Joe M. Wearmouth and Sheldon M. Clark have joined the firm’s Business Litigation/Employment Law section.

Joe has worked previously as an associate attorney at a large downtown Minneapolis-based law firm where he litigated complex civil cases and worked on sophisticated commercial and residential real estate transactions. He has also appeared in state and federal courts for trials and discovery and dispositive motion hearings.

Joe is a 2009 graduate of Hamline University School of Law and graduated summa cum laude, ranking first in his graduating class. He was the recipient of the M. Arnold Lyons Award for Highest Academic Performance in the Graduating Class.

Sheldon has most recently worked as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Tammi A. Fredrickson, Tenth Judicial District, in Anoka. He also has experience as a Civil Division Law Clerk for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.

Sheldon graduated from William Mitchell College of Law, in 2008, magna cum laude. He was a Student Ambassador and a Professorial Research Assistant.

“The addition of these new talented attorneys will benefit our existing clients and help expand our business opportunities,” said Joan Quade, Shareholder and Practice Group Manager of the Business Litigation/Employment Law section.

Karen practices in the firm’s Employment Law and Business Litigation section focusing her practice on commercial litigation, employment litigation and counseling, construction litigation, real estate litigation, landlord/tenant law, shareholder disputes, and appellate advocacy. Karen’s extensive background in accounting and commercial insurance enhances her ability to evaluate and successfully resolve a broad range of employment and commercial litigation issues.

Karen received her J.D. at William Mitchell College of Law in 2002, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She was admitted to the Minnesota State Bar in 2002 and to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota in 2004. Karen joined Barna, Guzy, & Steffen as an associate in 2004.

Jim has worked with medium sized closely-held companies in designing, implementing and maintaining ESOPs for its employee/owners. Jim also provides additional legal services related to retirement plans and general corporate legal work.

Mr. Vogl has practiced in the area of employee benefits since 1993 and has worked on hundreds of ESOP transactions for clients in all manner of business.

“Adding Mr. Vogl “of counsel” to our firm allows us to expand into an area of law previously not offered by our existing attorney base,” said Jeffrey Johnson, President of Barna, Guzy and Steffen, Ltd.

To contact Mr. Vogl, interested parties may reach him at BGS at 763-783-5163 or jvogl@bgs.com. More information about Jim and his law practice can be found at www.bgs.com.

Established in 1938, Barna, Guzy & Steffen provides a variety of legal services for individuals, companies and governmental agencies and has worked with thousands of clients in the metro area. For more information about the firm, visit www.bgs.com.

A Tradition of Service since 1938

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Mock Trial is a competition where participating schools are given a real legal case which was developed by the Minnesota State Bar Association. Each school’s students then discuss the case and are subsequently assigned to either attorney or witness roles. In some cases, team members may play more than one part. The students prepare the case like an actual trial. They must be able to compete on either the defense or plaintiff/state’s side doing both direct and cross examination and objections just as in a real trial. They practice extensively and compete in simulated trials against other schools.

The team consisting of mostly sophomore students did extremely well and one member was awarded a perfect score in one of the competitions. Even though they did not make the State competition this year, members of the Spring Lake Park High School’s Mock Trial team had the opportunity to attend and observe the State Mock Trial Competition in Duluth on March 8, 2011.

The legal case used by the Minnesota Mock Trial teams this year was based upon the criminal trial in the Condon murder case which occurred in Duluth in the 1970’s at the now famous Glensheen mansion.

Joan Quade said that “Attending the state competition was the reward and culmination of a year of hard work by our team on the Congdon Mock Trial case. Mock Trial builds confidence, public speaking skills and analytical thinking.”

Bill is a shareholder in the firm’s Estate & Tax Planning/Probate & Trust areas of law. He has professional experience as a former IRS Agent and as a Certified Public Accountant (inactive). This experience assists him in understanding the issues of today’s clients and helping them plan for the future of their estates.

Crescendo Business Services chose the 2011 Five Star Wealth Managers based on a random survey of over 96,000 high-net-worth households and all identified FINRA registered representatives within the Twin Cities area.

Before finalizing the list, wealth managers were reviewed by a blue ribbon panel of individuals from within the financial services industry.

The honor of being named a 2011 Five Star Wealth Manager then goes to an elite group, representing less than 5% of the existing wealth managers in the Twin Cities area.

Among the firm’s active pro bono attorneys is Kip Peterson, whose practice focuses on corporate law and business transactions. One of the non-profit corporations Kip has worked with is The Diaper Drive. This organization supports families in need in our community and BGS considers it a privilege to represent this cause.

The Diaper Drive began when Kristen Grode was cleaning out a closet at home and found several packages of disposable diapers her children had outgrown. Kristen set out to research where she could donate the diapers and discovered that there was a tremendous need for such items but no organization existed to fill the need. Just as the recession has increased the demand on food shelves for things to eat, the need for diapers has also grown. In fact, statistics show that 1 in 3 American mothers struggle to provide diapers for their children. However, diapers are not covered by WIC or food stamps.

