Notable General Counsel 2021

In a year that presented complex legal challenges like never before, many of Minnesota’s best-known companies leaned heavily on their general counsel. In 2021’s Notable General Counsel, TCB recognizes 10 individuals who excel at steering and advising companies like 3M, Land O’Lakes, CenterPoint Energy, and Hormel Foods.
Methodology: The individuals featured in Notable General Counsel did not pay to be included. Their profiles were drawn from nomination materials. This list is not comprehensive. It includes only people who were nominated and accepted after editorial review. To quality for this list, individuals must be serving in a senior level general counsel role at their company or organization in Minnesota, have at least five years of experience in the field, and have shown the abilities to create significant, positive, and measurable results in their field.

To nominate other best-in-class executives in their fields, click here.

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Brenda Bjorklund

Brenda Bjorklund

Associate general counsel, CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp
Since Brenda Bjorklund joined Minneapolis-based CenterPoint Energy in 1984, she has practiced in numerous and diverse legal specialties, with a current focus on regulatory law. In addition to chairing the
Ivan Fong

Ivan Fong

Senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary, 3M Co.
Since joining Maplewood-based 3M in 2012, Ivan Fong has overseen all company legal, legal policy, compliance, and global security matters. His work during the pandemic has included negotiations with senior
Brenda Furlow

Brenda Furlow

Senior vice president, general counsel, and chief compliance officer, Bio-Techne Corp.
Since joining Bio-Techne in 2014, Brenda Furlow has supported the publicly traded global life sciences company’s rapid growth while also building its legal and compliance functions. During the pandemic, she
Mary Giesler

Mary Giesler

Senior vice president, general counsel, Minnesota Twins Baseball Club
Mary Giesler joined the Twins in 2014 as its first general counsel. She provides legal counsel and oversight on all business-related matters and serves as the team’s liaison with Major
Jennifer Lohse

Jennifer Lohse

Vice president, general counsel, and chief compliance officer, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
In 2014, Jennifer Lohse was recruited to lead Hazelden’s in-house legal department. In her first week on the job, she steered the merger of Hazelden and the Betty Ford Center,
Lori Marco

Lori Marco

Senior vice president of external affairs, general counsel, Hormel Foods Corp.
Lori Marco leads Austin-based Hormel’s external affairs function, which includes the law department, legislative affairs, and corporate brand design services. She also oversees the company’s complex regulatory relationships. During the
Susan Snyder

Susan Snyder

Senior vice president and general counsel, Daikin Applied Americas Inc.
Susan Snyder joined Plymouth-based Daikin in January 2019 after serving in general counsel roles at several other manufacturing companies. At Daikin, she has spearheaded the legal department’s shift from paper
Sheilah Stewart

Sheilah Stewart

Senior vice president and general counsel, Land O’Lakes, Inc.
Sheilah Stewart has served Arden Hills-based Land O’Lakes since 2012 and is responsible for achieving the farmer-owned cooperative’s strategic goals in every legal matter. Stewart taps her legal and mediating
Daniel Tenenbaum

Daniel Tenenbaum

Partner, Lathrop
Daniel Tenenbaum is a business transactions partner and leads the entrepreneurial services team at Lathrop in Minneapolis. He advises startups, many from inception through exit, advising on organizational, governance, capital
Lee Thoresen

Lee Thoresen

Senior counsel, head of regulatory and transactional practice, RBC Wealth Management-U.S.
Lee Thoresen provides counsel to the leaders of the sixth-largest broker-dealer in the U.S. on a wide range of legal issues, risk mitigation, and corporate governance. She has also been
Joanna “Joey” Vossen

Joanna “Joey” Vossen

Vice president, general counsel, Westwood Professional Services
Minnetonka-based engineering firm Westwood has grown fivefold since Joey Vossen joined in 2010, thanks to her direction integrating new services, locations, and markets. Recently, she led the legal integration of