The election for the SBBA secretary/treasurer position is June 1 at the Spring Picnic at Lake George (http://www.ci.stcloud.mn.us/index.aspx?NID=174). You must be present at the meeting to vote. The candidates are:
1. Wanda Gierman. Wanda graduated from William Mitchell College of Law in 2004 and thereafter began working for the Seventh Judicial District Public Defenders Office in St. Cloud. In November of 2011, Wanda started her own law practice in St. Cloud. She practices primarily in the areas of Criminal Law, Family Law, Child Protection, and Juvenile Delinquency, and continues working as a 3/4 time public defender. She is married to Steven Gierman and they have two children, Gavin (7) and Mya (4). Her son is a first grader at Stride Academy here in St. Cloud and Mya will be starting kindergarten at Stride in August. Her goals for the year include continuing to learn Family Law, getting Scuba certified, and traveling.
2. Tom Lopez. Currently an associate at Rinke Noonan in St. Cloud practicing in General Business and Commercial Transactions, Business Acquisitions and Employment Law. Tom was previously employed by the Mille Lacs County Attorney as an ACA working in general civil practice for the County, including Employee Benefits and Labor counsel, general transactional work and general counsel to county boards. Before that he worked for Honeywell in the Environmental Controls Division with a litigation and IP focus. He is a member of the MSBA, SBBA and John E. Simonett American Inn of Court, and was named a 2009 Super Lawyer Rising Star.
3. Amy Sauter. Currently an attorney at Heller & Thyen practicing in the areas of bankruptcy and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Prior to joining the firm, Amy completed her undergraduate degree at Minnesota State University, Mankato where she was in leadership roles with the MSU Wind Ensemble, Pre-Law Society, and the Political Science Honor Society, Pi Sigma Alpha. She attended law school in Lansing, Michigan at Thomas M. Cooley Law School. While in law school, she completed a two-year volunteer internship as law clerk to a Bureau Chief within the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. In her free time, she loves watching our Minnesota Twins, playing the B-Flat clarinet, and spending time with her Pekingese dog, Louie. While residing in St. Cloud she has volunteered with organizations such as the Minnesota Women Lawyers, where she is the secretary since 2011; Business Women of Central Minnesota, where she chairs the scholarship committee and is the newly elected secretary, and the John E. Simonett American Inn of Court.
