Peter Nelson ’95 featured by Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal
Nelson majored in history at Carleton.
Peter Nelson ’95 was featured in a Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal story titled, “Why Twin Cities: How the roads led back to Minnesota for Dorsey & Whitney managing partner.”
The piece is part of the journal’s Why Twin Cities series, which includes “in-depth profiles exploring why professionals and executives move to our region, why they stay, and how attracting more of them fuels our economy.”
The Twin Cities metro area has one of the highest rates of boomerang migration in the country. Peter Nelson, managing partner at Minneapolis law firm Dorsey & Whitney, is a prime example of that trend.
Nelson, originally from New Jersey, first moved to Minnesota to attend Carleton College in 1991. He met his wife, Jennifer, at the college, and the pair moved to Texas after graduation to go on to graduate school. In 2002, Nelson received his Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center.
Nelson and Jennifer moved back to Minnesota six years later with their two young sons, seeking a stronger community for the family and space for Nelson to grow his legal practice. With ties to Minnesota already established and a strong business community in the Twin Cities, the decision was easy.
“I was at a point in my career where I was going to be up for partner soon, and I really wanted a market that allowed me to take control of my own practice,” Nelson said. “The Twin Cities market was pretty unique in that way of having that level of flexibility, partly because it’s not a huge market, but there are so many big businesses here, and that was a real attraction for me.”
The Business Journal spoke with Nelson about his decision to boomerang back to the cities — what brought him back and why he won’t be leaving anytime soon.