Excelsior Lawyers

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...

Ben has been an associate with Lindell & Lavoie, LLP, since 2004, and he law clerked at the office in the two summers prior to that. Since that time, he has become an integral piece in the firm’s ongoing success. He has a varied practice, primarily focusing on personal injury and workers’ compensation cases, but he loves appellant work and has a special interest in Section 1983 Civil Rights cases. He has recovered millions of dollars for his clients over that period and has been significantly involved in notable and important cases. In 2012, Ben partnered with...

Mike is an experienced workers comp, injury, insurance, and disability attorney who believes his clients deserve a tireless advocate to secure the benefits they deserve. He has recovered millions of dollars in unpaid and denied benefits for his clients. Mike is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, where he specialized in injury law, insurance law, employment law, and employee benefits law. Since graduating, Mike has pursued his client’s disability benefits in hundreds of federal ERISA lawsuits against insurers like Cigna, MetLife, Lincoln, Aetna, Guardian, Standard, Reliance, and Hartford. In addition to fighting for long and short term disability benefits,...

Luke J Blahnik is the founder of Law Firm of Luke J Blahnik. Mr. Blahnik was born in the city of Rochester, Minnesota and graduated from Caledonia High School, in Caledonia, Minnesota. In 1998 he received his Bachelor of Science in History from Winona State University, in Winona, Minnesota. He then went on to receive his Juris Doctor degree from Hamline University School of Law in 2001 and was admitted to practice law in the State of Minnesota in 2002. From 2001 through 2004 Mr. Blahnik was a Judicial Law Clerk for the Koochiching County Courthouse, where he...

Mr. Kishish has practiced law since 1992. He has worked both as an In-House attorney and in Private Practice. He has worked with thousands of clients throughout the years and associates with some of the best law firms in the country. His counseling has ranged from assisting Fortune 500 companies with recovering from class action settlements, to his early work with individuals fighting discrimination issues. It is this background that informs his practice today. Mr. Kishish's knowledge of both sides of the table makes him better able to fight for your interests.

Cory Whalen is a partner and shareholder at the law firm of SiebenCarey. He practices in all areas of personal injury litigation. He was selected as one of America's best lawyers in the area of product liability litigation by The Best Lawyers of America. Selection to The Best Lawyers of America is based on an exhaustive and rigorous peer-review survey comprised of more than four million confidential evaluations by the top attorneys in the country.

Cory is a Certified Civil Trial Law Specialist, a certification program administered by the Minnesota State Bar Association and approved by...

Shannon Carey has a passion for the law that runs in the family; she's a fourth generation attorney. Prior to becoming a trial lawyer, Shannon worked in human resources for 10 years. She worked in several industries, including a large health care system and a nationally prominent insurance company. These experiences gave her a thorough understanding of the inner workings of large businesses, providing Shannon a unique perspective when representing her clients. During her legal career, Shannon and her team have successfully represented individuals and families in complex litigations, including, but not limited to, medical...

About Benjamin

Benjamin Tarshish is a partner attorney at the Tarshish Cody law firm. He prides himself on providing his clients with practical legal advice. He is a passionate, aggressive, and ethical lawyer.

Benjamin was raised in a suburb of Minneapolis. He is a graduate from Carleton College in Northfield, MN and received his law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN.

Benjamin is licensed to practice law in both Minnesota and Illinois.

Unlike the stereotype for many lawyers and attorneys, Benjamin is outgoing, friendly, and has a sense of humor. This makes working with him on a particular legal...

Paul Downes is a respected trial attorney who combines a client-centered philosophy with recognized legal skill to successfully represent a wide range of personal injury clients. Before joining SiebenCarey, Paul successfully built the personal injury law firm of Meyer & Associates with Helen Meyer, another prominent personal injury attorney who served as a Justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. At Meyer & Associates, Paul developed a highly personalized level of client service while providing outstanding legal representation. In 2002, he joined SiebenCarey as a partner. Paul was appointed by the MN Supreme Court to serve on...

Justin Duffy is a skilled criminal defense attorney and trial lawyer with The Law Office of John J. Leunig who represents clients in both state and federal court in Minnesota. Mr. Duffy's zealous advocacy on behalf of his clients has resulted in victory at trial, complete dismissals prior to trial, and victory on appeal. He defends clients charged with all levels and types of crimes, including, but not limited to, DWI, assault, theft, drug possession, criminal sexual conduct, prostitution, criminal vehicular homicide, murder, and white collar crimes. For more information on The Law Office of John J. Leunig and Mr....

