Kiralyn Locke maintains a practice with a focus on professional liability, employment law, trust and estates litigation, and commercial litigation.

In her professional liability practice, Kira counsels lawyers and law firms on various professional liability claims, including legal ethics, legal malpractice, and employment disputes related to legal professionals. In addition to her professional liability practice, Kira conducts employment investigations and represents her clients in employment litigation and trust and estate litigation.

Prior to attending law school, Kira worked as a litigation paralegal, focusing on employment investigations/counseling and products liability. During law school, she represented plaintiffs in EEOC mediations as a certified student attorney at the Mitchell Hamline Employment Discrimination Clinic.

Kira graduated summa cum laude from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, where she was an Articles Editor of the Mitchell Hamline Law Review. Kira serves as the vice chair of the Accountants, Fiduciaries and Financial Professionals Committee for the Professional Liability Defense Federation.

Education

• Mitchell Hamline School of Law, J.D., summa cum laude
  • Mitchell Hamline Employment Discrimination Clinic, Student Director and Certified Student Attorney
  • Mitchell Hamline Law Review, Articles Editor
• University of St. Thomas, B.A.

Bar Admissions

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
• U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
• Minnesota

Judicial Clerkships/Legal Residency

• Minnesota Supreme Court, Justice Gordon Moore, Legal Resident, Spring 2022

Bar Associations

• Minnesota State Bar Association
  • Civil Litigation Section
  • Professionalism and Ethics Section
  • Labor & Employment Law Section
  • Probate, Trusts and Estates Section
• Hennepin County Bar Association

Professional Associations

• ACA International, Inc.
• Minnesota Women Lawyers
• Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers
• Professional Liability Defense Federation
  • Accountants, Fiduciaries, and Financial Professionals, Vice Chair, 2023-present
• Defense Research Institute

Civic Involvement

• Volunteer Lawyers Network, 2023-present

THE BASSFORD BRIEF: Legal Issues for Lawyers | Attorney at Law Magazine

• To Be or Not to Be: Your Client's Trustee, co-author with C. Marshall, Vol. 13, No. 3, March 2024
• How Artificial Intelligence Can Help (And Hurt) Your Practice, co-author with B. Riddle, Vol. 13, No. 2, February 2024
• How Your New Year's Resolution Can Impact Your License to Practice Law, co-author with J. Klander, Vol. 12, No. 1, January 2024
• Are You Prepared? A Law Firm's Intro to Minnesota's Earned Sick and Safe Time, co-authored with K. Kingsbury, Vol 12, No. 12, December 2023
  
• When Is A Mistake Legal Malpractice?, co-author with A. Chudasama, Vol. 12, No. 11, November 2023
  
• Assessing Capacity: A Requirement that Extends Beyond Estate Planners, co-author with S. Sitek, Vol. 12, No. 10, October 2023
  
• Ameliorating Legal Malpractice Malaise: A Minnesota Guide for Minnesota Lawyers, co-author with P. Newman, Vol. 12, No. 9, September 2023
• Tips for Minimizing the Risk of a Law Firm Data Breach, co-author with A. Desteian, Vol. 12, No. 8, August 2023
  
• The Flat Fee Fable: A Cautionary Tale of a Flat Fee Fail, co-author with A. Desteian, Vol. 12, No. 7, July 2023
• Help! My Client Isn't Paying Me!, co-author with J. Klander, Vol. 12, No. 6, June 2023
• Employment Disputes at Law Firms: Why External Aid Trumps an Internal Crusade, co-author with D. Fitzsimmons, Vol. 12, No. 5, May 2023
• Don't Panic: First Steps to Take if Faced With an Ethics Complaint, co-author with A. Desteian, Vol. 12, No. 4, April 2023

Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company | The View

• The Harmless Error Doctrine: What to Know and When to Say "Oh No," co-author with C. Siebenaler, June 2023
• Minnesota’s Comprehensive Non-Compete Reform: Guidance for Employers, co-author with C. Siebenaler, June 2023

The Work Week with Bassford Remele

• A Historic Session for Minnesota Employment Law Concludes, co-author, May 23, 2023
• Legislative Update, author, April 3, 2023

• The Ethics Compass – Guiding Principles for New Lawyers, presenter, Minnesota State Bar Association New Lawyers Seminar, November 3, 2023
  
• How to Avoid Common Ethical Mistakes Made by Criminal Attorneys, co-presenter with A. Desteian, Minnesota Criminal Justice Institute 2023, August 23, 2023
• Pleadings - How to Manage the Rules, Keep Track of the Timelines and Tell Your Client's Story, co-present with A. Desteian, How to Navigate Your First (or Next) Civil Case in Minnesota State Court, August 21, 2023
• Ethical Implications of Employment Investigations, presenter, Bassford Remele The Work Week Annual Employment Seminar, July 20, 2023
• Ethics: Representing Clients with Diminished Capacity, presenter, Probate and Trust Law Section Conference, Minnesota Continuing Legal Education, July 18, 2023
  
• Complying with New Developments in Ethics and Professional Responsibility, presenter, Civil Litigator's Annual Update, Minnesota CLE, April 27, 2023
  
• Legal Ethics: New Developments in Multijurisdictional Practice and Law Firm Cyberattacks, presenter, 2023 Midwest Legal Conference on Data Privacy and Cybersecurity, February 7, 2023
• Hot Topics and Common Ethical Issues in Estate Planning, co-presenter with A. Desteian and Amy Morris Hess, Bassford Remele A Loss of Trust: What Trust and Estate Litigators Think Estate Planners Need to Know, January 24, 2023
• Safeguards Rule, presenter, Bassford Remele In the Alphabet Soup, January 12, 2023
  
• The Privacy Police Are Watching, presenter, American Recovery Association, November 9, 2022