Minneapolis, MN- June 13, 2011 A new downtown Minneapolis law firm, Sapientia Law Group, recently opened its doors, bringing a fresh, new vision of the legal practice to the Twin Cities.  Sapientia (pronounced “say-PEN-chee‑a”) was formed by a team of experienced and diverse lawyers from a variety of law firms who purposefully left their previous firms for the opportunity to do business differently.

Sapientia is one of the few women-owned and minority-owned law firms of its size in Minnesota and the Midwest.  This group of professionals has a unique multi-cultural composition of attorneys from African American, Asian American, Caucasian, Latino, and Native American backgrounds.

This new firm is making its mark not only with its bold diverse composition, but also with its innovative and progressive firm model. The founders believe that traditional law firm hierarchies, value systems, compensation models, and emphasis on billable hours limit lawyers’ abilities to creatively, collaboratively, and efficiently solve their clients’ problems.  Sapientia offers alternative billing structures that align with clients’ interests, a unique compensation system tied to client satisfaction, and an office setting designed to promote creativity and collaboration.  The founders believe this creative approach to legal practice will lead to happier clients and happier attorneys.

One of the firm’s attorneys, Sonia Miller-Van Oort, explains:  “While business clients have been focused on innovation, efficiency, and promoting diversity over the last several years, most law firms have resisted change, claiming, ‘this is the way we’ve always done it.’  At Sapientia, we have created a firm that from the start is diverse, actively partners with clients to align everyone’s  interests, and fundamentally  approaches the practice differently.”

The firm’s 11 attorneys—many of whom are local bar leaders and have been recognized as “Up-and-Coming Attorneys” in the community— have a broad range of legal experience spanning from two years to thirty years.  The Sapientia team includes attorneys Jonathan A. Strauss, Lori D. Semke, Chris E. Royal, Sarah Oquist, Diana Young Morrissey, Sonia Miller-Van Oort, Matthew J. McClenahan, Kenn H. Fukuda, Lorenz (Larry) Fett, Amy Dawson, and Jeffrey C. Brown.

This growing law firm provides legal representation and consulting services in the following areas:  business transactions and litigation, personal injury and product liability defense, employment litigation, real estate, intellectual property, estate planning, trusts and probate, autism and disability law, government relations, and executive coaching.
“Sapientia” means wisdom in Latin.  The unusual firm name embodies the firm’s conviction that there is value in learning from traditional law practices, and wisdom in adapting and improving upon those practices.  The firm’s name also captures its belief that the collective wisdom of Sapientia’s attorney team provides extraordinary value to clients – and at no additional cost.  For more information, visit www.sapientialaw.com.

Media Contact:

Sonia Miller-Van Oort

612.756.7125

soniamv@sapientialaw.com