He has worked as an investigator, public prosecutor and private counsel. Mr. Neff has served on the Hennepin County Public Defender's Conflicts Panel, the Hennepin County Juvenile Justice Panel, and various bar association committees. He handles complex litigation including multi-district litigation, wrongful death, large employment cases and qui tam cases.

Ryan has dedicated his entire legal career to representing people injured by foodborne illness. His passion is holding food producers accountable when they poison their customers. His unending goal is to make the food we eat safer. Ryan has a decade’s worth of experience in foodborne illness litigation. He has represented people in every major foodborne illness outbreak during that time. Ryan gravitated to the science-driven foodborne illness practice in part because he comes from a medical family. His sister is a neonatologist at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, his mother is a former nurse practitioner and his father is...

Jeff is an advocate for injured people, an attorney and partner at SiebenCarey. He practices in all areas of personal injury law. He is licensed to practice law in Minnesota Federal District Court, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the State of Wisconsin.

Before becoming an attorney, Jeff served as a volunteer teacher in Bucaramanga, Colombia, South America. He handled work assignments for the Dakota County Sheriff's Department in Hastings and worked with Central Minnesota Legal Services in St. Cloud. Jeff holds membership in the American Association for Justice, the Minnesota Association for Justice and the American, Minnesota, Wisconsin,...

Harry Sieben has been with his law firm for 50 years. It has been built into one of Minnesota's largest and most successful personal injury law firms by fighting for the rights of injured people. Harry has conducted jury trials that have resulted in record verdicts. He has recognition from state and national organizations for his success. He has consistently been selected by his peers as a Super Lawyer honoree and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America. Harry is certified as a Civil Trial Law Specialist by the Minnesota State Bar Association, a distinction awarded to...

Mark Olive is an experienced and accomplished workers' compensation attorney. Martindale-Hubbell, the most respected directory in the legal community, gave Mark an AV Preeminent 5.0 Rating for both professional skills and ethics - the highest designation available in both categories. In addition, Mark has been selected for Super Lawyer honors consistently since 2000. Super Lawyer honorees are selected from an annual survey and the distinction is bestowed on less than five percent of Minnesota's practicing attorneys. Mark was also selected in Minnesota Law & Politics Top 40 Workers' Compensation Attorneys and was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in...

Jeffrey practices law in the areas of personal injury, wrongful death, professional malpractice, civil rights law and police misconduct, auto and truck accidents, product liability, premises liability, property damage, and insurance litigation.

A graduate of the William Mitchell College of Law in 1998, Jeffrey was admitted to the Minnesota State Bar, and then joined SiebenCarey as an associate attorney. Jeffrey is now a shareholder in the firm, and is admitted to practice law in Minnesota Federal District Court, 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and the State of Wisconsin. He has tried numerous cases, in both State and Federal Court, in...

Brendan has spent his entire career helping people seriously injured and their families. He began as part of a trial team working on behalf of a woman who lost fetal twins and the family of a man who died, both as a result of contaminated deli meat. Driven by that formative experience, he focused his practice on food poisoning cases and has represented people throughout the country. Over the past fifteen years, he has litigated countless product liability and food poisoning cases and achieved remarkable, ground-breaking results, including one of the largest E. coli verdicts in history. Most importantly, his...

With over 24 years of experience serving as counsel for banking institutions, real estate developers, and organizations with substantial employee bases, our Firm is committed to delivering outstanding results. We assist clients with a variety of needs including corporate, banking, real estate, and various commercial transactions and disputes. I am David A. Lutz, an attorney based in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Throughout my career, I have handled negotiations for projects as large as $100 million dollar real-estate transactions and have led the legal aspects of notable hotel projects such as the Water Park of America and the Grand Hotel Minneapolis. I understand...

Draeke Weseman is a trademark and business attorney in Minneapolis, MN. He started Weseman Law Office, PLLC in 2010 to serve entrepreneurs, start-ups, and businesses in Minnesota. Visit www.wesemanlaw.com or call 888-614-6864 for more information.

