Bill Pentelovitch Elected as President of the ACLU-MN Board of Directors

Maslon is pleased to announce that Bill Pentelovitch, a partner in Maslon's Litigation Group, was elected as the new President of the ACLU-MN Board of Directors. Bill has practiced at Maslon for nearly 41 years and has served on the ACLU-MN's Board of Directors since 2010.

"It has been a pleasure to serve as the President of the ACLU-MN's Board of Directors for the past two years, and I am thrilled to welcome Bill as the new President," said Cris Stainbrook, outgoing President of the ACLU-MN's Board of Directors. "His deep understanding of the ACLU's mission and work will help us build on our momentum and continue to advance the constitutional rights of Minnesotans."

The Minnesota Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is a non-profit organization that protects the civil liberties of all Minnesotans through litigation, public education, and lobbying. Bill officially began his two-year term as President of the Board on April 25, 2015.

"I have been passionate about civil liberties my entire life," said Bill "particularly as they relate to First Amendment freedoms." He continued that "we live in an age of unparalleled access to multiple channels of expression of speech and religion, but all of those channels are subject to constant and insidious threats of erosion or interference from our government, foreign governments, and third parties. I am very excited that in my new role as president I am in a position to ensure that ACLU-MN will continue to remain solidly at the forefront of protecting our First Amendment freedoms, as well as all of our other freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights."

For more information, go to: ACLU-MN.

Bill Pentelovitch is a business trial lawyer with more than 40 years of experience and hundreds of jury and bench trials, as well as dozens of appeals in state and federal courts to his credit. In addition to his active trial practice in a broad range of business disputes, Bill previously served as a board member and general counsel of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota and South Dakota, which he represented in litigation challenging abortion restrictions which was ultimately resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court. He also represented U.S. Senator Al Franken in three appearances before the Minnesota Supreme Court during the canvass of the contested 2008 senatorial election. Among the many cases Bill has handled as a volunteer ACLU-MN attorney, he represented protesters at the 2008 Republican convention in negotiating to protect their right to peaceful protest and challenged the ballot question for the proposed 2012 amendment to the Minnesota Constitution requiring voter identification at polling places.

A MSBA Board Certified Specialist in Civil Trial Law, Bill is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, which holds itself out as being comprised of the 600 best trial lawyers in the world. Bill was the 2014 recipient of the Sidney Barrows Lifetime Commitment Award from the Cardozo Society of the Jewish Federations of Minneapolis and St. Paul for his work in the legal, secular, and Jewish communities.