For Ciresi, another departure

Mike Ciresi, who just stepped away from the U.S. Senate race as a DFL candidate, also is stepping down as chairman of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, after 25 years on the law firm's executive board.

"Twenty-five years is long enough," Ciresi said. "I told the firm that I was stepping down at the end of my term regardless of whether I went to the U.S. Senate."

Ciresi, 62, remains a named partner of the Minneapolis firm.

"I love the practice of law. But I'm not sure I will practice at the level that I have in the past. I may, and I may choose to go a different path. I'm evaluating that," Ciresi said.

A national litigator who won several showcase trials, Ciresi is best known for directing the Minnesota strategy that led to a $6 billion settlement for the state in 1998 against tobacco companies. The settlement provides Minnesota with up to $200 million a year.

Martin Lueck, 51, was elected to succeed Ciresi as chairman of the board. Lueck, chair of the business litigation group since 1999 and a board member since 1996, has been recognized as a top litigator by National Law Journal and other publications.

There's new blood at Fallon North America, the famed Minneapolis advertising agency that has struggled in recent years. The firm announced last week that 43-year-old Chris Foster will assume the vacant post of chief executive officer. Foster comes to Fallon from Saatchi & Saatchi New York, Fallon's corporate sister under Publicis Groupe.

Foster's move means agency founder Pat Fallon is moving away from some of his operational duties. Fallon, who remains chairman of the firm, said Foster's promotion will help the firm "regain our rightful place of prominence" in the advertising world.

Past Fallon clients include BMW, United Airlines and CitiGroup.

NEAL ST. ANTHONY, DAVID PHELPS