International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP announced today that Thaddeus Lightfoot, a partner in the Firm’s Minneapolis office, has been named President-Elect of the Hennepin County Bar Association (HCBA). He will begin his term as President of the HCBA on July 1, 2017.

For nearly three decades of practicing environmental law, Mr. Lightfoot has represented clients in numerous private party environmental litigation matters and governmental enforcement actions. He also advises clients regarding compliance with federal, state, and local environmental laws. Mr. Lightfoot has represented corporate clients in a variety of sectors, including the mining, forest products, paper, steel, manufacturing, electronics, pharmaceutical, real estate development, and ethanol industries, as well as governmental units and other public entities.

Mr. Lightfoot is a former Trial Attorney with the Environment Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was lead counsel in numerous civil actions brought by the government to enforce federal environmental statutes. He was a Legislative Assistant for energy and environmental issues to Representative Thomas S. Foley, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and helped draft the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1986. Mr. Lightfoot is the author of numerous articles addressing environmental law and litigation, and has lectured on such issues at nearly 50 seminars. He has also made frequent appearances before committees of the Minnesota Legislature to offer testimony on environmental regulation and litigation issues, and has been an adjunct professor of environmental law at the William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law) in St. Paul for over a decade.

“Thad is a superb lawyer who is also dedicated to providing leadership to the profession and community, as demonstrated by his active role in numerous organizations, including the Hennepin County Bar Association,” said Dorsey Managing Partner Ken Cutler. “We know that Thad will bring great energy and judgment to the important work of the HCBA.”

The Hennepin County Bar Association (HCBA) is the local bar serving more than 8,000 lawyers who live or work in Hennepin County -- the metropolitan area surrounding and including Minneapolis, Minnesota. HCBA is the largest local bar association in the state; more attorneys practice in Hennepin County than anywhere else in Minnesota.