About Timothy Lees

Timothy Lees earned his undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1989, and graduated cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in 1993. Mr. Lees is licensed to practice in the State of Minnesota, U.S. District Court, and the Courts of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community, and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community. Mr. Lees is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association and Ramsey County Bar Association. Since 1994 he has engaged in private practice, and has been named by his peers as a Rising Star and as a Super Lawyer. He has significant successful trial and appellate experience.

Timothy Lees believes that, at its core, the divorce process must be seen as damage control:  Minimize the damage to your finances; minimize the damage to your children; and minimize the impact that the divorce will have on your life going forward.  Accordingly, settlement should be pursued at the earliest opportunity in the proceedings.  This presumes, of course, that both sides are willing to come to the table, make full disclosure, and truly desire settlement.  Resolving issues via negotiated agreement allows you to have input and participate in the decisions that will affect you and your family, versus requiring the Court to make these decisions based on a trial where the Court cannot possibly learn everything that is important regarding you and your family.  Mr. Lees likes to say that resolving a case through negotiation allows you to divide your property with a scalpel, whereas the Court may resolve it with a meat cleaver.  Not all cases need be a war.  In fact, most divorce cases are resolved by settlement.

However, Mr. Lees also recognizes that there are cases that cannot be settled, and that litigation and trial are at times necessary.  The difficult issues which tend to reach trial include spousal maintenance, child custody, complex property cases, and nonmarital claims.  Mr. Lees is very comfortable yet dynamic in the courtroom, and understands that results are garnered by a clean, neat, and cogent presentation of the evidence.