Jacob Harksen
Attorney
612.334.9015
PRACTICE AREAS
– Labor Law
– Employment Law
– Civil Litigation
– Mediation & Arbitration
– Contract Negotiations
– Disability Discrimination
– Defamation & Free Speech
EDUCATION
University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, 2018
BAR ADMISSIONS
State of Minnesota
U.S. District Court,
District of Minnesota
Jacob Harksen is an associate attorney with Louris Marshall O’Brien. Jacob became a lawyer specifically to represent workers and their unions, and he has been fortunate to do exactly that in a variety of contexts before joining LMO in January 2025. A creative and strategic thinker, Jacob is passionate about bringing his strengths to bear in service of the labor movement, defending workers’ rights, and holding employers accountable.
Jacob’s experience includes representing labor organizations in unfair labor practice and representation cases before the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and in litigation. He also previously served as in-house counsel for a nurses’ union, where he successfully negotiated collective-bargaining agreements in the public and private sectors and advised union staff on grievances and a wide range of state and federal labor and employment law issues.
Jacob is also an experienced litigator in state and federal courts, where he has represented employees and individuals in employment discrimination cases and related matters. Prior to joining LMO, Jacob represented many railroad employees in lawsuits against a major U.S. railway for disability discrimination. He was also previously a law clerk for the Honorable Eric C. Tostrud, U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Minnesota.
Some of Jacob’s representative past successes for his clients include:
- Jacob negotiated collective-bargaining agreements on behalf of registered nurses at small public health districts, large private hospital networks, a public university, and a private ambulance company, helping the nurses achieve substantial wage gains and other contract improvements following the COVID-19 pandemic.
- When the technical theater faculty at an art college wanted to join the existing faculty bargaining unit, Jacob represented the workers in a “self-determination” election at the NLRB. The NLRB regional office agreed that the workers should be included in the existing unit, and the workers won the right to vote on whether to join the union, which they then did.
- When an employee with over 30 years of experience lost his job with a major railroad because the railroad believed he was not medically fit to continue working, Jacob represented the employee in a lawsuit in federal court asserting claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Jacob was able to obtain a sizable settlement for his client at an early stage in the case, avoiding drawn-out litigation.
- After a city council member publicly criticized two police officers for killing an unarmed man, the officers sued the council member for defamation in federal court. The case was dismissed by the district court but reversed by the court of appeals twice before Jacob got involved. Representing the council member, Jacob succeeded in having the case first narrowed and then dismissed again, a decision which the court of appeals finally upheld.
Jacob graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2018 with a concentration in labor and employment law. During law school, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law, interned at Region 18 of the National Labor Relations Board, was the co-president of the Student Employment and Labor Law Association, and taught legal writing as a student instructor. He was the recipient of the Minnesota State Bar Association Excellence in Labor Law Award, the ABA-Bloomberg BNA Award for Excellence in Labor and Employment Law, and multiple awards for his legal writing and scholarship.
Before attending law school, Jacob earned his Master of Arts degree in creative writing and worked as a bookseller at a large independent bookstore in Seattle, Washington.