These dream teams are a hit in the Minneapolis legal community.

Byline: Dan Heilman

Early last week, some key players from the Minneapolis law firm Dorsey & Whitney defeated an opposing team to secure an important win.

The venue of this particular victory was not in a courtroom, but on Bossen Field in south Minneapolis. And the arbiter was not a judge, but an umpire from the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board.

The Dorsey men's softball team emerged from the fray as champions of the six-team Monday Men's #107 League by defeating Minnehaha United Church and finishing with an 8-2-1 won-loss record.

"It's a lot of fun," said Steve Shogren, a Dorsey associate who's captain of the men's slow-pitch team. "It's a good way to meet and learn from other generations. We've got guys in their 50s and 60s as well as some summer associates who are just getting to know the firm."

Dorsey is one of many Twin Cities law firms that offer employees a way of getting to know each other and blow off some steam with a weekly organized softball game. Bigger firms -- such as 80-attorney Maslon, Edelman, Borman & Brand and 185-attorney Fredrikson & Byron -- participate in slow-pitch leagues, as do smaller ones such as 15-lawyer Kinney & Lange.

Legal league