Rikke Dierssen-Morice and Suzette Allaire Honored with 2022 Notable Women in Law Award from Twin Cities Business

Rikke Dierssen-Morice, a partner in the Litigation Group, and Suzette Allaire, chief operating officer, have been honored with the 2022 Notable Women in Law award from Twin Cities Business magazine. Rikke and Suzette are recognized for showing the ability to effect change in their law firm roles at a senior level—all while finding time to give back to their communities.

Rikke has been an extraordinary leader both as a partner within Maslon and throughout the region. She manages a dynamic insurance litigation practice, protecting and defending major businesses across Minnesota and beyond—which has been particularly critical amid the pandemic. She has served since her appointment in 2014 by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark as Honorary Consul for Denmark in Minnesota and the Dakotas. As consul, Rikke represents Danish interests, develops commercial relations between Denmark and the U.S., and assists Danish citizens with consular services.

Corporate clients from the Fortune 15 to local leaders count on Rikke, who has successfully handled high-stakes insurance claims in trials throughout the U.S. Assisting over 100 policyholder clients on average annually to recover on small to multimillion-dollar claims, she has zealously fought with insurance companies on behalf of her clients. She is lead counsel for Cargill in litigation seeking recovery of over $57 million under crime coverage, and she leads an action on behalf of Life Time and nearly 150 other fitness centers nationwide seeking insurance recovery of over $150 million for COVID-19 business interruption and delay in completion losses.

Rikke was elected in 2021 as board president of the Danish American Center, and she was elected in 2020 as a fellow at the American College of Coverage Counsel, a distinction based on skill, experience, and high standards of professional and ethical conduct.

Suzette has over 15 years of law firm experience in various roles, including technology, innovation, operations, and finance. Throughout her career, she has led several key initiatives, including implementing case management within a firm's litigation and private client services practices and executing a complex merger and acquisition. At Maslon, she worked with leadership to implement an improved billing system and successfully guided the firm through pandemic challenges, ensuring all operations continued to function seamlessly with uninterrupted dedication to client service.

Beyond her law firm duties, Suzette works as an assistant professor of finance at St. Mary's University in Minneapolis and serves on the advisory board for iWill, a nonprofit created to support women and connect them with tools to rise and succeed in the workplace. She has also served as a board member at a local charter school and at Women Leading in Technology.

Suzette finds the optimal balance between exceling in her role as chief operating officer and satisfying vendors, clients, partners, and her executive board. Her overarching mission is to work with law firm leadership to provide high-value legal services to clients while serving the larger community.

Rikke and Suzette are featured in the February/March print edition of Twin Cities Business and online at TCBmag.com.

To see the award recognition, go to: Twin Cities Business – 2022 Notable Women in Law