Jessica Laural Portz Birken

I am an attorney and consultant. I help nonprofits solve problems so they can stop worrying and focus on what matters most -- The Mission. In addition to my law degree I also hold a Masters in Nonprofit Management and worked in-house for several years. 

About me:

Hi, I’m Jess Birken.
I am the owner of Birken Law Office, I help nonprofits solve problems so they can quit worrying and get back to what matters most – The Work. I’m not like most attorneys, I actually have an outgoing personality, and – like you – I like to think outside the box. Most of my clients are passionate and have an entrepreneurial spirit. I’m like that too. My goal is to help you crush it. Getting bogged down in the minutia sucks the joy out of the important work. My clients want to do the work – not the paperwork.

My Credentials
BA, Sociology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (2001)
JD, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, Magna Cum Laude (2007)
MA, Nonprofit Management, Hamline University (2010)
Certified Transformative Mediator
Want more? Check out my LinkedIn profile.
My Biography
I am the former CEO & Managing Partner at Urban Birken PLLC, a boutique firm that specialized in serving the nonprofit community. I have worked with nonprofit organizations for most of my career.

Before becoming a private practice attorney, I spent four years inside a national nonprofit organization, Pheasants Forever.

I worked my way through law school and had the beginnings of a promising career in criminal law after graduation. However, I quickly realized that going to court is depressing! In court, the toothpaste is out of the tube and you’re just trying to clean up the mess. My colleagues reassured me I’d become callous and get used to the grim reality. But I thought that sounded like a terrible personal outcome and decided I needed to change course. I really missed the nonprofit sector. As a result, I went back to grad school and earned a Masters in Nonprofit Management. I rejoined the nonprofit sector through my work with Pheasants Forever where my role was a marriage of attorney work and federal grant management and administration.

Since that time, I have run my own firms. I’m now the owner of Birken Law Office a firm designed to help nonprofits and the arts.