Mitchell Hamline professor and alums honored with Attorney of the Year awards

Mitchell Hamline Professor Ana Pottratz Acosta was part of a team of immigration attorneys that worked to pass legislation to allow Minnesotans to obtain drivers licenses, regardless of their immigration status. The effort was 20 years in the making and was one of the groups recently recognized by Minnesota Lawyer’s 2023 Attorneys of the Year awards.

Pottratz Acosta, who teaches the Health Law Clinic at Mitchell Hamline, oversaw the work of several students who provided technical and research assistance as part of the effort to pass the Driver’s Licenses for All legislation. She said the students’ research was used by legislators to prepare for the final floor debate and included materials given to lawmakers ahead of votes in the Minnesota House and Senate.

“The experience of working behind the scenes in a supporting role to the community organizers who led the effort to pass Driver’s License for All for 20 years really allowed our students to appreciate how lawyers working within larger social justice movements should strive to center the communities leading the movement and be ‘best actress in a supporting role,'” said Pottratz Acosta. “I’m thrilled the legislation is now law and so proud of our students for their work.”

Several additional members of the Mitchell Hamline community were also honored and will be recognized at an event next month in Minneapolis.

Along with Pottratz Acosta and two staff attorneys at the Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline–Tom Pryor and Marisa Katz–27 alums made the list for Attorneys of the Year, accounting for nearly one in five of all attorneys who were recognized. The list includes Paul Peterson ’89, who served last year as president of the Minnesota State Bar Association. Teresa Nelson ’96, with the ACLU of Minnesota, was honored twice for separate projects.

2023 Attorneys of the Year

Groups

• Infinity Project—Application Support Committee
  • Stephanie A. Angolkar ‘07 of Iverson Reuvers

• State of Minnesota v. JUUL Labs, Inc.
  • Michael Goodwin ‘09 of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office; Holly Dolejsi ‘09 and Julie A.K. Reynolds ‘11 of Robins Kaplan; and Behdad C. Sadeghi ‘12 of Zimmerman Reed LLP

• Cargill v. Syngenta
  • Molly Thornton ‘03 of Cargill

• Civil Rights and Police Misconduct Group
  • Katie Bennett ‘11 and Andrew Noel ‘02 of Robins Kaplan

• E. Phillips Neighborhood Inst. v. City of Minneapolis
  • Elizabeth Royal ‘02 of Elizabeth Royal Law Office

• Immigration Attorneys for Drivers Licenses for All
  • Susana De Leon ‘01 of De Leon & Nestor and Professor Ana Pottratz Acosta of Mitchell Hamline School of Law

• Parada v. Anoka County
  • Teresa Nelson ’96 of ACLU-MN

• Smart Growth Minneapolis v. City of Minneapolis
  • Timothy J. Keane ‘84 of Kutak Rock

• Terrell James Buechner v. State of Minnesota
  • Charlie Clippert ‘94 of Clippert Law Firm and Rebecca Duren ‘12 of Kelly & Lemmons

• Tyler v. Hennepin County
  • Garrett Blanchfield ‘90 of Reinhardt Wendorf & Blanchfield and Marisa Katz of the Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline

Individuals

• Jennifer Olson ’12, TSR Injury Law
• Timothy A. Rye ’11, Larkin Hoffman Daly & Lindgren

Nonprofit and Government

• Puce v. City of Burnsville
  • Paul Donald Reuvers ‘91 and Jason J. Kuboushek ‘00 of Iverson Reuvers

Outstanding Service to the Profession

• Paul Peterson ’89, Harper & Peterson

Pro Bono

• Mark Schneider ’86, Law Enforcement Labor Services

• In the Matter of the Denial of Contested Case Hearing Requests and Issuance of National Pollution Discharge Elimination System/State Disposal System
  • Joy Anderson ‘07 of Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy

• Jennifer Schroeder, et al. v. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon
  • Teresa J. Nelson ’96 of American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and Tom Pryor of the Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline
• Ricky Lee McDeid, Appellant (A21-0042), Shane P. Garry, Appellant (A21-0043), vs. Nancy Johnston, CEO/Director, Minnesota Sex Offender Program, et al., Respondents
  • Marc A. Al ‘94 of Stoel Rives

Teams

• CellTrust v. ionLake, LLC
  • Patrick M. Arenz ‘06 and Emily E. Niles of Robins Kaplan

• JanOne, Inc. v. Skybridge Americas, Inc.
  • Paul W Chamberlain ‘75 and Ryan R. Kuhlmann of Chamberlain Law Firm

• Clayton Douglas Groves v. State of Minnesota
  • Chris Sailors ’07 of SailorsAllen and Ben Butler of Minnesota Board of Public Defense