Rice County Business Lawyers

Nick Sperling has over a decade of experience in business litigation and transactions, nonprofit law, real estate litigation and transactions, and technology/IT law. Nick takes a pragmatic approach to legal representation and focuses on obtaining the best possible results for his clients.

I am an associate attorney with the law firm Burns & Hansen P.A. based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. I primarily practice in the areas of real estate law, contract matters, and civil litigation. I have significant experience addressing landlord-tenant disputes, including evictions, rent escrow matters, illegal activity provisions, and local and state ordinance violations. In civil matters I specialize in cases involving breaches of contract, property disputes, and building contractor cases. I approach my cases with a strategy specifically tailed my clients' circumstances. I am willing and able to advocate for my client's needs, be that by negotiating settlements or...

Rajin is a partner in Thompson Hine's Intellectual Property & Technology Litigation group. He focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation, including patent, trade secret, copyright, and licensing disputes. He is dedicated to securing practical, business-driven solutions for clients, whether through strategic negotiation, litigation or trial advocacy. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes technology disputes involving some of the world’s largest companies. His experience spans a broad spectrum of technologies, including mobile communications, semiconductors, IT network management, video streaming, speech coding, and software. As a registered patent attorney, he also handles inter partes review proceedings before the Patent...

Jason Wagner serves individuals, families, and businesses in the areas of estate planning, business law, real estate, and farm law. Jason practices law with the Rochester, Minnesota law firm of Wagner Oehler, Ltd., which was founded in 1974. Jason was raised on a farm in Wabasha County. Mr. Wagner received his Juris Doctor degree and business law concentration, magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2013, and his Bachelor of Arts degree, with high distinction, from the University of Minnesota in 2009. Jason was recognized for his commitment to public service in law...

Founder and Attorney John Meyer found his passion while deployed with the Minnesota Army National Guard in 2011. Working with unemployed soldiers before returning home, John worked hard to help those who wished to start their own businesses chart a path toward success. He carried that passion and focus from the sands of Kuwait and Iraq, through law school, into private practice.

Kelsey focuses her practice on all things bankruptcy. As part of the Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring team, she represents a combination of Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy debtors, Chapter 7 trustees, and clients facing bankruptcy litigation. Kelsey has helped over 1,000 Minnesotans successfully file for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy relief. Prior to joining Morrison Sund, Kelsey was a shareholder at Kain & Scott, P.A., which is one of Minnesota’s largest bankruptcy law firms. Kelsey is also a small business owner, opening a restaurant in 2014 which remains open today. Through her own business ownership experience, and years of...

Aaron’s dynamic background in real estate and finance allows him to guide families and businesses through major transactions and life events.

Aaron provides general counsel services to his clients in all aspects of real estate, corporate governance, business succession and wealth planning. Aaron’s engagements range from representing start-up entrepreneurs in connection with business formation, governance and financing, to the representation of established private business enterprises in evaluating strategic acquisition, divestiture, financing and succession planning initiatives.

Aaron also works with individual clients and families to evaluate and implement strategic personal wealth and estate planning strategies. He helps clients effectively plan for and ultimately...

Claire believes that explaining law in understandable terms is crucial.

As a former chemist, Claire is meticulous and methodical
Surprisingly, Claire’s background prior to becoming a lawyer was in the technical sciences. She majored in Chemistry at Carleton College, worked at 3M, and later was employed at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. on the international and litigation teams. Her background in the hard sciences fostered her development in becoming a thorough lawyer.

Claire’s family has lived in Rochester for more than a century
Claire has deep roots in this community. Her great-grandparents arrived in Rochester around the turn of the twentieth century....

Robert Kouba takes pride in working hard for his clients and delivering successful results. Prior to joining the firm, Robert worked as a criminal defense attorney in Minneapolis, developing his trial advocacy and litigation skills. While in law school, Robert was a member and coach of the Phi Alpha Delta Mock Trial Team, competing nationally, where he gained litigation skills that he continues to use today to serve his clients. Robert is able to put that knowledge and experience to work now for the firm's business, real estate, and consumer litigation clients. He approaches his client's situations with a down-to-earth...

