Nichols Kaster attorneys Steven Andrew Smith and Matthew Alan Frank have been named 2017 Attorneys of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer.
According to the announcement: “Every year Minnesota Lawyer honors the top attorneys throughout the state of Minnesota for their notable achievements.” Smith and Frank were both on two legal teams that received awards this year: Friedlander and Surly. The Friedlander Legal Team won a landmark victory in the Minnesota Supreme Court involving how to interpret 2013 amendments to the Minnesota Whistleblower Act. Whistleblower protections for Minnesota employees expanded greatly as a result (read here).
The Surly Legal Team won summary judgment and set important new precedent under the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act in a class action on behalf of servers and bartenders whose tips had been unlawfully diverted to coworkers by their employer. Along with their other team members, Smith and Frank will be honored for their work at an awards banquet in February 2018 and profiled in a forthcoming issue of Minnesota Lawyer.