Schaefer Law Firm LLC

 
Andrea Rubenstein graduated from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, Phi Beta Kappa, with a B.A. in English literature.  She received a J.D. degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. After engaging in a general litigation practice, she began practicing plaintiff employment law with Douglas Hedin in 1984. Upon Mr. Hedin's retirement in the fall of 2006, she joined the Schaefer Law Firm, LLC to continue her practice in the field of employment law.

She has counseled and represented employees with respect to a variety of employment issues, from the negotiation and drafting of employment and separation agreements to litigating numerous individual discrimination actions and other employment claims. Andrea has developed a subspecialty in academic employment law, having represented many faculty members in area colleges and universities. She was also class counsel in a number of sex discrimination class actions, including In Re Salary Settlement at the University of Minnesota, Cummisford v. General Mills, Rains/Long vs. City of Minneapolis, along with a disability discrimination class action, Imholte vs. Koch Refining Company, et al.

Andrea has also authored or co-authored amicus briefs in employment cases, including Wirig v. Kinney Shoe Corp. , a sexual harassment case addressing the history and interpretation of an exclusionary clause in the Minnesota Human Rights Act, and Nordling v. NSP Corp. , a whistleblower case with an issue about the termination of the attorney/client relationship in the context of an in-house counsel. She has written other amicus briefs, as well, on issues related to statutory attorney's fees. Andrea is the author of a book chapter entitled, Handling CTD Claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Family and Medical Leave Act, in Litigating Cumulative Trauma Disorder Cases (Wiley Publications, 1977).  Outside the employment law area, she received the approval of the Special Redistricting Panel to submit an amicus brief commenting on discrimination issues in the legislative redistricting following the 2002 census.

She was included as a Minnesota Leading Attorney in American Research Corporation's Consumer Guidebook on Law and Leading Attorneys, 1994-1995, and has been named as a Super Lawyer in past publications of Minnesota Law and Politics.

Andrea was the recipient of the annual Karla Wahl Award by the Minnesota Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association in 2006, and she received an Alumnae Achievement Award from Wheaton College in 2002.  In 2010, she received a Phoenix Award from the Women’s Faculty Cabinet of the University of Minnesota.

She is currently a member of the following professional and community organizations: National Employment Lawyers Association, Minnesota Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Minnesota State Bar Association and the Hennepin County Bar Association. She is also a member of the City of Minneapolis Charter Commission, a long time board member of Alternatives for People with Autism, Inc., a community nonprofit, and a director of Jewish Community Action, also a community nonprofit organization.  She is the former chair of the Lawyers Trust Account Board, the Minneapolis Legal Aid Society, and the Minnesota Women’s Foundation.

Areas of Practice:

Plaintiffs Employment Law
Discrimination
Wrongful Dismissal
Civil Rights

Litigation Percentage:

99% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions:

Minnesota
U.S. District Court District of Minnesota
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals

Education:

University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, Minnesota