Our Team

Thomas Tuft is a shareholder at Tuft, Lach, Jerabek & O’Connell, PLLC practicing in all areas of family law, including complex divorce, spousal maintenance, paternity, child custody, child support, and alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, arbitration, and early neutral evaluations.

John Jerabek is an advocate for his clients in intricate grandparent custody and third-party custody proceedings, as well as juvenile court contested adoption matters. He represents clients in family court and juvenile court appeals.

Named Minneapolis Area “Lawyer of the Year” four times from 2015 – 2021 for Family Law or Family Law Mediation by Best Lawyers in America, Dan O’Connell has been guiding clients through the legal system for 30 years.

Ms. Van Ert has broad experience in the areas of family law, probate, guardianships and estate planning. Additionally, she is a Rule 114 qualified neutral and enjoys helping parties reach creative solutions.

Lindsey O’Connell is a shareholder and practices primarily in the area of family law and does mediations, early neutral evaluations, and parenting consulting. Lindsey’s background and training gives her a distinctive perspective in working with families going through a variety of family transitions.

Alexandra Connell is a shareholder at Tuft, Lach, Jerabek & O’Connell, PLLC. Alexandra is a zealous advocate for her clients in all areas of family law, including but not limited to high asset, complex, and simple divorce, post-divorce, custody, and domestic abuse cases.

James Street, as a retired Family Court Referee, has presided over 2,500 family law proceedings over 12 years. This experience positions him to provide insightful evaluative mediation, moderate settlement conferences, and serve as a special master or consensual special magistrate.

Christopher Vatsaas practices in family law including divorce, child custody, asset and debt division, spousal maintenance, and child support. He is an Adjunct Professor of Advance Family Law at St. Thomas School of Law.

Allyson is an Associate Attorney at Tuft, Lach, Jerabek & O’Connell and practices in the area of family law. She understands the difficult issues families may encounter and is ready to advocate and provide guidance to her clients.

Anna Street is an Associate Attorney at Tuft, Lach, Jerabek & O’Connell, PLLC and has extensive litigation experience in both family law and housing law. She was previously employed by Central Minnesota Legal Services and currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Listening House, a non-profit organization.

Melanie Nelson works in all areas of family law. Prior to joining our firm Melanie was an associate attorney at a mid-sized Minnesota law firm and a law clerk to a referee in Ramsey County Family Court.

Elizabeth Morton Badger is an Associate Attorney at Tuft, Lach, Jerabek & O’Connell. She practices in all areas of family law.

Kate Sorenson is a Staff Attorney at Tuft, Lach, Jerabek & O’Connell, practicing in all areas of family law.

Susan M. Lach successfully litigated complex family law matters for over forty years. She now focuses her practice on ADR, including arbitration, mediation, parenting consulting, and Social and Financial Early Neutral Evaluations.

Kathryn Asper joined the firm in January 2015, bringing with her over 28 years of legal practice experience to her role as a family law paralegal for Partners Dan O’Connell, John Jerabek, and Associate Lindsey O’Connell.

Tammi Maxson joined the firm as a paralegal in 2006. Ms. Maxson received her A.S. degree from Inver Hills Community College in 1996 and earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Metropolitan State University in 2005. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Maxson worked as a clerk for the Honorable Charles H.

Brenda Weaver joined the firm as a paralegal in 2023. Ms. Weaver received her Legal Secretary Certificate from Minneapolis Business College in June 1992.

Tracy Mae Cañete joined the firm in 2012 as a Legal Administrative Assistant after having completed an internship.

Kelly Smith originally joined the firm as an intern in 2002 and was hired shortly thereafter as a Legal Administrative Assistant.

Dylan received his bachelor’s degree in criminology at the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2022. While in Duluth, he worked at a nonprofit organization for homeless youth in the Twin Ports area.

Ms. Jodi Newville received her A.S. Degree in the Legal Secretary program from St. Paul Technical College in 1996.

Olivia Paulson is a Law Clerk at Tuft, Lach, Jerabek & O’Connell, where she assists attorneys in all areas of family law. She is a graduate of Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

Amber J. Peabody began with the firm in 1995 and spent the first several years as a paralegal supporting attorneys working in areas of family law, estate planning, and probate.

Ms. Kanavati received her A.S. degree in Accounting from Minneapolis Community and Technical College in 2016.

Breanna Collins joined our team at Tuft, Lach, Jerabek & O’Connell, PLLC in March of 2016. Ms. Collins has enthusiastically taken on her role as Receptionist by making every individual she encounters feel welcome and at ease.

Kaylie Maxson joined our team at Tuft, Lach, Jerabek & O’Connell, PLLC in April of 2026. Mrs. Maxson has enthusiastically taken on her role as Receptionist by ensuring every client feels comfortable and supported from their first interaction.