Minneapolis-based law firm Lindquist & Vennum, PLLP, announced Friday that Dennis O'Malley has been named managing partner of the firm, replacing longtime managing partner Daryle Uphoff.

O'Malley, a partner and chair of the firm's corporate law department who has been with the firm for 30 years, most recently served a two-year term on the firm's executive committee.

Uphoff, who served as managing partner for 16 years, will return to the practice full time as a partner and will lead the firm's bankruptcy and creditor's remedies group.

Uphoff said that the timing was right for him to step down as managing partner so he could be fully involved the work that firm is doing with the Tom Petters' bankruptcy case.

“Dennis has demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities in many different roles in which he has served the firm,” Uphoff said in a statement. “He enjoys the respect of all our lawyers and staff, and I am confident that the firm will continue to prosper under his leadership.”

O'Malley joined Lindquist & Vennum in 1981 as an associate and was named a partner in 1986. He served on the firm's management committee from 1992 to 1995. O'Malley's legal practice is focused primarily on business transactions, and he has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, management buyouts, and complex financing transactions.

As managing partner, O'Malley will chair the firm's executive committee, which is responsible for day-to-day operational decisions, and the firm's management committee, which focuses on strategic vision and implementation of the firm's strategic plan.

In a statement, O'Malley said that he hopes to grow the firm's reputation as a client-centered, entrepreneurial law firm. He also said that one of his goals is to continue the firm's involvement in pro bono work.

“Daryle will be a tough act to follow,” O'Malley said in a statement. “His easy-going personality really set the tone for Lindquist & Vennum's collegiality and success during the 16 years of his term.”

Lindquist & Vennum, founded in 1968, is among the state's 10-largest law firms based on licensed Minnesota attorneys, of whom there were 163 as of April 2010. In addition to its headquarters office in Minnesota, the firm also has an office in Denver.