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Kelly's initiative. As the firm's brochure
<br />notes, five languages are spoken by the
<br />employees, and they were recently hon-
<br />ored with an award for diversity from the
<br />Ramsey County Bar Association.
<br />Chad Lemmons, a junior partner at
<br />the firm who has known Kelly for 20
<br />years, says his boss is "about the hardest -
<br />working attorney I've ever seen," citing
<br />as an example the numerous night
<br />meetings required by Kelly's municipal
<br />clients. As the consulting attorney for
<br />White Bear Township and several metro
<br />area cities, Kelly regularly attends town
<br />board and city council meetings, as well
<br />as interim planning sessions for each of
<br />these clients. In the case of one munici-
<br />pality alone, that means one night a
<br />week is spent in a council meeting. As
<br />Lemmons notes, "Those meetings can
<br />go until 1:00 a.m. in some cases. When
<br />you start the day at 7:00, it gets to be a
<br />long day."
<br />Although Kelly has begun assigning
<br />other attorneys to some meetings, he
<br />still attends the majority himself.
<br />Lemmons doesn't see it as a control issue
<br />on Kelly's part but as a genuine desire to
<br />serve his clients.
<br />Bill Short, the clerk - treasurer of White
<br />Bear Township who has worked with
<br />Kelly in those board meetings for more
<br />than a decade, echoes Lemmons' assess-
<br />ment. "One thing is clear to me and the
<br />board," Short says. "When he is working
<br />on something with us or at a town board
<br />meeting, it's the most important thing to
<br />him at the moment. He never looks like
<br />he's thinking about something else. He's
<br />always focused on us and what we need."
<br />Until recently, David Thomalla,
<br />chief of police for the city of
<br />Maplewood, got to see Kelly's work from
<br />two perspectives: Kelly was both the city
<br />attorney and the prosecuting attorney
<br />for Maplewood, allowing him to handle
<br />both civil and criminal issues. "That is
<br />great for us," Thomalla notes, "because
<br />it gives us a one -stop shop in an attor-
<br />ney. Some issues tend to blend together,
<br />such as liquor license violations. To be
<br />able to sit down with one person and
<br />deal with one perspective is a time saver
<br />and a money saver for the city."
<br />Both Short and Thomalla call Kelly
<br />innovative and creative in his consult-
<br />ing and problem- solving; as chief of
<br />police, Thomalla also appreciates Kelly's
<br />support of his officers. "He's just a real
<br />www.mnbar.org
<br />Municipal law is a key element of Patrick Kelly's practice, with result that he spends many
<br />evenings at city council and town board meetings around the metro area. Serving a number of
<br />municipal clients, he functions in different contexts as city attorney, city prosecuting attorney, and
<br />consulting attorney to city police, firefighters, and other first responders.
<br />pro - police attorney," he says. "It's
<br />tremendous. Pat and his attorneys are
<br />willing to take some of the tough cases
<br />and follow through. That speaks highly
<br />of Pat. It's reassuring that our officers
<br />aren't going through the motions and
<br />not having their cases resolved."
<br />It would be easy to assume that Kelly,
<br />whose primary work puts him at a confer-
<br />ence table, would have a weak spot when
<br />it comes to litigation. According to Terry
<br />Foy, who has faced Kelly in court, that
<br />would be a mistake. Foy, a shareholder
<br />with Ratwik Roszak & Maloney in
<br />Minneapolis, says simply: "He is a litiga-
<br />tor. He is one of the best cross- examiners
<br />I've ever seen."
<br />As Foy tells it, "I met Pat in the mid -
<br />90s when we fought a halcyon series of
<br />disputes during which we formed a mutu-
<br />al friendship and grudging respect for
<br />each other. I remember thinking, `This
<br />guy is good.' I was representing a munici-
<br />pality and he was representing labor. One
<br />of the things that impressed me about Pat
<br />is that he is an excellent litigator and
<br />advocate for his client. But also that he
<br />told me early on in our proceedings,
<br />`Yeah, we're going to have to work
<br />through this, but after it's all done, we're
<br />going to have to work on the underlying
<br />issues that created these problems.' That
<br />showed me that Pat is more than just a lit-
<br />igator. He really catches the concept of a
<br />lawyer as a problem solver. He under-
<br />stands that the employer and union may
<br />be battling hammer and tongs, but they
<br />still have to work together."
<br />Commitment to Community
<br />If there's a common theme running
<br />through Kelly's work and his firm's mul-
<br />tiple practice areas, it would be a com-
<br />mitment to community. Kelly asks that
<br />each attorney perform a significant
<br />number of pro bono hours, as he himself
<br />does. He's been offering his services at
<br />the Ramsey County Volunteer Attorney
<br />Program since 1976 — a fact noted by
<br />Patricia Brummer, administrator of that
<br />program for Southern Minnesota
<br />Regional Legal Services for 40 years,
<br />who says, "Boy, is he faithful. I don't
<br />remember him ever saying no. I think
<br />he puts this pretty high on his list."
<br />Ed Cleary, Ramsey County District
<br />Court judge and a longtime friend of
<br />Kelly's, believes Kelly's commitment to
<br />the community comes from a background
<br />they share: being raised by strong- willed
<br />Irish Catholic fathers who "had strong
<br />ways of doing things. Religion played a
<br />big part in our fathers' lives and his
<br />Catholicism is a strong part of who Pat
<br />is," Cleary notes.
<br />Cleary got to see Kelly's moral frame-
<br />work up close several years ago when he
<br />led the Office of Lawyers Professional
<br />Responsibility and asked Kelly to head
<br />the Ethics Committee for the Ramsey
<br />County Bar Association, an organiza-
<br />tion Kelly has also served as president. It
<br />was a choice Cleary grew to appreciate
<br />as he saw Kelly in the role. "I think
<br />when it comes to issues of ethics and
<br />integrity he is among the finest lawyers
<br />in that regard. With Pat it's an everyday
<br />thing," CIeary says.
<br />Community involvement can take
<br />many forms. One interesting outlet Kelly
<br />has found is in coaching softball and base-
<br />ball over the years. It started with his son
<br />Joe's t -ball team and expanded to Little
<br />League baseball, all the way up to serving
<br />as commissioner of the league. He
<br />coached daughter Shannon in t -ball and
<br />on the boy's baseball team, and is now
<br />coaching his youngest, Brigid, in her fast -
<br />July 2006 Bench &Bar of Minnesota 21
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