SMRLS Staff to Receive MJF Outstanding Service Awards

On September 22, 2026, the Minnesota Justice Foundation (MJF) will hold its Annual Awards Celebration to recognize attorneys and advocates who have demonstrated a commitment to public interest legal work. MJF’s Outstanding Service Awards were established in 1991 to honor the dedicated service, achievements, and excellence of students, lawyers in private practice or in-house settings for their pro bono work, and public interest legal service providers.

MJF is thrilled to announce that Ben Weiss and Mary Vrieze of Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS) will be honored this year. Weiss, a senior attorney with SMRLS Saint Paul, will be commended with the Direct Legal Service Award, and Vrieze, a paralegal with SMRLS Rochester, will be recognized with the Advocate Award.

Weiss and Vrieze will be honored alongside MJF award recipients in the categories of Private Practice Lawyer Award, Collaboration Award (new this year), and the Plunkett Christenson Law Student Volunteer Awards. Ignacio Villar Pessagno, one of the law student volunteer awardees, has been a summer law clerk with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid for the past two years.

This year’s Annual Awards Celebration will feature keynote speaker Pete Farrell, Deputy Solicitor General at the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General. In that role, Pete focuses on appellate, constitutional, and regulatory litigation on behalf of the State of Minnesota and its agencies. He also co-leads the office’s Rule of Law division, which specializes in affirmative and defensive litigation against the federal government. Pete’s federal cases currently include litigation over transgender rights, affirmative action, and access to evidence in the shootings of Alex Pretti, Renée Good, and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.

Tickets for MJF’s Awards Celebration on September 22, 2026, at the Campus Club of the University of Minnesota, can be purchased here.