Fourth-generation New Ulmite finishes law school

Heavy metal rocker- turned-lawyer

carries on family

tradition

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- They say the third time is a charm.

How about a fourth-generation University of Minnesota Law School graduate?

A decade ago, Adam F. Gislason, formerly known as Adam Phillips, of New Ulm, would rather would rather sing and blast out heavy metal tunes with his friends Joel Gustad, Ben Schladweiler, Tim Wenninger and Paul Peterson in the local heavy metal rock band "Broken Toyz."

The band, circa 1987-1991, began in a New Ulm garage and made it as far as "The Mirage" and "Ryan's" nightclubs in Minneapolis. It also recorded a cassette tape.

During his late teens, Adam Gislason played the rocker part to the hilt.

He posed for perhaps one of the most unusual high school school graduation photos ever taken.

He had long blonde hair, huge sunglasses bearing the name of his band, torn, faded denum blue jeans that included artwork of everything from an F-16 patch, a peace sign, an elaborate sword and many wristbands. A "76" American flag was loosely-draped, vertically behind him.

He wrote the lyrics and music to "Trust in Your Heart," and "Shut the F____ up, and "You're Driving Me Crazy." Other more notable songs by the band were "Trapped Inside," and "Peace."

His father, New Ulm attorney Dan Gislason, candidly recalled his son's heavy metal days.

"Yuk! I lived in hell for four years," said the Dan Gislason, himself named to the "Super Lawyer" list.

What a difference a decade can make.

Today, Adam Gislason gives a speech when he graduates from the University of Minnesota Law School. He will briefly speak about his family history and about the life of a law student.

"I'm done and a free man," Adam Gislason said via telephone from his Twin Cities residence Friday.

He's free for about a week. Then he'll take a bar exam review course.

He briefly described his life as a law school student for the past three years.

"The first year is always the toughest," he said. "It pretty much consumes your entire life. It's kind of like an intellectual boot camp. It's rewarding too, but only at the end."

He was married his last two years of law school but spent most of his time in class, studying and writing.

Classes were usually three to four hours long. Essay exams at the end of each semester constituted his grades.

"Basically, you have to write down everything you've learned in the essay exams," said Gislason. "You are asked a specific question and have to apply the law to specific facts."

The bar exam will include multiple choice and essay questions on 10 areas of law.

Upon passing the bar exam, Adam will be employed at the law firm of Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel and Gette in Minneapolis.

His wife Helena, hails from Sao Paulo, Brazil, the third-largest city in South America.

Exactly a century before his graduation, his great grandfather, Bjorn B. Gislason, was graduated from the same school, starting the family tradition.

His Grandfather Sidney graduated from the U of M Law School in 1935.

Dan Gislason graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1969.

The tradition goes even further. Adam's great, great uncle Arni B. Gislason and his grandfather Sidney P. Gislason were district court judges in New Ulm.

Sidney gave up his judgeship after a short period.

Sidney didn't like "sitting in his robes and listening to lawyers plead their cases. He found out her preferred the excitement of winning a case," according to a story written by the late and former New Ulm Journal Editor Bill Macklin.

Adam was recently awarded the Amos S. and Benedict S. Deinard Award for Outstanding Note and Comment published in the Minnesota Law Review last June.

The title of his piece was "Demystifying ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Neutral Regulation in Minnesota: The Need for Uniformity and Public Trust in the 21st Century ADR System."

Parts of his work:

"The (ADR) movement is being championed as one of the most important legal progressions the American justice system has encountered and embraced this century.

"... ADR has transformed the modern legal landscape by offering a more efficient and amicable means of resolving civil disputes--an attractive alternative to the traditional adversarial method of public justice.

"The use of ADR is skyrocketing as we approach the next millennium; more and more companies and individual consumers are choose to resolve their simple and complex disputes through ADR rather than litigation.

"... it is far from settled as to what the standards of professional ADR neutral conduct should be and more importantly, who has the responsibility and authority to promulgate (make public) and enforce these standards.

"... Members of the Minnesota ADR community have acclaimed the the Code of Ethics as the first significant step towards statewide regulation of all ADR neutrals, a goal that has yet to be established, much less achieved, in many jurisdictions."