Donald M. Lewis

Don is a co-founder and shareholder of Nilan Johnson Lewis in Minneapolis, where his practice has focused on complex employment litigation and internal investigations.  His practice also includes white collar criminal defense, health care litigation, and alternative dispute resolution.

Business entities and government agencies have often engaged Don to lead sensitive, high profile investigations, often involving allegations of executive fraud or other misconduct.  In recent years, he reviewed Hennepin Healthcare’s EMS use of Ketamine to sedate criminal suspects; assisted the Walker Art Center in its review of the acquisition of the controversial Scaffold sculpture; and served as Ramsey County’s special prosecutor in the Jeronimo Yanez/Philando Castile case.  Don has also investigated allegations against Minneapolis police officers regarding improper arrests and use of excessive force; served as general counsel to the independent lay task force appointed by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to review its policies and protocols related to clergy sexual abuse of minors; and investigated the prior knowledge of Saint Paul park and public works officials regarding soil conditions that contributed to the deadly 2013 landslide in Lilydale Regional Park.  Don also conducted the investigation on behalf of University of Minnesota regarding allegations of academic fraud in its men’s basketball program.

From 2008 through 2013, Don served as dean of Hamline University School of Law from July 2008 through December 2013.  At Hamline, Don led a law school of more than 650 students and 42 full-time faculty members.  His strategic plan, which focused on expanding experiential learning and career services opportunities for law students, resulted in substantially improved national rankings by U.S. News & World Report  and Hamline’s designation by The National Jurist magazine as among the top five “best value” and top 20 “most innovative” law schools in the U.S.

Don began his legal career as a trial lawyer with the U.S. Department Justice.  He prosecuted federal white collar crimes as an assistant U.S. attorney in Minneapolis from 1982 to 1988, and was a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division in Washington from 1978 to 1982.

Don is a member of the American Employment Law Council, National Employment Law Council, American Law Institute, and a fellow of both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Bar Association Foundation. He is also a co-founder of the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers and has served on the Board of Governors of the National Bar Association.  He earned his undergraduate degree in journalism at Northwestern University and his law degree at Harvard Law School.