FARGO — On the day she went into foster care, Kirsty Liedman’s childhood home became a scene of chaos. At 5.a.m. on a cold Jan. morning in a house with no heat, 12-year-old Liedman woke up to an unsettling combination of smoke and screams filling her home.
She moved quickly to the living room to wake up her younger brother and sister who were sleeping on the floor and carried them outside to the family car. After rescuing her siblings, Liedman went to the neighbor’s house to call 911.
The fire was caused by a meth lab in the house. Liedman watched from the back of a police car as her father was arrested. Her mother was arrested a few days later, which she and her siblings were not present for.
Liedman became familiar with the law at a very young age. As a former foster child, she has been involved with the justice system for as long as she can remember. Her childhood was filled with child protection workers, visits to prisons and endless interactions with law enforcement.
Fast forward to today, and Liedman stands as a testament to determination and resilience, as she now owns and operates her own law firm, Liedman Law, specializing in family issues.
“If I can make even one person feel safe or know that they have a safe place to go, it’s worth it to me,” Liedman said.
Despite daunting odds faced by foster children, Liedman defied statistics. Only about half of foster children graduate high school, 3% get college degrees and less than 1% earn graduate degrees beyond that, she said.
Recognizing her natural aptitude for academics, Liedman channeled her skills and adverse childhood circumstances into a force for good.
Liedman earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of North Dakota before pursing her legal education at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul. While in law school, she planned on avoiding the subject of family law, having already experienced its complexities in her upbringing.
“I thought, maybe I’ll try something different,” she said. “Maybe something that’s less emotionally taxing.”
But that feeling didn’t stick for long, as Liedman found it impossible to ignore her natural interest in subjects dealing with individuals and families.
“As soon as I got into courses that had anything to do with working with families, I just flourished,” Liedman said
In May 2021, Liedman graduated from law school and passed the bar exam in Oct. of the same year.
After graduation, she secured a position as an associate family attorney at Gjesdahl Law Firm in Fargo, North Dakota. The distinctive aspect of the firm, being a comprehensive practice centered on family law, immediately captured Liedman’s attention. She hoped to leverage her position to help as many people as possible.
“The issues with family law, the things that come up in family law – they don’t discriminate. Nobody is safe from divorce, domestic violence, or child custody issues. It doesn’t discriminate, and neither do I,” Liedman said.
In March 2023, after one and a half years of service, Liedman decided that she wanted to branch off and establish her own law firm.
“I always knew it was something that I wanted to do, and I felt that the opportunity was right,” Leidman said.
In starting her own firm, Liedman was accompanied by a friend and coworker, Melissa Slavik. Slavik was a paralegal at Gjesdahl Law Firm for two years, which is where she met Liedman.
“We had an instant connection, we just worked well together right away,” Slavik said, “We bonded and kept requesting to take cases together.”
The connection between the two grew through their similar backgrounds, both coming from broken homes, Slavik said. They use these shared experiences to fuel their dedication to helping families facing similar challenges.
At first, the pair planned on working remotely until they got enough clients to move into an office space. “We were literally sitting on my kitchen floor with our computers and started taking cases,” Liedman said.
But business came quickly, and the two decided that working remotely wasn’t practical anymore. They moved into a small office in Fargo, North Dakota at the end of June 2023, and have made it their own since.
Specializing in family law, Liedman emphasizes services for same-sex families in Minnesota and North Dakota, addressing legal gaps for the LGBT community. In 2023, Liedman’s consistent dedication earned her admission to the National LGBT+ Bar Association, an honor typically reserved for attorneys with at least five years of experience.
“They normally don’t take attorneys with less than five years of experience,” Slavik said, “but once they spoke to her, they threw that out the window.”
Liedman is one of two attorneys in Minnesota to be admitted, and the only attorney in North Dakota to be admitted.
Less than three years out of law school, Liedman has established herself as a charismatic, respected family attorney in Fargo, already earning national recognition for her commitment to the LGBT community. Looking ahead, she aims to expand her practice, emphasizing her commitment to the children and families that she serves.
“I really do have a true appreciation for this work,” Liedman said, “To be able to do this is an incredible privilege and I don’t take that for granted.”
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