A lot has changed over the last century at Best & Flanagan. One core element remains central: the legacy was and still is about the people.
There’s a certain kind of law firm story everybody expects. Big wins. Bigger clients. Mahogany conference tables. A lot of chest-thumping about excellence. Best & Flanagan could probably tell that story if it wanted to. After all, the Minneapolis-based firm has spent a century building deep client relationships, many with multiple generations of family members, navigating generational business transitions, and quietly becoming one of the most respected firms in the Midwest.
When Board Chair Dan Grimsrud talks about why the firm has lasted 100 years, he doesn’t start with the curriculum vitae. Though there’s a long list of milestones and big wins on the firm’s résumé, he’s more likely to tell you about the big wins on the 11-year-old baseball team he coaches. You can tell instantly, he’s driven by people.
“It’s people for sure. I mean, it’s always people.”
That answer comes fast. Almost too fast. Like it’s written on the wall in his office. At first, it’s a little surprising coming from a guy who once thought he’d leave law after a few years for investment banking or private equity. Now more than 20 years in, it’s clear this message is more than an executive talking point. It’s ingrained in the fabric of the firm. And everyone you meet along the way.
Dan recalled one example over the years was during a remodel of the offices. There was a debate about the most attractive corner in the office, whether it should be used as partner offices or the lunchroom. He’s still proud of the fact that the firm chose to make it the lunchroom so everyone could enjoy it. That matters to Dan.
That’s part of what has kept him, and 90 teammates around so long. And he believes that’s what has helped the firm stand the test of time.
Not because of prestige. Not because of the career ladder. Because of the people. People who showed him what adulthood in an intense profession could look like. People who showed up for each other. People who made work feel human.
“I thought I’d stay at a law firm for three or four years,” Grimsrud says. “Then I got here and met people I really liked, admired, and respected.”
If you listen closely to what Dan is really talking about, you realize that’s the 100-year story of Best & Flanagan. Not survival through dominance. Survival through relationships.
The Stuff That Actually Lasts
Lawyers spend their careers handling transactions, disputes, negotiations, and deals that feel all-consuming in the moment. But when Dan reflects on two decades at the firm, those aren’t the things he remembers most.
“I remember a lot of people, not just the work.”
He talks about colleagues, support staff, spouses, kids, shared life moments — the actual human stuff.
Which feels increasingly rare in professional services, especially in industries obsessed with optimization, scale, and squeezing every ounce of productivity out of every person.
That’s part of why Best & Flanagan’s 100-year milestone feels less like a corporate anniversary and more like proof of philosophy:
If you put people first for long enough, the business part tends to work itself out.
A Law Firm That Refused to Become a Machine
Dan is refreshingly blunt about what it takes for an organization to survive a century.
“You probably have to always have a group of people willing to put the team above themselves.”
That sounds simple. It’s not.
Especially in law, and especially in 2026 where nearly every professional services industry is drifting toward bigger, faster, more efficient business models.
Best & Flanagan made a different bet.
The firm has never tried to be everything to everyone. It hasn’t chased growth at all costs. It hasn’t built its culture around burnout disguised as ambition. And Dan doesn’t seem particularly interested in pretending otherwise.
“I would rather us be gone tomorrow than construct ourselves in a way that impairs that.”
That’s not polished corporate messaging. That’s conviction.
He’s talking specifically about protecting people’s ability to have lives outside the office — to coach baseball, be parents, show up at dinner, and exist as whole humans.
And for Dan, that isn’t theoretical.
Outside the office, he coaches his son’s baseball team — something he talks about with genuine joy. It’s the kind of thing you don’t expect to hear in a conversation with the chair of a law firm. Which is kind of the point. At some firms, coaching a youth baseball team sounds like a stretch. At Best & Flanagan, it feels more like evidence that the culture is actually working.
Because Dan believes the best professionals are people with full lives — people who care deeply about their work and about the humans waiting for them when they get home.
“By being a full, whole person, I’m more capable of taking on clients’ challenges as my own.”
That mindset shows up in all of the small decisions that quietly define culture.
Clients Don’t Want Perfect Lawyers. They Want Real Ones.
Best & Flanagan has built its reputation partly by being comfortable saying this is who we are and this is who we aren’t.
“Authenticity builds trust.”
Again — not exactly standard legal industry branding language. But it explains a lot about how the firm operates. No pretending. No forced polish. No acting like every problem requires a 47-person legal task force. That authenticity matters because most clients aren’t looking for theatrical expertise. They’re looking for someone who will genuinely care about the problem sitting on the table.
As Grimsrud puts it, “They want to feel like you’ve accepted the premise that your problem is now our problem.”
That line probably explains more about the firm’s longevity than any mission statement ever could.
Clients remember competence. But they stay for trust. And trust usually comes from feeling understood.
The Third-Generation Handshake
Throughout its history, Best & Flanagan has represented generations of families. Dan recently represented a client whose relationship with Best & Flanagan stretches back more than 75 years.
Three generations of lawyers. Nearly eight decades. The kind of continuity that barely exists anymore.
The goal isn’t just to solve legal problems. It’s to become the kind of advisor clients call before the legal problem even exists.
Sometimes the answer is legal. Sometimes it’s operational. Sometimes it’s strategic. Sometimes it’s simply helping people think clearly during difficult moments.
That’s harder to scale than billable hours. It’s not easy but it works pretty well over 100 years.
The Real Legacy
Dan hopes the next century is defined by the legacy Best & Flanagan represents to this point. The next chapter isn’t marked by buzz words or market position. It’s simply:
“Human connection.”
He talks about wanting the firm to remain a place where people can walk into someone’s office when life gets hard. Where colleagues actually know each other. Where clients feel supported beyond the transaction. Where ambition and humanity aren’t treated like opposing forces.
And honestly, that may be the most radical thing about Best & Flanagan after 100 years.
Not that it survived. But how it survived.
Not by becoming less human as it grew. But by protecting the human parts on purpose.
A place where colleagues attend weddings, graduations, and are godparents to each other’s children. Where teammates in the office are coaches on the field.
The personal stories matter.
The lunchroom matters.
The ability to commit fully to your client’s problems matters.
Knowing you can do it because you know your team has your back when you’re navigating your own. That matters.
That’s a legacy he’s proud of and hopes will continue on. Because after 100 years, Best & Flanagan seems to understand something a lot of companies forget: People don’t dedicate their lives to business. They dedicate their lives to people who do meaningful work.
Best & Flanagan is celebrating 100 years of serving clients, businesses, and communities with a people-first approach to law. Learn more at bestlaw.com.