Dawn C. Van Tassel
Partner
f612.642.8377
dawn.vantassel@maslon.com
3300 Wells Fargo Center
90 South Seventh Street
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Dawn Van Tassel is a trial lawyer in Maslon's Business Litigation and Labor & Employment Groups, serving clients involved in complex commercial and employment disputes. She represents clients ranging from individuals and small-business owners to global corporations throughout all stages of court proceedings, administrative actions, and privately arbitrated disputes. Her industry experience includes large-scale retailers, medical device, pharmaceuticals, wholesale distribution, manufacturing, and professional services firms.
Dawn's experience spans a wide breadth of litigation and employment matters, including trying cases to judges and juries in federal and state courts, defending employers against charges before the EEOC and state departments of human rights, successfully representing clients in participatory hearings before administrative bodies, trying cases in private arbitration proceedings, and appearing before the appellate courts in Minnesota and elsewhere. She also maintains a robust local-counsel practice, guiding out-of-state lawyers and clients through the intricacies of Minnesota's state and federal courts.
Dawn's passion is evidence; and when she isn't busy putting her experience to work in the courtroom, she enjoys writing and lecturing on hot topics in evidence and civil litigation practice. She also served for many years as an adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law, coaching and lecturing on trial practice, legal research and writing, and appellate advocacy.
Dawn received her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall). She earned her bachelor of arts, summa cum laude, from Augsburg College. Dawn is licensed to practice in the state and federal courts of Minnesota, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Eighth and Eleventh Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Litigation
- Appeals
- Business Litigation
- Employment Litigation
- Labor & Employment
- Defending Employers
- Amicus Curiae Practice
- Eighth Circuit Appeals
- Minnesota Appeals
- Competitive Practices/Unfair Competition
- University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Berkeley, California,
1999
J.D.
Honors: Moot Court Board, Chair, 1998 - 1999
Honors: Boalt Hall Teaching Fellow, 1998 - 1999
Law Journal: Berkeley Technology Law Journal, Articles Editor and Member, 1997 - 1999 - Augsburg College, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
1995
B.A.
Honors: summa cum laude
Major: Communication
- Minnesota, 1999
- U.S. District Court District of Minnesota, 1999
- U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit, 2002
- U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit, 2004
- U.S. Supreme Court, 2004
- William Mitchell College of Law - past Adjunct Professor and Coach
- American Bar Association - Member; Trial Evidence Committee, Member
- Minnesota State Bar Association - Member; Antitrust Section
- Hennepin County Bar Association - Member
- Minnesota Women Lawyers - Member; Judicial Appointments Committee, past Co-Chair
- Minnetonka Choral Society - past President
- St. Joseph's Home for Children - Volunteer Reader
- “Document Preservation Requirements, Spoliation and ‘Litigation Holds’”, Winning the Litigation Doubleheader, Minnesota CLE, 2011
- “Spoliation and Preservation of Evidence”, Minnesota CLE, 2006, 2007, 2010
- “Judicial Notice and Presumptions”, Minnesota Courtroom Evidence Seminar, Minnesota CLE, 2008
- “The Best Seminar You Will Ever Attend: What You Need to Know About False Advertising Law”, Maslon Speaker Series, 2007
- ABA Arbitration Competition, Adjunct Professor and Coach, William Mitchell College of Law, 2006
- "Advocacy", Adjunct Professor, William Mitchell College of Law, 2006
- “Legal Writing”, Adjunct Professor, William Mitchell College of Law, 2002 - 2004
- Combating the Lake Wobegon Effect, (co-author with Jessica Pecoraro) ON Litigation, Volume 3, 2011
- "Going Negative: How an Overlooked Hearsay Exception Can Prove a Positive," Proof, Winter 2010
- ABA TIPS Appellate Advocacy Newsletter, Eighth Circuit Reporter, 2009 - present
- Ch. 2, "Judicial Notice and Presumptions," Minnesota Courtroom Evidence Deskbook , Minnesota Courtroom Evidence Deskbook, Minnesota CLE, November 2008
- Fire at Will: Courts Affirm Employers' Right to Require Non-Compete Agreements, (co-author with Alain Baudry), FindLaw Corporate Counsel Center, February 2005
- Delete At Your Peril: Preserving Electronic Evidence During the Litigation Process, (co-author with Justin Perl), FindLaw Corporate Counsel Center - Litigation/Minnesota, March 2004
- Recognized on Minnesota Rising Stars® list, 2008 - 2009 (Minnesota Rising Stars® is a designation given to only 2.5 percent of Minnesota attorneys each year.)
