Halla, Trudy J.

Trudy is a shareholder in the firm of Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association and is based in our Minneapolis office. She is a member and former head of the Public Finance Section and has served as an officer and a member of the firm's board of directors. Trudy practices principally in the areas of:

• Public finance
• Banking
• Commercial lending

For more than 27 years, she has provided services to all sides of a tax-exempt bond transaction as bond counsel and as counsel to issuers, underwriters, credit enhancers and borrowers. Trudy concentrates her practice in private activity industrial revenue bonds, multifamily housing bonds, and bonds issued for nonprofit 501(c)(3) entities. Trudy is admitted to practice in New York and Minnesota. She has lectured at seminars for attorneys on tax-exempt financing and related topics.

Trudy was elected a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, fellow of the American College of Bond Lawyers and selected as a "Leading American Attorney." She has also been listed in Minnesota Super Lawyers (as seen in Minnesota Law & Politics ) and among the designation’s "Top 100 Women Super Lawyers" in 2006 and 2007 . In 2004, Trudy was named an "Attorney of the Year" by Minnesota Lawyer.

Trudy is the 2002 recipient of the Hennepin County Bar Association Professionalism Award. The association presents this award annually to a member of the bench or bar who best exemplifies the pursuit of the practice of law as a profession, including a spirit of public service and promotion of the highest possible level of competence, integrity and ethical conduct. The award is granted in the belief that professionalism serves the best interests of clients, fosters respect and trust between lawyers and the public, promotes the efficient resolution of disputes, and improves the administration of justice.

In 2007, Minnesota Women Lawyers recognized Trudy with the organization's Myra Bradwell Award at its annual meeting. In 2004, Trudy received one of the first WOW Achievement Awards from the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce as the Exemplary Woman of the Community. Later in the year, Trudy was also given the "Attorney of the Year" award by Minnesota Lawyer in recognition of leadership during her term as president of Minnesota Women Lawyers, which included organization of the Midwest Regional Conference of Women and the Law.

Trudy is a past president of Minnesota Women Lawyers and of the Hennepin County Bar Association, and is a delegate for the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates, representing the Minnesota State Bar Association. She has served on the executive committee of the Minnesota State Bar Association. She served four years on the board of directors of the Hennepin County Bar Foundation and the Volunteer Lawyers Network, and for five years as an officer and director of the National Association of Bond Lawyers. Other memberships include the Minnesota State and American Bar associations, National Conference of Bar Presidents, and National Association of Bond Lawyers. Trudy is the chair of the Women and the Law Committee for Lex Mundi - The World's Leading Association of Independent Law Firms. She also serves on the board of directors of the Western Golf Association and the Minnesota chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Born in Berwyn, Illinois, Trudy received her B.A. from St. Olaf College and her law degree from Columbia University School of Law. Trudy joined Briggs in 1978 after practicing with a New York City law firm.