Paul D. Peterson

Paul D. Peterson is a founding partner of Harper & Peterson, P.L.L.C., a Woodbury, Minnesota, law firm with a limited focus on civil litigation. He is a graduate of Florida State University and Hamline University School of Law, cum laude. He is a Board Certified Civil Trial Specialist certified by the NBTA and the MSBA. 

He is licensed in Minnesota and Wisconsin and, with his law partner Bill Harper, has represented clients throughout the United States. Paul is a member of the American Academy of Certified Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He will serve as ABOTA's Minnesota Chapter President in 2012. 

He is a frequent lecturer in continuing education courses on issues relating to personal injury and wrongful death. Paul has been named a Minnesota Super Lawyer from 1999 to the present, and has been consistently named a Top 40 Personal Injury Attorney and a Top 100 Attorney by that publisher. Paul's primary emphasis is on representing individuals and families who have been injured by the wrongful acts of others. He has served as trial and appellate counsel in a number of cases that led to notable decisions in the areas of damages, settlements, insurance bad faith and the interrelationship of third-party tort and workers' compensation law.

Paul served as the 140th President of the Minnesota State Bar Association from 2022-2023.

• Licensed Attorney, Wyoming Federal Courts, Issued Jan 2014Issued Jan 2014
• Licensed Attorney, Western District of Wisconsin Federal Courts, Issued Jul 2011
• Licensed Attorney, Wisconsin State Courts, Issued Feb 1999
• Licensed Attorney, United States District and Circuit Courts, Issued Nov 1990
• Licensed Attorney, Minnesota Federal Courts, Issued Oct 1989
• Licensed Attorney, Minnesota State Courts, Issued Oct 1989
• Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate, The National Board of Trial Advocacy
• Board Certified Civil Trial Specialist, Minnesota State Bar Association

• 2021 Attorney of the Year, Issued by Minnesota Lawyer · Feb 2021

• AV Rating 2002-PRESENT, Issued by Martindale-HubbellIssued by Martindale-Hubbell

• Super Lawyer 1999-PRESENT, Issued by Minnesota Law & Politics

• Top 100 Minnesota lawyers 2003-PRESENT, Issued by SuperLawyers Magazine

• Mitchell Hamline School of Law. Doctor of Law - JD, May 1989 
• Received Juris Doctor degree in May, 1989. Merit scholarship recipient 1986-1989. Two-time recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award. Selected to represent Hamline Law School in two national moot court competitions.

• Florida State University, Bachelor of Arts - BA, History and Political ScienceBachelor of Arts - BA, History and Political ScienceMay 1986May 1986
• Received Bachelor of Arts degree in May, 1986, with dual majors in History and Political Science.

• Founding Partner, Harper & Peterson, St Paul, Minnesota, United States.

• Attorney Paul D. Peterson, LTD. Woodbury, Minnesota, United States.

• Sole shareholder of civil litigation firm. Provide legal services to a variety of clients in the areas of insurance, personal injury, professional liability, commercial and product liability law.Sole shareholder of civil litigation firm. Provide legal services to a variety of clients in the areas of insurance, personal injury, professional liability, commercial and product liability law.

• Shareholder/Treasurer King & Hatch, P.A. St Paul, Minnesota, United States.

• Shareholder and Treasurer of the seven-lawyer civil litigation firm. Provided legal services to employers, manufacturers, state government, local governments, insurance companies and others. Served as lead counsel in the defense of multiple party and class action lawsuits involving issues of insurance, product liability, and employment law.Shareholder and Treasurer of the seven-lawyer civil litigation firm. Provided legal services to employers, manufacturers, state government, local governments, insurance companies and others. Served as lead counsel in the defense of multiple party and class action lawsuits involving issues of insurance, product liability, and employment law. 

• Associate Attorney, Murnane, Conlin, White & Brandt , July 1990 - Jul 1993. St Paul, Minnesota, United States. 

• Associate Attorney for the thirty-lawyer civil litigation firm. Provided legal services to a variety of clients in the litigation of matters involving insurance, employment and product liability law.Associate Attorney for the thirty-lawyer civil litigation firm. Provided legal services to a variety of clients in the litigation of matters involving insurance, employment and product liability law.

• Judicial Law Clerk, Hennepin County District Court, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.

• Coordinated the district court’s civil case assignments, conducted legal research and prepared written orders. Assisted in the trial of civil and criminal cases.