H. Jeffrey Peterson recently spoke at the Annual Meeting of the Minnesota Defense Lawyers. The conference was held in Duluth, Minnesota.   Mr. Peterson, who has tried in excess of 100 jury trials, spoke on "What Works in Mediations and Arbitrations?"

In addition to again being named a Super Lawyer by Minnesota Law & Politics, an honor bestowed upon less than 5% of the attorneys in Minnesota, Mr. Peterson has been named the treasurer of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) for 2007.

Families that practice law together ...
(you know the rest)

At the Virginia, Minn.-based firm of Cope & Peterson Ltd., the practice quite literally is all in the family. Pictured are the firm's five attorneys: (back row, from left)

Jeff Peterson, Jim Cope and John Cope; (front row, from left) Alicia Cope and

Andrew Peterson.

By Jane Pribek
Special to Minnesota Lawyer

It was just happenstance - and perhaps a little youth and naivete - that brothers-in-law H. Jeffrey Peterson and John F. Cope decided to become partners in law in 1976.  Their Virginia, Minn., firm, Cope & Peterson Ltd., has since grown to five attorneys. But, what really makes their story unusual is that all of the lawyers in the firm are related to either Cope or Peterson. All three members of the Cope family who are lawyers work at the firm; as do both the lawyers in the Peterson family. While there is nothing out of the ordinary in families producing multiple lawyers, it is rare, if not unique, that a law firm would be composed of five lawyers drawn from just two families. Part of what made the initial partnership succeed is that they have complementary practices; Jeffrey is a civil litigator, while John changed his focus to transactional work in the mid-70s. "Back then, we weren't competing for work. Rather, we were both looking for work, together," Jeffrey recalls. They found it. And how. To the point where, 11 years later, when John's younger brother, James R. Cope, graduated from law school and joined the firm, he was given a large stack of files and told to "jump in with both feet." But both lawyers also gave him a great deal of guidance, says James, who had earned his J.D. with the sole purpose of returning to Virginia to work with them. It was dejavu all over again, when John's daughter, Alicia L. Cope, and Jeffrey's son, Andrew R. Peterson, started law school in the 1990s. Alicia joined the firm in 1998, followed by Andrew in 2002. The fact that they're all family impresses some clients, says Andrew. It plays well before a jury, adds Jeffrey.  And, it's probably more of an asset in a small town like Virginia, where people tend to know everyone else and family still matters, says John. "We all have roots here, and we've been practicing together for a long time. I think that does matter to clients. Clients know we're going to be here. Continuity is worth something to most people." 

Coping with the Petersons

They all speak of different benefits when it comes to working for a family run law firm.  Jeffrey and John are enjoying the opportunity to work side-by-side with, and teach, their children, who have both gravitated to their fathers' legal concentrations - although both say they've learned quite a bit from the younger generation of lawyers as well.  And, both say that, primarily as a result of working so closely with people whom they love, they have no plans to retire anytime soon. In fact, when and if that time would come, because they're in a family firm, they enjoy significant flexibility and would work when needed or when they wanted to work.  Flexibility is something that Alicia heralds as well. Now a mother of three, ages 6, 4 and six months, she doubts that any other employer would allow her to start at 6:00 a.m. and leave at 3:00 p.m. to take her daughter to dance, for example.  She has additionally benefited from joining a well-established firm, in that she is typically afforded instant credibility and respect because of her surname.  She always does her best to live up to it, she notes.  For his part, Andrew says the comfort level for him, as a new lawyer, has been phenomenal. He never feels like any question is too elementary, or that he's taking up too much of a senior partner's time, when that senior partner is his own dad. He's also trying or settling sizeable cases - an opportunity many new lawyers don't get until they've put in years of legal research or taken countless depositions. All said that the trust level is high. No one's tracking anyone else's billable hours, and no one's concerned about who's driving the best car. "The work ethic is inbred deeply here," remarks John.

Jane Pribek is an editor-at-large with Dolan Media, Minnesota Lawyer's parent company.
She can be reached at janepribek@bellsouth.net.

Reprinted with Permission of Minnesota Lawyer.

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