13 Messerli Kramer Attorneys Named 2022 Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars®
Messerli Kramer congratulates nine of its attorneys on being recognized as Minnesota Super Lawyers®, and three of them as receiving special, statewide distinctions. In addition to the honors below, Gary Debele, Joshua Hasko, and Debra Yerigan were selected to the Top 100 Attorneys in Minnesota, with Debra also being named as a Top 50 Woman Attorney.
Minnesota Super Lawyers are chosen because they have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only the top 5% of attorneys in each state are chosen every year based on a multi-phased process that includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations.
Messerli Kramer 2022 Minnesota Super Lawyers
Vija is known for her personal touch and fierce defense of her clients. She provides clients with peace of mind as she helps them through a divorce or other family law matter. Her experience shines as she guides her clients through every step of the process with compassion and confidence.
As the Chair of the Family Law group, Gary not only represents clients in the usual areas of divorce, custody, and parentage, but also several specialized areas that many family law practitioners avoid. His sophisticated practice has him working on everything from family breakdowns to child protection issues and conservatorships and guardianships.
John Harper III—Business Litigation
John (Jack) has extensive business litigation experience trying and arbitrating hundreds of business related claims and cases, particularly in the areas of financial services, management liability, and fiduciary duty and shareholder disputes. His philosophy is 24/7 service; which is why his clients describe him as proactive, accessible, responsive, and a zealous advocate.
Joshua Hasko—Business Litigation
Joshua concentrates his practice on commercial business disputes. He is an expert in the areas of contract and business tort litigation, creditor remedies and Uniform Commercial Code disputes, equipment leasing and secured transactions, and much more.
Kevin D. Hofman—Business Litigation
Kevin focuses his practice on business litigation including banking, financial services, shareholder, and business disputes. He has represented and advised banks in disputes involving transfer and presentment warranties, midnight deadline issues, conversion claims, Ponzi schemes, and other fraud situations. Kevin is a tireless advocate for his clients, separating his emotions from the issue at hand and giving them practical solutions that work.
Michelle R. Jester—Banking and Finance
Michelle is the Chair of the Messerli Kramer Banking & Finance Group. With an emphasis on real estate, she has clients that include lenders, creditors, commercial landlords and tenants, and real estate and apartment building owners. She is known for her aggressive representation and creative solutions that produce successful outcomes while eliminating anxiety for her clients.
John W. Lang—Commercial Real Estate
John focuses his practice on real estate (tax deferral and avoidance strategies), corporate law, mergers, acquisitions, estate planning and trusts and estates. He is also a Qualified Neutral Arbitrator and Mediator. He has extensive experience in real estate, tax and business transactions, which allows him to produce timely and cost-efficient solutions to complex legal problems.
Debra has extensive representative experience in Divorce and Family Law, Child Custody, and other family-related practice areas. She is known for zealously representing her clients, earning them custody, parenting time, property and income, and much more.
Derrick N. Weber—Consumer Collections & Creditors’ Remedies
Derrick concentrates his practice on collections and creditors’ remedies, helping recover losses for such clients as national banks, credit unions, businesses and other lenders. He helps clients obtain excellent recoveries while minimizing costs. He also frequently lectures on ethics issues and has served on the District IV Ethics Committee from 1998 to 2004.
Messerli Kramer 2022 Minnesota Rising Stars
We also congratulate four of our attorneys for being nominated by their peers for their excellence, potential, and knowledge in their legal practices. Only 2.5% of Minnesota Lawyers with less than 10 years of practice are nominated as Rising Star lawyers.
Theresa E. Bea—Divorce & Family Law
Theresa practices exclusively in the areas of family law and juvenile law. She approaches her cases with common sense and a problem-solving attitude and is always ready to litigate vigorously when settlement is no longer an option.
Joshua N. Brekken—Divorce and Family Law
Josh practices exclusively in the areas of family law and divorce. His experience in civil and business litigation, as well as business law gives him a unique and more thorough perspective for all types of family law matters. He values his client’s success and peace of mind and makes sure their interests are at the front of every case.
Jacob Elrich—Business Litigation
Jacob represents businesses facing complex legal problems and crafts solutions for their unique issues. He has valuable experience at both the district and appellate court levels and helps his clients with all phases of litigation.
Meghan E. Marty—Banking & Finance
Meghan focuses her practice in the areas of commercial and tax credit-based financing and banking operations. She works hard to ensure all her clients’ needs are met, from documenting complex loan transactions to negotiating financing structures.
Congratulations again to all our award-winning attorneys in 2022, and special thanks to those who nominated them!