HOW I HELP I support employees separating from employment under less than ideal circumstances, provide guidance to business owners experiencing messy business divorces or other legal challenges, and support small employers by providing on-demand employment advice. MY EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE I am an experienced trial lawyer--having conducted multiple trials before both state and federal juries. I am also an experienced litigator, negotiator, and advisor with extensive experience in Minnesota's state and federal courts, as well as courts across the country. I have represented both businesses and individuals in wrongful termination, retaliation, discrimination, non-competition, and non-solicitation cases; fought on behalf of companies...

My education in the law happened at Yale, but before that I graduated from the University of Kansas and a high school in eastern North Dakota, in a class of twenty-five seniors. The variety of that experience has been replicated in my legal work, in which I have represented small- and medium-sized business owners, individuals, and corporate clients in the banking and pharmaceutical industries. Whether the client needs to show the fair valuation of a business, the meaning of a law or regulation, fraud, or the terms of a contract, I bring a careful, intentional approach that seeks to identify the...

Legal Experience—Solving Complex Business Problems Ms. Lockner is a partner in the firm's business litigation department who works with business leaders facing legal disputes that cause financial exposure and other risks to their business. Using her extensive litigation and trial experience, Ms. Lockner offers strategic legal guidance on how to use litigation—either defensively or affirmatively—to meet their business objectives. As a trial attorney, she has the skills and expertise to wield the threat of trial as a sword, but understands and appreciates her clients’ need to use it only as weapon of last resort. Ultimately, Ms. Lockner’s goal is to further...

Bart Torvik is a skilled personal injury and foodborne illness attorney, with years of experience in litigation. After graduating at the top of his class from the University of Minnesota Law School, he clerked for Judge James M. Rosenbaum, the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Following this position, Bart worked at a large Minnesota firm where he handled every aspect of litigation, from initial consultations to jury trials. In 2010, Bart moved to Evanston, Illinois after his wife Laura became a Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. In...

Barton C. Gernander is a partner at Burns & Hansen, P.A., who practices in the areas of civil and commercial litigation, with a focus in construction and real estate issues. In addition to representing business clients involved in standard and complex litigation in both state and federal courts, he serves emerging and mid-size companies in a general counsel capacity - assisting clients on achieving business solutions while minimizing exposure to liability. Gernander is licensed to practice law in the state and federal courts in Minnesota, the United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Eleventh Circuit Court of...

I am an attorney in private practice since 1973. I have experience in Minnesota State and Federal courts, as well as Minnesota appellate practice. I charge reasonable fees. I have represented hundreds of clients and I have handled a wide variety of client matters since 1973.

I assist clients with comprehensive estate planning in Minnesota and Wisconsin, which includes sophisticated wealth preservation, transfer, and asset protection techniques. I represent a broad range of clients including young couples or others with modest estates, to farm and business owners, to highly compensated executives.

I was born and raised in Illinois and spent my undergraduate years at the University of Alabama. (Roll Tide!) I graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor’s in Political Science. Afterward, I moved back north to attend the University of Minnesota Law School, where I earned my degree in 2023. I am currently admitted to practice law in the state of Minnesota. During my time in law school, I served as the co-President of the University’s chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. I was also involved with the Latinx Law Students Association (LLSA), OutLaw, and participated in clinics with the Binger...

Kevin Leiran is a skilled, aggressive attorney practicing in the areas of Bankruptcy, civil litigation, probate and estate planning. Call Kevin today for quote.

William H. Henney, Attorney at Law, has provided experienced legal services to his clients in Minnesota and Florida since 1982. His offices are located at 5101 Thimsen Avenue in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Bill graduated Cum Laude from the University of Minnesota Duluth and attended William Mitchell College of Law. He is married and has a son. Bill is experienced in the art of negotiation, whether in contract disputes, collections with debtors or the IRS, and maintains a constant focus on understanding his clients’ needs. His areas of legal practice include: Minnesota and U.S. District...

Scott splits his time between our Cannon Falls and Eagan offices handling Civil Litigation, Probate Litigation, Estate Planning, and Business Transaction matters. Scott previously worked full-time while attending law school at Mitchell Hamline School of Law. He knows the value of hard work and will apply those same principles to your current and upcoming legal matters. Prior to practicing law, Scott spent over 10 years as a legal researcher at Thomson Reuters in Eagan, Minnesota. Scott brings a unique and knowledgeable perspective to all legal matters he handles, using his own personal and work experience. This array of experience helps clients...

