Appointed/Elected:
Appointed by Governor Dayton, effective October 2, 2017. Elected in 2018. Term expires January 2025.
Education:
- University of Michigan, J.D., 1989, cum laude.
- University of Notre Dame, B.A., 1983, magna cum laude.
Employment:
- Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis, Staff Attorney, 1989-1993
- Leonard Street and Deinard, Associate, 1993-1998
- Leonard Street and Deinard, Shareholder, 1998-2009
- Law Office of Thomas J. Conley, 2009-2017
Professional Memberships:
American Bar Association; Minnesota State Bar Association; Hennepin County Bar Association. Past Chair of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association.
Professional and Community Activities:
Certified as Labor and Employment Law Specialist by the Minnesota State Bar Association, and is the Adjunct professor of law and guest lecturer at the University of St. Thomas Law School. Volunteer attorney through the Volunteer Lawyers Network and the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis; volunteer mediator for the Minneapolis Commission on Civil Rights and the Minnesota Human Rights Department; a mentor through the University of St. Thomas School of Law; a volunteer judge in the Minnesota High School Mock Trial Competition; and a volunteer at Christo Rey High School; Board of Directors of Centro Legal, Inc.; member of the Minnesota Supreme Court’s Legal Services Advisory Committee; Board of Directors, Loft Literary Center and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Midwest. Certified instructor, National Institute of Trial Advocacy.
Additional Information:
Editor of American Bar Association publications "Covenants Not to Compete", "Employee Duty of Loyalty", "Tortious Interference in the Employment Context", and "Trade Secrets". Frequent speaker at seminars on employment law and ethics in Minnesota and nationally, including the Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute. Selected by peers as one of the Top 100 lawyers in Minnesota four different times, and he has been voted as one of the top five percent of all lawyers in Minnesota by Superlawyers nine times. He was recently selected as "Top Rated Lawyer" by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, and profiled as a leading employment law attorney by ReelLawyers.