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Elizabeth Kniffen Named First Female Managing Partner at Zelle LLP
August 13, 2024Elizabeth (Liz) Kniffen was recently named Managing Partner of Zelle LLP, one of the world’s premier boutique insurance coverage and antitrust law firms. Based in the firm’s Minneapolis, MN office, Liz becomes the first woman to hold that position at Zelle, little more than a year after the firm’s partnership elected her to be the first female member of Zelle’s Executive Committee.
Founded in 1983, Zelle has grown to 100-attorneys with nine domestic offices, as well as an office in London. The firm represents many of the world’s largest insurance carriers in insurance-related disputes, as well as clients in antitrust/competition and other complex business litigation.
Prior to joining the Executive Committee, Liz held several management roles within the firm including serving on Zelle’s Management Committee from 2019 to 2022 and serving as Zelle’s General Counsel from 2020 to 2022. She has also served as a mentor to numerous attorneys during her tenure.
Liz joined Zelle as a summer associate in 2004 and returned as an associate in 2005 after finishing law school. She was elected to the partnership in 2015. Her practice is focused on complex commercial litigation, and insurance and reinsurance disputes.
She is actively involved in the Minneapolis legal community, including serving on the Board of Directors for Twin Cities Diversity in Practice since 2019. She is also a member of Minnesota Women Lawyers (MWL).
Liz is a member of the AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS•U.S.) and serves on the organization’s Technology Committee and Law Committee. She is the past chair of the American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, Excess, Surplus Lines and Reinsurance Committee.
A frequent speaker and author on key issues facing the insurance industry and law firm leadership, she has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in 2024, and was previously named a “Rising Star” by Minnesota Law & Politics, and an “Up and Coming Attorney” by Minnesota Lawyer.
Most recently, she was designated as a “Lawyer of the Year” in the 31st edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. The recipient must have the highest voting average in a particular specialty and metro area to earn the designation. Liz was selected for the Minneapolis, MN metro area in the category of Insurance Law. She was also named as a Best Lawyer in the categories of Insurance Law and Litigation-Insurance.
A native of Coloma, Wisconsin, Liz earned her J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School, and her B.A. in Geography from the University of Minnesota.
