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In January 2008, Ms. Berens became the majority shareholder in Kelly & Berens. She is a 1990 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Law, where she was a managing editor of the Minnesota Law review. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Order of Coif. Before law school, Barbara was a stockbroker and a reinsurance broker. She practices in the areas of business and employment litigation and is a former law clerk of the United States District Judge David S. Doty. She served as a Special Master in the NFL/NFLPA antitrust litigation. She was a member of the Advisory Committee on the Local Rules for the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota for six years. She lives in Stillwater, Minnesota.

Education:

• B.A., Major Philosophy, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1975
  • magna cum laude
  • Member, Phi Beta Kappa
  • National Merit Scholarship
• Law School Classes, University of Uppsala, Sweden
• J.D., University of Minnesota Law School, 1990
  • magna cum laude
  • Order of the Coif,
  • Managing Editor, Minnesota Law Review 1989 - 1990
• M.S., Course Work, Counseling Psychology, University of St. Thomas, 1994-1995

Bar Admissions

• Minnesota, 1990
• U.S. District Court of Minnesota, 1990

Professional Associations and Memberships:

• Member, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota Advisory Committee on Local Rules, 2001 - 2007
• Member, Minnesota State Bar Association
• Member, American Bar Association
  • Former Vice-Chair of Immunities & Exceptions Committee of Antitrust Section of the ABA
• American Inns of Court (Douglas K. Amdahl, Minneapolis, MN)
• Former Chairperson of Lex Alumnae (Women’s Alumni Organization at the University of Minnesota Law School)

Published Works:

• Author, "Defendant's Rights to Conduct Ex Parte Interviews with Treating Physicians in Drug or Medical Device Cases", 73 Minn. L. Rev. 1451

Honors and Awards:

• A Minnesota "Superlawyer"

Former License:

• Series VII and Series 63 Securities Licenses, New York, 1976