Government Relations Attorneys in Minneapolis
Our Team
Robert Tennessen
Attorney Robert Tennessen is a former Minnesota state senator with extensive experience advising clients on a range of issues and industries, including insurance, transportation, privacy, excise taxes, banking, education testing and technology, and regulation of professional licensing. He has represented clients before the following:
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He has also advocated on behalf of clients before Minnesota’s governor and attorney general, and before the Twin Cities’ Metropolitan Council.
Mr. Tennessen's knowledge of state and local government translates into effective problem solving on behalf of his clients. He served for more than a decade in the Minnesota State Senate, where he chaired the Senate Commerce Committee and three subcommittees: Judicial Administration, Data Privacy, and Corrections. He also served on the Committee on Rules, the Judiciary Committee, and the Finance Committee, and he was a member of the Legislative Audit Commission.
Mr. Tennessen remains deeply engaged in the development and analysis of state and federal law. In 1999, he was elected to the prestigious American Law Institute, a legal think tank of judges, academics, and practitioners dedicated to clarifying and simplifying the law. He is also in his 19th year as a state appointee to the national Uniform Law Commission (ULC), which aims to bring clarity and uniformity to critical areas of state law. He is a member of the ULC’s Executive Committee and chairs its Legislative Committee, which has responsibility for obtaining passage of uniform acts by the states.
Early in his career, Mr. Tennessen developed a reputation as an expert in the area of privacy and data practices. While chairing the Minnesota State Senate's Privacy Subcommittee, he authored the landmark Data Practices Act—Minnesota's first comprehensive legislation of its kind—which included a required disclosure by government that came to be known as the Tennessen Warning. The United States Senate later appointed him to serve on the seven-member Federal Privacy Protection Study Commission that issued the seminal work Personal Privacy in an Information Society.
In 1977, Mr. Tennessen participated on behalf of the United States government, in the first Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development conference in Vienna, Austria on Transborder Data Flow. He was also appointed to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court’s advisory committee on court records.
In 2000, Mr. Tennessen was honored by the University of Minnesota School of Social Work’s Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare for his contribution to safeguarding the privacy rights of families served by the child welfare system. The University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts has also honored Mr. Tennessen with its Notable Achievement Award.
A Minnesota native, Mr. Tennessen has been active in community affairs throughout his entire career. He has served on the board of directors for the Guthrie Theater, Washington Federal Saving & Loan Association, Greater Lake Country Food Bank, Groves Academy (past chair), Basilica of St. Mary Finance Council (past chair and organizer), and the Institute on Black Chemical Abuse (now part of African American Family Services).
A veteran of the United States Air Force, Mr. Tennessen received an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Minnesota and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School. He is a current member of the American, Minnesota, and Hennepin County Bar associations. Mr. Tennessen is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts in Minnesota and in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Nina Pribyl
Nina Pribyl has 25 years of experience in the legal profession, with 16 years as part of the government relations team that has become Tennessen Law PLC. Her legal experience covers many areas of law, including financial institutions, litigation, tax, estate planning, real estate, corporations, product liability, and government relations. Her expertise is uniquely adapted to the field of government relations, where she specializes in tracking, monitoring, and reporting on proposed new legislation and its effect on clients’ issues.
Prior to working in law, Ms. Pribyl worked in banking and management of services for two large industry associations, including coordination of educational seminars within the United States and internationally.
Her extensive experience and expertise results in skilled provision of key services to Tennessen Law’s government relations clients:
- Reviewing proposed and pending legislation for application to client issues
- Monitoring and tracking legislation through the legislative process
- Arranging for legislative committee hearings
- Monitoring and tracking state regulatory activity
- Researching issues of interest to clients
