Berger Montague’s Michelle Drake Delivers Keynote for Legal Aid’s Access to Justice Dinner

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – E. Michelle Drake, Executive Shareholder of Berger Montague, a leading national plaintiff law firm, delivered the keynote address at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid’s 2026 Access to Justice Dinner in St. Cloud on October 8, 2026. In her remarks, Ms. Drake described the extraordinary pro bono response of Minnesota’s legal community during Operations Metro Surge and PARRIS, urging attendees to support Legal Aid as a new immigration detention center opens in Appleton.

“I have two asks of all of you tonight. The first is money,” said Ms. Drake. “So, I ask that you all give more than you planned to give, more than you’ve already given.” Ms. Drake then added, “If you have a bar card, you have a tool that most Minnesotans don’t have. Legal Aid will train you and connect you with a case. And when Appleton opens, they are going to need your help.”

When Operation Metro Surge reached Minnesota in early 2026, Drake and her office paused its regular operations and devoted itself to pro bono immigration work, filing habeas petitions alongside Minnesota nonprofits. The Firm also filed a class action on behalf of refugees that led U.S. District Judge John Tunheim to issue an order protecting thousands of refugees in Minnesota from arrest. In her remarks, Drake shared the story of a 16-year-old St. Cloud high school student, a refugee arrested on her way to school, whose sworn declaration supported that case.

Drake credited Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid’s lawyers with guiding the volunteer attorneys—many of them corporate litigators, family lawyers, and estate planners with no immigration background—who filed more than 1,000 habeas petitions in federal court in Minnesota in three months, compared with 73 in the prior 12 months. In the vast majority of those cases, the petitioner was released, or the court ordered a bond hearing. Drake also recognized Minnesota’s federal judges, who heard emergency petitions late at night and on weekends.

The Department of Homeland Security is converting the former Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, within the service area of Legal Aid’s Willmar office, into an immigration detention center that will hold up to 1,600 people.

Additional Information

• Donate to Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid using this link: https://mylegalaid.org/take-action/ways-to-give.
• Watch a video of E. Michelle Drake’s keynote speech here.
• Learn more about Berger Montague’s work on behalf of refugees during Operation PARRIS here: https://bergermontague.com/refugees.

Berger Montague is one of the nation’s preeminent law firms focusing on complex civil litigation, class actions, and mass torts in federal and state courts throughout the United States. With more than $2.4 billion in 2025 post-trial judgments alone, the Firm is a leader in the fields of complex litigation, antitrust, consumer protection, defective products, environmental law, employment law, securities, and whistleblower cases, among many other practice areas. For over 55 years, Berger Montague has played leading roles in precedent-setting cases and has recovered over $50 billion for its clients and the classes they have represented. Berger Montague is headquartered in Philadelphia and has offices in Chicago; Malvern, PA; Minneapolis; San Diego; San Francisco; Toronto, Canada; Washington, DC; and Wilmington, DE.

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E. Michelle Drake

Executive Shareholder

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