Sharon Jones Recognized as 2023 Attorney of the Year

On February 8, 2024, outstanding individuals and teams were honored for their exemplary legal work by Minnesota Lawyer. The 2023 Attorney of the Year Awards were presented at the Quincy Hall in northeast Minneapolis, where the winners were celebrated for their contributions.

Sharon Jones, executive director of Legal Assistance of Dakota County (LADC), was among those individuals recognized as an Attorney of the Year. Since 2014, Jones has led LADC’s work in the provision of civil legal services to Minnesotans with low incomes, and with a focus on family law. Jones puts it succinctly, “the decisions that get made in family law cases ripple throughout our community.”

LADC recently expanded their scope of services and were able to hire and retain qualified staff due to increased funding from the state legislature last year. Additionally, LADC became part of the statewide coordinated intake process among legal services providers, a client-centered and streamlined referral system.

Reflecting on the positive impact of her organization’s work, Jones said, “I get to work for individual clients while also working toward systemic change statewide with other legal aid providers, private attorneys and courts around the state. It can be hard work, but it’s rewarding. Sometimes we get to see amazing outcomes and sometimes we are not fully aware of the long-term impact of our work, but the human connection is what keeps me doing this.” Read the article in Minnesota Lawyer.

Minnesota Lawyer Spotlights Award Winning Attorney Mary Kaczorek

This summer, Mary Kaczorek was honored by the Hennepin County Bar Association (HCBA) with its 2023 Excellence Award for Improving Access to Justice. The award was in recognition of Kaczorek’s outstanding leadership of the housing unit at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA) during the height of the pandemic, as well as her legislative advocacy for remote court hearings and eviction reform.

This fall, Kaczorek transitioned to MMLA’s consumer unit and will turn her attention to the prevention of home foreclosures on Minnesotans who’ve lost home equity in scams or are dealing with predatory financing terms.

In its Breaking the Ice series, Minnesota Lawyer gets to know one of legal aid’s most passionate advocates a little better. Read Breaking the Ice: Housing advocacy brings award, gratitude.

VLN Staff Attorney Honored with Outstanding Service Award from Minnesota Justice Foundation

This week marked the Minnesota Justice Foundation's (MJF) Annual Awards Celebration at the Campus Club in Minneapolis, and remotely. Every year since 1991, MJF has honored the work of public interest attorneys, private pro bono attorneys, advocates, and law students whose commitment to service shines as a beacon of hope and embodies the very best of our profession. This year, MJF welcomed keynote speaker Justice Margaret Chutich, who presented in a conversational format moderated by MJF board member Jacob Harris.

The 2023 award winner for Outstanding Service by a Direct Legal Service Attorney is Muria Kruger, Housing Program manager and resource attorney at Volunteer Lawyers Network (VLN). 

As the Housing Program manager, Muria oversees a staff of 5 and several hundred volunteers to coordinate volunteer legal services at housing court clinics in Anoka, Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. VLN’s housing court clinic presence expanded from Hennepin County to include Anoka and Ramsey counties as a result of Muria’s work. Under her leadership, the housing program has increased both the number of services provided to pro bono clients and the level of service received. Any tenant with a housing court hearing in one of these counties who qualifies for legal services through VLN can talk with a pro bono lawyer at their first appearance hearing. In addition to providing eviction defense and rent escrow services at housing court, the Housing Program also provides full representation legal assistance to tenants needing help with eviction expungement or getting landlords to make repairs.

Muria has always been a public interest attorney at heart. She started participating in MJF even before law school and has volunteered with VLN and other organizations since graduating from law school. Right out of law school, she did antitrust and securities work at a small, private law firm and then served as the director of International and Graduate Programs at the University of Minnesota Law School for several years. Muria joined VLN’s staff in 2017 after having coordinated a community legal clinic just outside of downtown Minneapolis for over 8 years.

When she is not working, Muria loves to run, make her children practice their instruments, grow giant pumpkins and read to expand her mind.

Mary Kaczorek, housing unit supervisor and managing attorney at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, noted that “Muria is great at developing and fostering relationships and partnerships among providers. She has a knack for taking big picture views and thinking creatively about ways programs can work together to provide the best client experience possible. She cares deeply about housing issues and manages to be a bold and zealous advocate who is somehow always polite and kind at the same time.”

MJF's other awards for outstanding service went to the following deserving individuals:

  • Law Student Award, Mitchell Hamline School of Law – Ryan Boevers

  • Law Student Award, University of Minnesota Law School – Perry Keziah

  • Law Student Award, University of St. Thomas School of Law – Noor Dastagir

  • Advocate Award – Catherine Ahlin-Halverson, Maslon LLP’s UPLIFT Legal Institute for Teens

  • Private Practice Lawyer Award – Erica Holzer, Maslon LLP

Dee Baskin and Mary Kaczorek Recognized with 2023 HCBA Excellence Awards

Dee Baskin, LRAP

Mary Kaczorek, MMLA

Each year the Hennepin County Bar Association (HCBA) presents its Excellence Awards to honor individual bar members for their service to the local legal profession, the community, and the association. HCBA is the largest of Minnesota’s local bar associations, with a membership of over 8,000 attorneys and law students serving the profession and the public. This year, the HCBA selected eight attorney members and two organizations from nominations received in different categories, including one member for career contributions to the profession. The 2023 HCBA Excellence Awards will be presented at the association’s annual meeting on June 8, and members will be recognized in the Hennepin Lawyer publication.

This year’s honorees include Dee Baskin, executive director of the Loan Repayment Assistance Program of Minnesota (LRAP) and Mary Kaczorek, managing attorney with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA). Both Baskin and Kaczorek will receive the association’s Improving Access to Justice Award.

Kaczorek has led MMLA’s housing unit through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and zealously advocated for remote hearings to benefit MMLA’s clients with low-incomes and disabilities. In addition to supervising attorneys and litigating her own cases in housing court, Kaczorek has also advocated for eviction reform at the Minnesota legislature. 

Baskin has been a behind-the-scenes champion for legal aid attorneys seeking public service loan forgiveness and has helped Minnesota attorneys navigate each pause on student loan payments through articles, CLE presentations, and social media updates.