the right law firm is a combination of quality and capability. Although there are generally no problems working with more than one firm, or multiple offices of the same firm, the administrative and cost issues can be cumbersome. Thus, it is important to find a firm that is capable of meeting a large number of different needs.
If your needs are primarily the same as the firm’s other clients, even a small "generalist" firm may be able to represent you well. On the other hand, if you need attorneys in different specialties or in various geographies, you might be better off seeking larger law firms with more branches and/or practice areas. Larger law firms should be able to meet most of a client’s legal needs more efficiently than a small law firm. Multiple offices make it easier for the firm to handle client litigation and other representation in different locations , and branches in different cities often share resources to provide the best lawyers for the job regardless of practice area.
A variety of practice areas in a firm means your legal needs can be met by one firm. In addition, reasonable amounts of contact between the various practice groups can lead to lower fees. A worker’s compensation claim, for example, could have implications for your business as well as the financial responsibility of a contractor. Having both the workers’ compensation and business practices under the same roof may avoid the cost of having the two firms review your case independently.