Pamela J. Wandzel

Pam is Fredrikson & Byron’s Director of Pro Bono & Community Service.

Pam began work at Fredrikson & Byron in 1993, when she was hired as a staff recruiter in the Human Resources Department. She became a litigation paralegal in 1995 and the firm’s first pro bono coordinator in 1997. Pam managed both positions until 2006, when she became the firm’s full-time Pro Bono & Community Service Coordinator.

As Director of Pro Bono & Community Service, Pam works to ensure that Fredrikson & Byron meets its commitment to the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge by providing a minimum of 3% of our billable work to low-income individuals and the organizations that serve them.

Pro Bono

• Pam works with community organizations to help identify areas of need for pro bono legal services and matches those needs with interested volunteer lawyers within the firm. Pam also works with individual lawyers to identify or develop specific areas of interest and opportunities relating to pro bono.

Community Service

• Pam works with staff and lawyers to coordinate Fredrikson & Byron’s Community Service Program that provides opportunities for all employees to give back to the community through firm-sponsored activities in our communities where we have offices. Through this program, volunteers may feed the homeless, rehabilitate a home for a low-income individual or family, or provide nourishing food for school children. Pam, along with a small board, also oversees the disbursements of funds and the distribution of gifts to low-income families, veterans and senior citizens through a separate nonprofit, Friends of Fredrikson.

Education

• North Hennepin Paralegal Program graduate, Phi Beta Kappa

• #MNCivicLeader Nominee, 2021
• Outstanding Service Award, Minnesota Justice Foundation, 2014
• Unsung Legal Hero, Minnesota Lawyer, 2011 

Professional Activities

• Association of Pro Bono Counsel, Board Member
• New Visions Foundation, Board Member
• Twin Cities Pro Bono Professionals, Member