Legal Aid - Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid

08/27/2026

MONDAY's Mental Health Awareness Day at the state fair! Bring your friends and family to Dan Patch Park near the State Fair Grandstand to meet our MN Disability Law Center and learn about mental health services and supports in Minnesota. We'll be there 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

08/26/2026

🎬 We are Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. We empower clients with free legal assistance and here, through the magic of video, we invite you to get a glimpse our justice mission.

"I work at Legal Aid and this video makes me tear up every single time I watch it. I’m so proud of the work my colleagues do and the bravery our clients demonstrate.”
- Attorney, Jessica Heiser

“This is a mere glimpse of the work and impact our legal teams have in representing Minnesota’s most vulnerable. As we face pushback from those who threaten the rule of law by taking our neighbors and gutting our funding to fight for the rights of our elderly, marginalized and impoverished clients, I urge you to watch and thank you. Doing so, you’ll see exactly what’s at stake in making sure Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid and our Minnesota Disability Law Center are here to stay.”
- Executive Director, Milo Mumgaard

Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid advocates for the legal rights of disadvant...

08/24/2026

From our office in beautiful Mankato, Vienna, grant manager of our Minnesota Disability Law Center, invites you to complete MDLC’s 5-year planning survey. We protect Minnesotans from abuse and neglect throughout the state and we don't do it alone. We take guidance from you! 🙏 See “Guide our work.” https://mylegalaid.org/disability-law-center/

08/18/2026

Good news! Application deadline extended to Sunday, Aug. 23. https://www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.php/portal/0BDCF72F76A2DE31FE1CDA7DC1365A08/jobs/48501

Applications due! Join the fight for housing justice with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. Apply by Aug. 18 for consideration as a staff attorney with our housing team.

• Apply the principles of MMLA's Racial Justice Values Statement in all interactions.

• Focus on civil litigation in housing law to defend evictions, secure safe and healthy housing, and prevent housing discrimination in court and administrative settings.

• Professionally maintain an active litigation caseload, including hearings and trials.

• Additional duties may include complex litigation, policy advocacy, and community education.

See posting at https://www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.php/portal/0BDCF72F76A2DE31FE1CDA7DC1365A08/jobs/48501 or at mylegalaid.org (About us > Employment.)

Alt text: Graphic art image of light blue sign on dark blue background that reads: Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, we’re hiring housing staff Atty applications due August 18 visit my Legalaid.org, About Us, Employment.

08/17/2026

Applications due! Join the fight for housing justice with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. Apply by Aug. 18 for consideration as a staff attorney with our housing team.

• Apply the principles of MMLA's Racial Justice Values Statement in all interactions.

• Focus on civil litigation in housing law to defend evictions, secure safe and healthy housing, and prevent housing discrimination in court and administrative settings.

• Professionally maintain an active litigation caseload, including hearings and trials.

• Additional duties may include complex litigation, policy advocacy, and community education.

See posting at https://www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.php/portal/0BDCF72F76A2DE31FE1CDA7DC1365A08/jobs/48501 or at mylegalaid.org (About us > Employment.)

Alt text: Graphic art image of light blue sign on dark blue background that reads: Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, we’re hiring housing staff Atty applications due August 18 visit my Legalaid.org, About Us, Employment.

08/17/2026

In an unusual winding through the courts, the case of former Legal Aid clients, now represented by the MN Attorney General, gives them new reason to hope. Legal Aid Litigation Director Luke Grundman reflects on twists and turns in lawsuit reviewed by MN Appeals Court. Story neatly summed up by Minnesota Star Tribune reporter Jp Lawrence.


https://bit.ly/4hz00FH

A multi-million dollar legal battle over conditions at the Broadmoor Valley mobile home park in Marshall is getting a do-over. A state appeals court just ruled that the original trial was plagued by legal errors.

08/15/2026

With thanks to Access Press, please see our toolkit to volunteer, to share or to invite us!
https://mylegalaid.org/voter-accessibility-toolkit/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Minneapolis, Minn.) — The Voter Access Project of the Minnesota Disability Law Center, a division of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, along with the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office, seeks the public’s help to ensure people with disabilities can access the polls this electi...

08/14/2026

Laws governing utilities are complex. For decades, Attorney Gary Van Winkle has been helping Legal Aid clients challenge third-party utility billers, which don't offer the same consumer protections customers get when they pay utility companies directly. As he explains to the Star Tribune, this is increasingly the plight of renters. It’s one reason he's been imparting his knowledge to law students at the University Of St Thomas Law School — in the hope more attorneys can help. Gary holds up the sheaf of papers of one student's utility law project, giving us an idea of the sheer complexity of a case and burdens most often carried by low-income renters.


https://www.startribune.com/these-aging-minnesotans-could-be-priced-out-of-their-forever-homes/601866346?utm_source=gift

08/13/2026

Consummate pro and a tireless mentor (to the next generation of consumer and tax lawyers, like Saeks Fellow Madelyn Nelson), Supervising Attorney Beth Goodell leaves Legal Aid and our clients better than she found us!

We bid a fond farewell to her as she enters retirement. One of the many remarkable things that made Beth a standout is she never forgot that every case began with an intake specialist. As she did during her tenure, she sent a final rundown to the intake team on her last day, letting them know about successful legal outcomes that started with them!

• Client's bank account garnished, $13K in tax credits frozen. We got it all back.
• Client sued for $1500. We got the other side to release the debt.
• Client sued by fly-by-night operation. We defended and got rid of the $13K debt.

Her list goes on, listing countless more successful outcomes followed by the name of the intake specialist, but the gist is "We." Beth looked at every outcome as a team effort.

Another keen dimension to Beth's legacy is that clients achieved at least one of their goals in over 95% of her cases. No small feat, as she handled over 40 different types of cases during her time at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid.

A University of Pennsylvania Law School grad, Beth easily could have had a very lucrative career anywhere but instead devoted her entire legal career to Legal Aid in Philadelphia and Minneapolis.

"To me there’s nothing more rewarding than representing people who wouldn’t be able to have a lawyer otherwise."

Asked what "superpower" she wished she had, Beth says being a lawyer is a superpower. "My wish is that everyone would have one."

Safe to say, everyone who had Beth as their counsel, had one of the best. Thank you, Beth, for all you gave to clients and colleagues alike and for modeling collegial generosity. We will miss you.

08/11/2026

Doing her civic duty and then some! Thank you, Jessica Heiser and volunteers across the great state of Minnesota, who dedicated extra time TODAY at the polls on behalf of neighbors with disabilities.

Each election cycle, our MN Disability Law Center recruits volunteers to assess polling sites (they ask election judges a set of questions and take measurements, it’s that simple) to be sure accessibility standards are in place.

And you can too! We need help during the general election, Nov. 3. The time commitment can be minimal (1hr to train online + 45 min. at the polling site.) or you can devote more time by visiting more than one site!

Sign up and spread the word!

https://mylegalaid.org/voter-accessibility-toolkit/

Remember voting rights and disability rights are civil rights!



Alt text: Individual with long blonde hair and sunglasses enters a polling site in photo one; in photo two, she is holding survey papers and taking measurements.