Alumni Connections: David Wallace-Jackson ’87 and Dan Tysver ’86 talk working together in the legal field and what they learned from Carleton

Even decades after graduating, Carleton alumni remain strongly connected to each other — sometimes, they even start a law firm together!

We sat down with David Wallace-Jackson ’87 and Dan Tysver ’86, two of the founding partners of the Forsgren Fisher McCalmont DeMarea Tysver law firm in Minneapolis, to talk about how they went from Carleton students to successful attorneys (and remained close friends throughout the journey).

Wallace-Jackson, a political science major, and Tysver, a physics major, were roommates at Laird Stadium (yes, there used to be dorm rooms there!), ran the Carleton Men’s Group on campus, played intramural basketball, and created a film together with Laura Williams ’88. Both married Carleton classmates, with Tysver marrying Jennifer Stoos ’88 and Wallace-Jackson marrying Emily Wallace-Jackson ’87.

The two went to separate law schools after graduation, but always knew that they wanted to work together, alongside their friend and fellow Carl, Bob Gilbertson ’88, P ’20. After a few years, Wallace-Jackson and Gilbertson were working together in litigation and Tysver had his own firm that focused on patent law for inventors. They decided then that it was time to combine forces at Forsgren Fisher after working closely together on a patent case.

“We formed a firm together because we really wanted to work together,” Tysver said, “and not just because there were a lot of professional connections and good synergy, but just in terms of what we wanted out of the firm. As we thought about it, it really was to some extent trying to recreate the atmosphere we had at Carleton.”

“Even though it’s been just a few years for us,” he continued, laughing with Wallace-Jackson, “we still think back kindly on it.”

They explained that several others now at Forsgren Fisher are also Carleton alumni, including Eric Ernstene ’84, Sarah Crippen ’87, and Becca Rogers ’15.

“There are even more spectacular folks who are part of this fun adventure that we’re on who went elsewhere but share that same kind of spirit,” Wallace-Jackson said.

This spirit, he says, is what he and Tysver both associate with their time at Carleton: “a thirst for knowledge and wanting to help others.”

“To a great degree, I think some of what our mission is all about — to do good, and to do well by doing good for others — was inspired in some important ways by Paul [Wellstone],” Wallace-Jackson said.

The late Paul Wellstone, whom Carleton’s organizing and activism interest house is named after, was a professor of political science at Carleton during Wallace-Jackson and Tysver’s time on campus. They both still have their signs and T-shirts in their offices from when Wellstone ran for and won his U.S. Senate seat, representing Minnesota from 1991 through 2002.

They also credit the late Roy Grow, a beloved international relations professor, as being another influential faculty member for them both. 

“He was a magnificent human being who was just wonderful to know,” Wallace-Jackson said. Both alumni were admirers of Professor Grow, and Wallace-Jackson is still close with Grow’s wife, Mary Lewis.

“He was remarkable in his ability to make people at ease and bring them out of their shells,” Wallace-Jackson said. “It was unbelievable to be in a classroom with Roy. There’s a lot of that [quality] we try to emulate in our practice, too.”

Among the attorneys at Forsgren Fisher, there’s also a connection to Carleton’s student government, the Carleton Student Association (CSA). Tysver and Gilbertson were both CSA presidents their senior years, with Wallace-Jackson serving under Tysver as secretary. Becca Rogers ’15, who now works as counsel with Forsgren Fisher, was also CSA president, as was Jancyn Appel ’23, who interned for the firm and recently received her JD from Creighton University.

Tysver and Wallace-Jackson remember their time in CSA and their interest in politics as a point of connection between them and Paul Wellstone. Tysver has “fabulous memories” listening to civil rights activist and politician Jesse Jackson speak at a rally with Wellstone, and both of their desire to do good for the world stemmed from their experiences with Wellstone and Grow.

“Our firm is a little different from other firms — I know everyone says their firm is different, but we feel our firm is different,” Tysver said. “First of all, we really do want to do good. We have a very active civil rights practice, which is done either pro bono or with reduced fees. At the same time, we do a lot of other work that helps pay for doing the civil rights stuff. We try to have a community we care about and trust, that is very family-oriented. It sounds kind of stupid, but I love my work. I really enjoy my colleagues, I trust them, and I think that’s a relative rarity in legal practice today.”

“A lot of the folks that walk in to see us are not having a good day,” Wallace-Jackson added. “They don’t really want to have to be in a room with us, and we’re sensitive to that. But it’s amazingly powerful when someone who does need help walks through the door and is looking to you and your colleagues to help them. We really take that seriously.”

While much of their work is civil litigation, the firm handles criminal matters as well, primarily in white-collar crime. Wallace-Jackson and his colleagues are also regularly asked to investigate sensitive issues for their clients. These assignments often require balancing aggressive fact-finding with complex legal, ethical, and political dynamics as they try to figure out what’s happened.

“One of [David’s] biggest strengths is communicating with people,” Tysver said. “He’s a sincere person. And I do think that’s what I saw develop in him at Carleton.”

“How do you take the things you learned from Carleton and be successful with it in an area like the law?” he continued. “Like with the Carleton Men’s Group — you sit down and talk about personal issues, and you have to be willing to accept that the person on the other side is listening and caring for you. David does that better than anyone I know. His ability to go in and talk to people is just remarkable.”

Wallace-Jackson complimented Tysver’s ability to communicate with his patent clients as well. 

“When the situation warrants, you’re trying to move people off an idea that’s often fixed in their own head about what a situation is or is not, and that path to success involves changing that mindset,” Wallace-Jackson explained. “That’s what Dan does for his patent clients every day. It’s a very similar skillset, even if no one’s going to go to jail over it.”

When reflecting on his work with Forsgren Fisher, Tysver said that what he most enjoys is the intellectual challenge.

“I don’t want to have a job where I don’t get to think, imagine, and create,” he said. “It’s funny, because I once had an uncle tell me, ‘Dan, you can do anything you want to do, but don’t be a patent attorney. You never get to do anything except describe what other people tell you.’ But I think the opposite. There’s a challenge in understanding and being able to explain stuff in a way that the inventors can’t even explain it. That is fun, and if I didn’t have that challenge to my brain, the job would be boring, or at least harder than it is.”

Wallace-Jackson named an answer for what he enjoys most about Forsgren Fisher that matches what many people give when they talk about their favorite part of Carleton: the people.

“A lot of people spend a lot of time working, but not doing anything they really care about, or not being surrounded by people who inspire them,” he said. “That is not remotely my life, and that is a very privileged position to be in. I get a lot of joy. Every day I’m surrounded by people who are just magnificent, doing important things I really believe are going to help others, but are also just spectacularly good in all sorts of ways that really matter to living a good life.”

Even when Wallace-Jackson and Tysver are feeling burdened by the weight of whatever it is they’re trying to accomplish, they remind themselves that they are “very lucky” to be in the position that they are.

“I can take a deep breath and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got each other, we’ve got a great space to work in, and we’re in a fantastic city that we all love and are committed to,’” Wallace-Jackson said. “There’s a lot to be happy for from where I sit, and that’s not true for everyone. We’re fortunate to have gone to Carleton and be in the position we’re in now, and we’re really grateful.”