Email: ben@hallerkwan.com

Main/Consultations: 612-206-3761

Direct: 612-326-5025

Fax: 612-808-0282

10.0Benjamin Reid Kwan
Benjamin Reid KwanReviewsout of 10 reviews
Benjamin Kwan
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Professional Affiliations

Former President and Judicial Committee Co-Chair, Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association (‘13-’24)

Former Board Member, Minnesota Chapter, Federal Bar Association ('17-'20)

Governing Council Member, Minnesota State Bar Association Labor & Employment Section ('17-'21) 

Member, Minnesota State Bar Association

Member, Minnesota Chapter, National Employment Lawyers Association

 

Ben Kwan

Managing Partner

In or out of the courtroom, Ben Kwan’s innate ability to share a compelling story drives his client advocacy. Prior to law school, he put that talent to use as a television news anchor and reporter with CBS and FOX affiliates in Michigan and working with a South African national news network in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

As a Partner and Founder of Haller Kwan LLP, Ben primarily represents employees who have been treated illegally in the workplace. Clients and colleagues welcome his strong voice, patient listening skills, and creative legal mind. He’s a dynamic advocate for wrongfully terminated employees, those thrust into a whistleblower role, and those who have experienced discrimination and retaliation. Ben also counsels employees facing various other legal dilemmas including exit counseling, severance negotiations, non-compete advice, and other employment contracts. 

Ben’s empathy for workers was nurtured from an early age. “My father is an immigrant from China. He arrived with the proverbial ‘nothing but the clothes on his back.’ To him, work was the only path to a better life and – quite frankly – dignity. To this day, my father serves as a role model for my advocacy. Work in restaurants was his path to dignity and meaning.”

Understanding the indignities caused by discrimination or losing a job, Ben works hard to put clients first, and at ease. To him, it’s personal. Spending extra time to ensure a client understands the legal process, making the additional phone call or sending the detailed email, are all part of Ben’s commitment to help his clients move forward with their lives.

In 2022, Ben became a board certified specialist in his field. The Minnesota State Bar Association named him the only attorney in the state of Minnesota to earn the designation of Board Certified Specialist in Labor and Employment Law during its two-year exam and credentialing cycle. Board certification is a credential earned by fewer than 3% of lawyers licensed to practice law in the State of Minnesota.

A Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of St. Thomas School of Law, Ben served as the Note & Comment Editor of the UST Law Journal. He currently serves as the Judicial Selection Committee Co-Chair of the Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association where he formerly served as President in 2016-2017.

Ben perhaps learned the most about life and people slinging chop suey at his family’s restaurant, the former Red Moon Chinese Cafe in Eden Prairie, until his dad’s retirement in May 2020. Ben grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota, and is a proud graduate of John F. Kennedy High School. He’s an avid road cyclist, is working on writing his first novel (ask how it’s going, a little accountability won’t hurt), and thinks there’s nothing better than a pontoon afternoon.

Bar Admissions

Minnesota

United States District Court, District of Minnesota

United States District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin

Qualifications

Board Certification

  • MSBA Certified Specialist in Labor & Employment Law since 2022

Qualified Mediator

  • Minnesota Rule 114 Qualified Neutral since 2018

Education

University of St. Thomas School of Law

  • J.D. (magna cum laude)

  • Honors: Dean’s List all six semesters, Dean's Awards for top grades in a half dozen courses including legal writing and complex litigation

  • Note & Comment Editor, UST Law Journal

Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism

  • B.S. Journalism and Asian and Middle East Studies (China Concentration)

The Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis

  • 2023 Year-Long Novel Writing Project

TEACHING AS ADJUNCT PROFESSOR

University of St. Thomas School of Law

  • US Law Seminar for LL.M students—lawyers from abroad (2018 to 2022)

  • Small Firm Practice Management (2020 to 2022)

Published Works

Speaking Engagements

  • Faculty, "Three Steps to Becoming a Better Litigator—Start at the Beginning: Intake, Interviews, Initiating Suit," Minnesota Continuing Legal Education, February 27, 2018.

  • Panelist, "On the Path to Lawyer Well-Being," MSBA New Lawyer Leadership Conference, November 2017

  • Speaker, Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association Annual Gala, September 2017

  • Featured Speaker, Stinson Leonard Street Diversity Scholars Reception, April 2017

  • Moderator, Affinity Bars Law Student Jobs Symposium, March 2017

  • Presenter, Issues in Employment Law for Transgender Minnesotans, Douglas K. Amdahl American Inn of Court, November 2016.

  • Panelist, Open Doors Program, Federal Bar Association, April and May 2015.

  • Panelist, Open Doors Program, Federal Bar Association, May 2014.

Prior Legal and Other Professional Experience

  • Halunen Law, 2015-2017 (associate)

  • Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A., 2011 (summer associate), 2012 (summer associate), 2013-2015 (associate)

  • News Anchor & Reporter, WWTV-TV (CBS) and WFQX-TV (FOX) in Michigan, 2005-2009

  • News Reporter, ETV, Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa, 2004