OWATONNA - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Investigator and Paralegal With Smith
• Member of the Minnesota Paralegal Association

Barb Zeman is an investigator and paralegal with Smith, Tollefson, Rahrick & Cass. She grew up on a farm near Owatonna and graduated from Owatonna High School in 1981. She attended Winona State University and graduated summa cum laude in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science degree in the ABA-accredited paralegal studies program. During her studies, Barb was an intern at Smith & Tollefson. After graduation, Barb went to an insurance defense and litigation firm in Fairmont, Minnesota, where she worked in the areas of personal injury litigation, insurance defense work, general litigation, family law, and collections. In October 1986, Barb came back to Smith & Tollefson. She works in personal injury, family law, and other litigation. Her tasks include investigation and witness interviews; client contacts; discovery preparation; document and exhibit preparation; review and analysis of medical, employment, and other records; and document preparation. Barb Zeman is a member of the Minnesota Paralegal Association. Her community activities include teaching Sunday School; volunteering at church; coaching youth sports; being room parent at school; volunteering for other school activities; being an active member/volunteer for the American Cancer Society, Relay for Life, and Brighter Tomorrows; and counseling parents of children fighting cancer.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Bars of Minnesota

Ben Cass of Smith, Tollefson, Rahrick & Cass was born in 1973 and graduated from Amherst High School in Amherst, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, earning a BS degree in applied psychology and an MS degree in secondary school counseling. Ben attended Hamline University Law School, while working as a high school guidance counselor, from August 2002 until January 2006. During his law school career, Ben served as student director for the Innocence Clinic at Hamline University and competed in Moot Court Competition in 2004 and 2005. Ben began clerking at Smith, Tollefson & Rahrick in the summer of 2005, and he stayed with the firm after graduation. Ben's community activities include membership on the board of the Crisis Resource Center, the United Way of Steele County, and the Steele County Bar Association, which he has served as Treasurer and President. Ben is a member of the bars of Minnesota and United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. He practices primarily in the areas of criminal law, family law, and civil litigation.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Bars of Minnesota

Mark Rahrick of Smith, Tollefson, Rahrick & Cass was born in 1964 and graduated from Ipswich High School in Ipswich, South Dakota. He is a 1987 summa cum laude graduate of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, South Dakota, with a BS in physics. Mark worked as a reliability engineer with Honeywell Incorporated; in defense avionics in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and the E.F. Johnson Company in Waseca, Minnesota. Mark attended the University of Minnesota Law School in 1994, from which he graduated cum laude in 1994. During his law school career, he clerked for a large Twin Cities law firm concentrating on the areas of environmental litigation and products liability. He joined the law firm of Smith & Tollefson following graduation. Mark's community activities include membership on the board of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Steele County, SCOPE (a resource center for parents), and church activities. Mark is a member of the bars of Minnesota and the United States District Court for the Districts of Minnesota. He has worked primarily in the area of civil litigation, family law, criminal law, and estate planning.

Richard E. Tollefson joined the firm in 1977 and continued in the general practice of law until his retirement in 2012. In 1981, John Smith died unexpectedly. That same year, Mr. Smith's son, Stephen J. Smith, who had been practicing with Rider, Bennett, Egan & Arundel in Minneapolis, joined Mr. Tollefson in the partnership. In 1994, Mark Rahrick joined the firm, and Benjamin Cass joined the firm in 2006. Barbara Zeman is a paralegal who first started with the firm in 1985. Assisting the legal professionals is a competent and experienced staff, with an average of over twenty-five years' experience. Smith, Tollefson, Rahrick & Cass continues the fifty-year tradition of trial practice and also handles all aspects of legal matters for individuals, business concerns, and units of government. Some of the legal matters handled by the firm are found in the Areas of Practice section of this site.

Smith, Tollefson, Rahrick & Cass has three active attorneys: Stephen J. Smith, Mark J. Rahrick, and Benjamin M. Cass. They are assisted by a certified paralegal, Barbara A. Zeman, and four members of the support staff, who average over twenty-five years in experience. The law firm and attorneys are listed in the Martindale-Hubbell legal directory.

Stephen J. Smith of Smith, Tollefson, Rahrick & Cass was born in 1952, graduated from Marian High School in Owatonna in 1970, and from St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota in 1974. He attended the University of Minnesota Law School, where he served as a writer and editor on the Minnesota Law Review. He graduated in 1979 in the top ten percent of his class. During law school, he clerked for a Wall Street firm in New York and a large litigation firm in Minneapolis. After graduation, Steve practiced in Minneapolis for two years. He returned to Owatonna in 1981 and has practiced there ever since. Steve is a member of the bars of, and has practiced before, the Minnesota Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He served as class counsel in the Minnesota 1988 drought insurance class action litigation and as court-appointed counsel in the liquidation of Diversified Insurer's Company.