Attorneys / Jake P. Petersen
Jake P. Petersen
Attorney
Practice Groups
Business & Commercial, Business & Commercial Litigation, Corporate Trust Litigation, Corporate Trust Representation, Family Trust & Estate
Biography
Jake Petersen is a litigation attorney focusing on Trust & Estate Litigation. He enjoys helping his clients move on from the deaths of their loved ones by resolving probate disputes.
Jake brings his experience as a broad-spectrum litigator to the Trust & Estate (T&E) practice area. His experience in multiple practice areas, including real estate and business disputes, is valuable in the T&E realm because almost anything can end up in litigation in relation to a Trust or Estate. He helps clients understand and withstand the legally complicated and emotionally taxing litigation process to resolve their problems and move on with their lives.
Jake graduated summa cum laude from Mitchell Hamline School of Law. There, he competed in Mock Trial and won Best Petitioner’s Brief in the 2020 Uvaldo Herrera National Moot Court Competition. After law school, Jake worked at the Hennepin County Probate and Mental Health Court. There, he learned probate procedure from the inside and discovered an appreciation for probate litigation.
Education
- Mitchell Hamline School of Law, J.D., summa cum laude, 2021
- Conflict Resolution Theory and Practice (ADR) Certificate
- Dean’s List, 2018-2020
- Best Petitioner’s Brief, Uvaldo Herrera National Moot Court Competition, 2020
- University of Minnesota, Morris, B.A., 2013
Bar Admissions
- U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
- Minnesota
- Iowa
- North Dakota
- Wisconsin
Judicial Clerkships
- Hennepin County Probate and Mental Health Court, The Honorable Phillip Carruthers, Law Clerk, 2021-2022
- U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, Magistrate Judge Kate Menendez, Law Clerk Extern, 2020
Representative Cases
- Negotiated successful resolution for Trustee children against a suit brought by their brother alleging fraud in their mother’s Trust amendment that disinherited him for how he treated his mother.
- Represented those same Trustees against their other brother who was falsely alleging Trust accounting irregularities.
- Successfully represented widow in taking control of her husband’s Trust that was drafted by his brothers with the intent to disinherit her.
- Negotiated successful resolution for Personal Representative in action brought by a neighboring church alleging lack of capacity in a will change that left everything to Decedent’s disabled sister instead of to the church.
- Represented landowners in central North Dakota to force township to replace a culvert that was flooding their property.
- Negotiated successful resolution on behalf of home seller in action brought by buyer falsely alleging an undisclosed rodent infestation.
- Convinced plaintiff to dismiss his own claims in defamation action against an auto repair shop.
Publications
- The Home Sellers Did Not Disclose a Defect. What Are My Options?, author, Rinke Noonan, July 2022
- Splitting Hairs: Resolving the Circuit Split on AAA Incorporation in Class Arbitration Delegation, author, Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice, Volume 42, Issue 2, June 23, 2021
Seminars
- Representing Clients with Diminished Capacity, presenter, Probate and Trust Law Section Conference, July 22, 2025
- A Discussion of Common Legal Issues Related to Real Estate Sales, co-presenter, St. Cloud Area Association of Realtors, October 9, 2024
Bar Associations
- Minnesota State Bar Association
- Trust and Probate Section
- Animal Law Section
- New Lawyers Section
- Iowa State Bar Association
- State Bar of North Dakota
- State Bar of Wisconsin
- Hennepin County Bar Association
- Stearns-Benton Bar Association
