Hellmuth & Johnson: Celebrating 30 Years

“Dave and I had some commonality, not just in practice areas, but in the desire to do things better than what we had seen in the past. We thought that bringing our talents together would help us achieve that goal,” Johnson says.

They wanted a firm that valued clients, delivered legal services in a timely and cost-effective manner, and most importantly, achieved their clients’ goals. “We also wanted a firm that valued its people, whether they be attorneys or staff, making sure that we created an environment where every person involved with the firm had a career path and not just a job.”

Statistics bear out the success of that approach. For example, five percent of Minnesota attorneys are recognized as Super Lawyers, but Hellmuth & Johnson had twenty percent of its attorneys recognized on the most recent list. Johnson says, “Our firm’s representation on that list is extremely high, and we had another 10 attorneys recognized as Rising Stars. We also just had 25 attorneys recognized on The Best Lawyers in America 2025 list and eight more attorneys recognized on The Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch list. This level of recognition shows our attorneys are not only recognized by our clients, but by our peers, as top-of-class.”

One of the reasons for the firm’s success is a management style that focuses on communication and accessibility at every level of the organization. Johnson says the big difference between Hellmuth & Johnson and other law firms is a streamlined management style. Many similar-sized and larger law firms have numerous committees of attorneys to manage the firm and deal with compensation, hiring, staffing, and information technology issues. Hellmuth & Johnson does not have management committees. Instead, the law firm is run by its managing partner and a non-lawyer management staff.

“Our management style allows our attorneys to focus on what they do best: representing their clients and achieving their clients’ goals. Our management style has proven to be very successful for our firm. As the Managing Partner, my management staff and I focus on the business issues, keeping our attorneys focused on our clients and meeting their expectations. By doing so, our attorneys invest their time in doing what they do best, ultimately benefiting their clients,” Johnson says.