The Fredrikson Law Firm Lecture -- in honor of John P. Byron

The Fredrikson Law Firm Lecture ~ in honor of John Byron

John P. Byron was a founding member of the law firm of Fredrikson & Byron, where he practiced until his retirement in 1996. John attended the College of St. Thomas, and received his law degree from the University of Minnesota in 1953. He served in the U.S. Navy aboard the U.S.S. Princeton during the Korean War. He passed away in December of 2010.

John's principal areas of practice were in the areas of trusts and estates, closely held corporations, health law, and business planning, but his influence and reputation reached all corners of the practice of law in Minnesota. John was one of the principal architects of mandatory Continuing Legal Education for lawyers, which is one of the cornerstones for maintaining high levels of competence and professionalism for all practicing lawyers and judges in the state. John was also a pioneer in the development and implementation of curricula for the professional education of paralegals in Minnesota.

John was instrumental in the growth of Fredrikson & Byron, which had only a handful of attorneys when he arrived in 1955. During his career, John served the firm in many different leadership and management capacities, and the Fredrikson & Byron of today strongly reflects his influence.

In 2013, the Fredrikson & Byron lecture was held on Wednesday, March 20, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.  in the  Schulze Hall Auditorium, Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas Minneapolis Campus. The title was 

Building Trust to Transform Healthcare:  
A Dialogue Across the Professions of Law, Medicine, and Business

Bill George, Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School, Former Medtronic CEO, and director for the Mayo Clinic, ExxonMobil, and Goldman Sachs

Dr. Michael Brennan, M.D., Director of the Mayo Clinic’s Program in Professionalism and Ethics and Professor of Medicine

Barbara Tretheway, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, HealthPartners

Dannette Smith, Deputy General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Directors, United Healthcare

Neil Hamilton, Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions and Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law

This is the annual Fredrikson & Byron Law Firm Lecture in honor of John Byron and a Medtronic Business and Law Roundtable.

Past Fredrikson Law Firm Lectures