Barna, Guzy & Steffen LTD. announces the addition of a new associate to our firm. Thomas M. Caturia has joined the firm’s Real Estate and Banking departments. He will be working closely with attorneys practicing in the firm’s growing Real Estate and Banking areas serving existing clients and enhancing the firm’s ability to serve new areas of the community. He joined BGS as law clerk in 2016 prior to receiving his J.D. at Mitchell Hamline School of Law and passing the bar. Before that, he also clerked for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and was a volunteer with the Minnesota Justice Foundation. He will be practicing in a variety of real estate related areas, including: commercial leasing, real estate financial structures, transactions, and real estate management as well as commercial banking. He is excited about this new opportunity in his legal career and says, “It’s truly a blessing to be working with such a great group of attorneys and staff here at BGS. I look forward to a long career working alongside them serving the Minnesota real estate and banking communities.”
Read MoreAs she has for many years, BGS Attorney Carole Clark Isakson recently spent a morning at Osseo Senior High School conducting mock interviews with students. This year nearly FIVE HUNDRED students will participate in mock interviews, which are well designed to give each student a taste of what a real job interview is like. “It is an activity I really enjoy”, said Isakson, “and I know it has tremendous value for the students, many of whom have never interviewed for a job.” Students are randomly assigned to one of the many interviewers, and are evaluated on everything from their responses to questions, to their posture. The interviewers are provided a range of questions that employers may ask, including those general “tell me about yourself” and “what has been your biggest challenge” questions that can temporarily stump even the most practiced adult. Working with students on how to answer those questions in a way that tells a potential employer something good about the student is one of the jobs of the interviewer, but not the only job! Resumes are reviewed and edited, and questions are answered. And while an interviewer works on content, he or she also works with the students on appearance and posture. Most students are aware that eye contact is…
Read MoreA Tradition of Service Since 1938: Barna, Guzy & Steffen Ltd. Celebrates 80 Years of Legal Service Barna, Guzy and Steffen, Ltd (BGS) is a full service law firm providing clients with the personal and professional services they deserve since 1938. The firm was founded by the late Honorable Joseph E. Wargo. Wargo graduated from University of Minnesota Law School in 1938 and he opened his law office in Columbia Heights, where he was raised. Wargo left his office and took a tour of duty with the Navy for World War II. He was later joined by Peter Barna (1953) and Robert Guzy (1958). They moved their combined practice into a remodeled grocery store building in Columbia Heights where they practiced for many years. They merged with Merrill, Hynes and Giancola for a time becoming Barna, Guzy, Merrill, Hynes and Giancola after Wargo left to become a district judge. The firm moved to Coon Rapids in 1991 after a merger with Anoka firm Steffen Munstentieger. Coon Rapids was chosen as a central location between Anoka and Columbia Heights, with the benefit of being close to major highways and the courthouse in Anoka. Over the years, the firm has had mergers, moved, and grown into what is now a 30-attorney law firm serving a…
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