Category: BGS in the Community
Attorney Scott Lepak Receives President's Award
June 22, 2018 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd. is pleased to announce that Scott Lepak received the President’s Award from the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association. This award was issued in recognition of Scott’s outstanding service to the National PELRA and his contribution to public sector labor relations. “This award means a lot to me”, Scott said, “The National and Minnesota chapter of PELRA are wonderful organizations”. As the long time editor of the MPELRA newsletter (back when it was printed out and mailed!) and frequent speaker, Scott knows how valuable these organizations are to labor relations professionals in the public sector. In his 30 plus years as a labor lawyer and chief labor negotiator, Scott has seen and been part of the massive changes in this area at both the federal and state levels.
Read MoreNew Associate Attorney Thomas M. Caturia Joins Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.
May 29, 2018 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.Barna, Guzy & Steffen LTD. announces the addition of a new associate to our firm. Thomas M. Caturia has joined the firm’s Real Estate and Banking departments. He will be working closely with attorneys practicing in the firm’s growing Real Estate and Banking areas serving existing clients and enhancing the firm’s ability to serve new areas of the community. He joined BGS as law clerk in 2016 prior to receiving his J.D. at Mitchell Hamline School of Law and passing the bar. Before that, he also clerked for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and was a volunteer with the Minnesota Justice Foundation. He will be practicing in a variety of real estate related areas, including: commercial leasing, real estate financial structures, transactions, and real estate management as well as commercial banking. He is excited about this new opportunity in his legal career and says, “It’s truly a blessing to be working with such a great group of attorneys and staff here at BGS. I look forward to a long career working alongside them serving the Minnesota real estate and banking communities.”
Read MorePreparing Students for Jobs
April 20, 2018 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.As she has for many years, BGS Attorney Carole Clark Isakson recently spent a morning at Osseo Senior High School conducting mock interviews with students. This year nearly FIVE HUNDRED students will participate in mock interviews, which are well designed to give each student a taste of what a real job interview is like. “It is an activity I really enjoy”, said Isakson, “and I know it has tremendous value for the students, many of whom have never interviewed for a job.” Students are randomly assigned to one of the many interviewers, and are evaluated on everything from their responses to questions, to their posture. The interviewers are provided a range of questions that employers may ask, including those general “tell me about yourself” and “what has been your biggest challenge” questions that can temporarily stump even the most practiced adult. Working with students on how to answer those questions in a way that tells a potential employer something good about the student is one of the jobs of the interviewer, but not the only job! Resumes are reviewed and edited, and questions are answered. And while an interviewer works on content, he or she also works with the students on appearance and posture. Most students are aware that eye contact is…
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