MINNEAPOLIS – October 31, 2016 – Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A., is pleased to announce that Elizabeth “Betsy” Schmiesing has joined the firm as a shareholder in its Regulatory and Environmental practice. She is an accomplished regulatory attorney, litigator and adviser with extensive experience in the areas of environmental, land use and energy law. Schmiesing also has substantial experience in healthcare matters.  Schmiesing has successfully resolved regulatory and contract disputes through litigation and negotiation, and has represented clients in state and federal enforcement actions, agency negotiations and dispute resolution.

She has extensive experience representing clients in actions involving a wide range of government organization, including the EPA, US Department of Justice, MPCA, DNR, MPUC and Minnesota Attorney General, as well as in federal and state trial and appellate courts. Prior to joining the firm, Schmiesing was an in-house attorney at Optum, where she specialized in litigation and risk management.

“With her skill and experience, Betsy is a great addition to our energy and health regulatory practices, and will broaden our ability to serve clients in their regulatory needs,” said Eric Swanson, Shareholder at Winthrop & Weinstine. “We are thrilled to have her on our team.”

Schmiesing is a Board Member of Great River Greening, and the past chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section. She also serves as a Volunteer Attorney for the Children’s Law Center of Minnesota.

Schmiesing earned her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, with honors, and her B.S., in Zoology, from the University of Wisconsin, with honors. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable James B. Loken at the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and with the EPA.

Winthrop & Weinstine Shareholder Joseph Windler was awarded the 2016 Lifeblood of Big Climb MPLS by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at its annual Lifeblood Awards reception on September 15, 2016. A Lifeblood Award is an honor bestowed upon someone who goes above and beyond to embody the mission of LLS and help create a world without blood cancers.

An LLS Board of Trustees member, Joe made it his personal mission to grow the Big Climb MPLS Corporate Challenge by inviting five new corporate teams to compete against each other. He also secured Capella Tower’s 53rd floor tenant, Morgan Stanley, to host LLS’s end point in order to create a more picturesque finish for climbers to enjoy. Thanks to Joe’s leadership and tenacity, his five corporate teams, including his own at Winthrop & Weinstine, raised over $40,000 for blood cancer research and patient services.

16 ATTORNEYS ALSO LISTED AS “STARS”

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — October 24, 2016. Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A., is pleased to announce that the firm has been listed as a “highly recommended” litigation firm in Benchmark Litigation, the only publication to focus exclusively on litigation in the United States. In addition, 15 individual attorneys from Winthrop & Weinstine were ranked as “Local Litigation Stars” and one attorney was named a “Future Star.”

“We are proud that Benchmark continues to recognize our firm as “highly recommended” for litigation. Our attorneys work hard to develop successful strategies for our clients, tailored to the unique situation for each,” says Litigation Chair Matt McBride.  “We are listeners first, and litigators second.”

Benchmark Litigation identifies the leading U.S. trial attorneys and firms at the local and national levels. Focused exclusively on the U.S. litigation market, the publication’s rankings and editorials are the result of extensive interviews with private practice lawyers and in-house counsel. Supplementary firm information is also submitted in the form of a questionnaire. The guide’s “local litigation stars” reflect lawyers who are recommended by clients and peers to have established consistent reputations as trial attorneys, while “future stars” are those litigators who are highlighted as likely to be become “local litigation stars” in coming editions.  “Top Litigator Under 40,” a new accolade of Benchmark, honors highly qualified, exceptional partners of the age of 40 or younger.

Local Litigation Stars
David Aafedt
Thomas Boyd
David Davenport
Aimée Dayhoff
Justice Ericson Lindell
Christianna Finnern*
Gerald Fornwald*
Craig Krummen
Brent Lorentz
William McNab
Devan Padmanabhan
David Pearson
Brooks Poley
Eric Swanson
Robert Weinstine

Future Stars
Joseph Windler*

* denotes attorneys named Top Litigator Under 40.