Tammera "Tami" Diehm knew she would begin serving as president of Minneapolis business law firm Winthrop & Weinstine in 2021.

The coronavirus pandemic, however, upended plans for drinking coffee and discussing leadership and strategy with retiring President Scott Dongoske during a planned 2020 transition year. The focus instead became transitioning attorneys and staff to remote work while finding creative ways to stay connected.

"As much as that was a change that none of us anticipated or looked forward to it has created a unique opportunity for me to have that year to jump in with both feet and feel like I can hit the ground running," Diehm said.

Diehm, who joined the firm in 2004, is the first woman to serve as Winthrop & Weinstine's president. Dongoske was president for the last 18 years of his 37 at the firm, which has 130 attorneys and was founded in 1979.

Diehm works with clients on complex real estate transactions, drawing on 12 years as an elected member of the Columbia Heights City Council and a city attorney in Mendota Heights. That experience helps her with projects requiring multiple layers of approvals, such as Medtronic's Cardiac Rhythm and Heart Failure Management campus in Mounds View.

Pursuing an interest in city development, Diehm obtained urban planning and political science degrees at Augsburg University. She went back to school after starting a family to earn a law degree at the former William Mitchell College of Law.

Q: What does serving as Winthrop & Weinstine's first female president mean to you?

A: Diversity and inclusion and promoting women within our profession have always been important to me.

The number of women graduating from law school has recently been on par with the number of male graduates.

Yet as you look through the ranks in private practice and particularly into the equity shareholder ranks, the number of women is not on the same level.

It's important to have women in leadership. It adds a really great voice to the discussions. I have a daughter who is in law school so I'm proud that I can show her a path to success.

Q: Is the firm looking to stay at this size, grow or consider options with other local firms going through mergers?

A: We think that we're just about the perfect size. We are a nice mix between having the right level of complexity and having people with specialization and yet we are a firm that also feels very connected to each other.

We're all in one office. We also have a desire to continue to always grow and adapt and specialize so we are continually looking for opportunities where it would make sense for us to add people or add practice groups.

Q: Why should someone work with Winthrop & Weinstine?

A: We distinguish ourselves by being entrepreneurial. We like to work with clients who are running their own business and know that in talking to us they're going to get someone who understands and wants to learn about their business and their business needs. We believe in individuality and diversity, so we embrace the fact that we have a lot of different people with different backgrounds.

We work hard in representing our clients and we're extremely creative when it comes to working through complex issues.

Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in Lake Elmo. His e-mail is todd_nelson@mac.com.