As the mother of two young children, Kristen recognized the need and began calling friends and family for donations. Before long The Diaper Drive was born. The Diaper Drive collects disposable diapers, sanitary wipes, and other toiletries and distributes them to local food shelves, shelters and other organizations where the items are then provided to families in need. The Diaper Drive relies heavily on grass-roots events like “diaper drives” and spaghetti dinners to collect diapers. There are also collection stations at local churches, grocery stores, and other businesses.

If you are interested in learning more about The Diaper Drive, visit The Diaper Drive.

On January 15th, 2011, The Diaper Drive will hold “The Biggest Diaper Drive in America” in the Mall of America’s Best Buy Rotunda from 9am-9pm. For more information please visit:
Mall of America website.

And in a separate case:

On January 13, 2010, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota granted summary judgment dismissing the Securities & Exchange Commission’s claims for civil fraud against an Irish controller of a subsidiary of a United States publicly held company. Barna, Guzy & Steffen Ltd. attorneys Brad Kletscher and Tammy Schemmel represented the successful Irish conroller against the SEC. In Securties & Exchange Commission v. Clem Hannon, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2403 (D.Minn.January 13, 2010) the United States District Court held “when considered singlyor in combination, the SEC’s evidence with respect to scienter does not establish a genuine issue of material facts as to whether Defendants acted with intent to deceive, manipulate or defraud.” The Court then denied the SEC’s request for an officer and director bar. Depositions taken in Ireland proved essential in defeating the SEC’s claims.

Kristi Riley of the Barna, Guzy & Steffen Real Estate Department can help you with your cell tower questions and cell tower leases.

Dear Clients/Friends of the Firm:

As a valued client/friend of our firm we would like to share with you some exciting news.  It is with great honor that we announce Thomas J. Kettleson has been named a 2010 Up & Coming Attorney by Minnesota Lawyer.

Click the following link to read the article published in a May 2010 Special Supplement to Minnesota Lawyer and Finance & Commerce publications.

2010 Up & Coming Attorney/Minnesota Lawyer

This unique honor recognizes 25 attorneys who are in their first 10 years of practice and highlights some of the best of the new generation of lawyers around the state.   Out of the thousands of Minnesota attorneys admitted to the bar in the last decade, less than half of one percent are selected as Up & Coming attorneys.  Tom was featured in the enclosed article by Minnesota Lawyer and was also honored at a special luncheon hosted by the magazine.

Tom’s practice centers on commercial financing, construction and real estate lending, and secured transactions. Tom represents financial institutions in all aspects of the lending process, from providing advice relating to the structure of financing transactions to documenting, negotiating and closing such transactions. He also has extensive experience representing financial institutions with debt workouts, debt restructurings, foreclosures, and collections.  In addition to representing financial institutions, Tom represents and advises businesses, developers and institutional clients on a variety of commercial financing matters varying in both size and complexity, and he also has significant experience in the area of commercial real estate, including acquisitions, sales, leasing, and development.

Please join us in congratulating Tom on this great honor.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey S. Johnson
President, Chair of the Board of Directors
Attorney at Law
BARNA, GUZY & STEFFEN, LTD.

December 2, 2009

Barna Guzy & Steffen announces Personal Injury/Criminal Attorney Adriel Villarreal was named a 2010 “Minnesota Rising Star” by Minnesota Law and Politics magazine. In 1998, the publishers of Law & Politics and Super Lawyers launched Rising Stars in Minnesota to recognize the top up-and-coming attorneys in the state — those who are 40 years old or younger, or who have been practicing for 10 years or less.

Adriel joined Barna, Guzy & Steffen in 2004 as a Law Clerk.   He became an attorney with the firm following his graduation from University of St. Thomas School of Law and admission to the bar in 2006.   His practice now includes Personal Injury and Criminal Law.

He is bilingual and able to assist both English and Spanish speaking clients. This enables him to offer assistance to the growing Hispanic population in the north metro suburbs of Minneapolis where BGS is located.  Adriel has been an integral part of BGS’ expansion to serve our growing and changing community. BGS has been dedicated to serving the community for more than 70 years and the community is growing and changing in population.

Due in equal parts to this philosophy and to the hard work of attorney Adriel B. Villarreal, our local community has responded positively to our efforts.  In order to better serve those in need, we have hired a bilingual paralegal, Eny Maldonado-Johnson to assist him.

Established in 1938, Barna, Guzy & Steffen provides a variety of legal services for individuals, companies and governmental agencies and has worked with thousands of clients in the metro area.  For more information about the firm, visit www.bgs.com.

Large enough to serve you, Small enough to know you

A Tradition of Service since 1938