John is the founder of the Minneapolis employment and civil rights litigation firm of John A. Klassen, P.A. He received law degrees from the University of British Columbia (1992) and Seattle University (1993). Since 1994, John has practiced exclusively in the areas of employment and civil rights law. He has represented employees and victims of civil rights violations throughout the United States, in the areas of harassment and discrimination law, False Claims Act/Qui Tam claims, whistleblower law, wage and hour disputes, class action claims, employment contract disputes, and sexual abuse. Employees consult with him on a regular...

Bob served as the Minneapolis City Attorney for nearly two decades, advising all elected and appointed officers, department heads, and employees. As City Attorney, he also litigated numerous cases and served as labor relations and licensing counsel. In addition, Bob has served as President of the International Municipal Lawyers Association and the Minnesota Municipal Lawyers Association as well as an Administrative Law Judge for the State of Minnesota. In private practice, Bob has focused on both public sector and private sector labor and employment matters.

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.

Udeani Law Office is a legal firm devoted to helping Minneapolis residents with their various matters relating to criminal defense, family law, and immigration law. The team recognizes that these can be some of the most complex legal fields to work through, which is why every client is treated with respect and honesty. No two cases are alike, and when you retain the firms representation, you can be confident that you will be working with an attorney who is genuinely passionate about helping you obtain your goals. You'll never be left in the dark about the status of your case,...

Albert Usumanu is a 1989 graduate of the University of Minnesota and a 1994 graduate of the Mitchell Hamline School of Law. He is admitted to practice in the following Courts: Minnesota Supreme Court. October 1994 Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Minnesota Federal District Court

Stephanie Hill practices in sophisticated commercial real estate transactions, secured financing, and economic development incentives (such as New Markets tax credits, historic tax credits and low income housing tax credits). A partner at Faegre & Benson for several years, Stephanie also has wide-ranging experience as local counsel in multi-state transactions and practices in mezzanine financing and renewable energy (wind power, ethanol, biomass incinerators).

Frances E. Baillon is a recognized advocate for those who have been treated unfairly by the illegal practices of employers. A founding partner of Baillon Thome Jozwiak & Wanta LLP, Frances litigates and tries employment cases in state and federal court involving sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation. She has also successfully argued cases before the Minnesota state and federal district courts, the Minnesota Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Supreme Court, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Frances has consistently been named to the lists of Super Lawyers and Rising Stars by her peers and has made the lists...

Robert Brabbit joined SiebenCarey in June 2017, and provides clients with more than 28 years of personal injury law expertise. Robert was a founding partner in the Minneapolis law firm of Brabbit & Salita, PA. As a trial lawyer, he practices in the area of civil litigation on behalf of plaintiffs and concentrates in workers' compensation, automobile negligence, product liability and wrongful death. His practice also includes asbestos related injuries such as mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer.

Martindale-Hubbell awarded Robert an AV rating after an extensive and confidential peer review by members of the bench and bar. In 2005 he...

Scott Kruger has focused his legal career on assisting people injured by the negligence of others. He understands that the legal process is complicated, and that insurance companies are trying to take advantage of people during stressful times.

Mr. Kruger is dedicated to making the legal system easy to understand in a calm, straightforward manner. Whether you are recovering from your injuries, attending arbitration, or preparing for a court appearance, Mr. Kruger takes the time to explain what to expect to make you as comfortable as possible in stressful situations.

Mr. Kruger attended Carthage College in Kenosha, WI where he earned his...

Kirk's practice focuses on helping small and medium size business owners with their legal needs. He seeks to provide cost-effective representation for businesses that have not worked with a law firm in the past. His practice focuses specifically on corporate, contract and real estate matters. Kirk also represents home owner associations in various matters.

Paul F. Shoemaker has been litigating civil disputes and practicing contested Minnesota divorce and family law matters since his admission to practice law in 1986. In his Minnesota divorce and family law practice, Mr. Shoemaker has counseled and represented hundreds of individuals in disputed and undisputed divorce and paternity actions and in post-divorce issues and hearings involving modification and enforcement of child support, custody, parenting time, spousal maintenance, and other family law issues. He is experienced in Minnesota divorce law in district court trials and appeals. His Minnesota divorce trial experience has involved temporary restraining orders, disputed custody battles, grandparent...