David Rochlin is a litigator with more than 20 year's experience helping hundreds of businesses and people get paid what they are owed. Cases include breach of contract, manufacturers agreements, sales rep agreements, returns issues between retailers and third parties, general collections, insurance disputes, car accident injuries, and more.

Brian has been admitted to practice law in the State of Minnesota since 2004 and the State of Wisconsin since 2010. He attended Hamline University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology in 2001. Brian attended the University of St. Thomas School of Law as a founding member in 2001 and received his Juris Doctor upon graduation in 2004. He is certified by the Minnesota State Bar Association as a Real Property Law Specialist, an achievement earned by fewer than 2% of licensed Minnesota attorneys. This certification program is administered by the MSBA and approved by...

Mr. Hitchcock’s practice is focused on estate planning, contract law and business. He is an acclaimed lecturer on complex estate planning topics and an occasional contributor to the bimonthly newsletter of the Minnesota Podiatric Medical Association. Mr. Hitchcock has two children and resides in Dellwood, Minnesota, with his wife.

Mr. Hitchcock’s estate planning practice is centered on providing complex estate planning services to individuals and families. This includes wills, revocable trusts, marital and support trusts, powers of attorney and health care directives. He has represented thousands of clients in the areas of general estate planning and estate tax planning.

Mr. Hitchcock has...

Paul Godfread is a Minnesota attorney with a practice focusing on trademark, copyright, technology and business law.

I have assisted in various matters including, but not limited to: - Receivership and Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Reorganizations - Out-of-Court Loan "Workout" Negotiations - Bankruptcy Preference Actions - Administrative Arbitrations and Federal Appellate matters - Real Estate Acquisitions, Sales, Development, and Leasing matters - Drafting and Negotiating Agreements: Supply Agreements, Service Agreements, Software Agreements, Recruiting Agreements, Printing Agreements, Confidentiality and Non-disclosure Agreements, and other business contracts - Merger and Acquisition matters ranging in size from $2MM to $150MM - Trial and Pre-trial Litigation matters - Creating Checklists for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Compliance - Organizational Documents, Amendments, and Agreements for Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, and Partnerships

Jim has practiced law since 1972 in Minnesota and 1986 in Wisconsin. In addition to his law practice, he is a licensed real estate broker (since 1976). He has served as President (twice) of the South St. Paul Rotary Club and Board of Directors of the St. Paul Heritage and Festival Association. Presently, Jim advises several privately-held companies on matters of initial incorporation and corporate governance. In addition, he counsels clients regarding real estate matters, condemnation proceedings, estate planning alternatives including trusts and wills, and related issues such as elder law, health care directives, powers of attorney,...

Mr. Joseph J. Dudley, Jr. was born in Washington, D.C. in 1945 and has practiced law in the state of Minnesota since 1978. Mr. Dudley served in the U.S Air Force (Vietnam) and graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1972. He received his law degree in 1977 from Hamline University, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Dudley is a member of the Ramsey County Bar, Minnesota State Bar, Federal Bar and American Bar Associations. Mr. Dudley’s main areas of practice include Corporate, Commercial Litigation, Franchising, Transportation and Environmental Law. Dudley and Smith, P.A. is a Minnesota law firm practicing in most...

Wade Abed’s practice focuses on businesses, real estate, estates, and vaccine injuries. The majority of Wade's practice involves helping small and medium-sized businesses establish plans for future growth. Wade's worked in business and real estate for over ten years. His experience in business and real estate helps him embrace opportunities to help his clients achieve their goals through strategy, persistence, and advanced planning. As a business owner, Wade understands first-hand the challenges and opportunities that many businesses face. He empathizes with his business owner clients because he has personally experienced many of the same challenges. Wade believes a little...

Erin Conway Johnsen is a Minneapolis-based attorney with the firm Garner & Ginsburg, PA. She specializes in franchise law, helping franchisees and dealers resolve their disputes. Her work includes reviewing franchise agreements, negotiating agreement alterations, helping franchisees get out of agreements, drafting franchise agreement addenda, and more. Erin graduated cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2012. During here time at the U of M, she served as an editor for the Minnesota Law Review. She received her B.A. from Duke University, where she made the Dean's List.