Dyan Ebert assumes the presidency of the Minnesota State Bar Association for 2020-21
Contact: Joseph Satter, Senior Director of Communications
(612) 752-6621
jsatter@mnbars.org
Photos available on request
Minneapolis, MN (July 6, 2020)—Following its first-ever virtual annual convention on June 22-25, the Minnesota State Bar Association announced the composition of its 2020-21 Executive Committee.
On July 1, Dyan Ebert—a partner and two-time former CEO of the central Minnesota firm of Quinlivan & Hughes—became president of the MSBA for the 2020-21 bar year. She practices in the area of civil litigation, with a focus on employment and government liability, insurance coverage, and general casualty law. Ebert, who joined the Quinlivan firm in 1994, served as the 83-year-old firm’s first female CEO from 2003 to 2010, and again from 2014 to 2019.
In view of the massive disruptions to the legal industry posed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Ebert says her focus during the bar year ahead will be helping the bar association assist its members in navigating the crisis and continuing to pursue goals spelled out in the long-range strategic plan that’s already in place. Some areas of special interest to her include wellbeing for attorneys—“We have to put that at the forefront, to put out resources to help the members”—as well as access to justice.
In addition to Ebert, the 2020-21 MSBA Executive Committee consists of:
- President-Elect: Jennifer A. Thompson. Thompson, a partner at Thompson Tarasek Lee-OHalloran PLLC in Edina, has spent her career practicing construction and real estate law. She has also served as an attorney commissioner on the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and is a volunteer attorney for the Children’s Law Center. She will serve as MSBA president for the 2021-22 bar year.
- Treasurer: Paul D. Peterson. Peterson, a founding partner of Harper & Peterson, PLLC in Woodbury, is a board-certified Civil Trial Specialist whose practice is focused on representing individuals and families who have been injured by the wrongful acts of others. Peterson also does pro bono work for Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS).
- Secretary: Paul Floyd. Floyd, a partner at Wallen-Friedman & Floyd, P.A. in Minneapolis, is a “lawyer’s lawyer,” focusing his practice on serving attorney clients with counsel about the business issues their firms face. He is a past president of the Hennepin County Bar Association (2016-17) and of the Minnesota chapter of the Federal Bar Association.