MacKenzie Hertz

MacKenzie, a shareholder in our Fargo office, is the Chair of the firm’s Employment and Labor Practice Group. She is an employer-side attorney who helps employers stay ahead of workplace challenges and defends them when disputes arise.

Working side by side with Human Resources (HR) teams, executives, and business owners across the region, MacKenzie counsels on workplace policies and compliance, employment contract negotiation and drafting, leave and accommodation requests, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation complaints, discipline and termination, wage-and-hour (FLSA) issues, and non-compete and non-solicitation agreements. She also conducts internal investigations. Her clients value practical and strategic advice that weighs legal risk against the realities of running a business.

MacKenzie has successfully defended employers against dozens of administrative charges before agencies such as the U.S. EEOC, the North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights, and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, and she defends employers in federal and state court. As a former federal judicial clerk to judges on the Eighth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, MacKenzie draws on her unique federal insight to counsel clients. She regularly speaks and trains on emerging employment law developments.

An alumna of the University of Nebraska and the University of Jamestown, MacKenzie is a native of Mott, North Dakota, where her family farms.

ADMISSIONS

• Minnesota
• North Dakota
• U.S. District Courts – North Dakota, Minnesota, Eastern District of Wisconsin
• U.S. Court of Appeals – Eighth Circuit

HONORS, AWARDS, AND INVOLVEMENT

• Great Plains Rising Star®, Thomson Reuters 2023-2026
• Prairie Business, 40 Under 40
• Section Council Member – Minnesota State Bar Association, Labor & Employment Section
• Make-A-Wish North Dakota – Board Member
• American Bar Association, State Bar Association of North Dakota, Minnesota State Bar Association
• Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute and Minnesota Labor and Employment Law Institute – Planning Committees

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• University of Nebraska College of Law, High Distinction – Order of the Coif, Order of the Barristers, Nebraska Law Review, and National Moot Court Team
• University of Jamestown, magna cum laude
• Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Ralph R. Erickson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska
• Judicial Extern to the Honorable John M. Gerrard of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska

SELECT SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS  

• Employment Law Update, N.D. CPA Society Management Conference (2026)
• Risk-Management Strategies for Terminating Employees, Healthcare Financial Management Association (2026)
• Documentation, Discipline, and Termination in the Employee Lifecycle, Vogel Employment Law Seminar (2026)
• What is DEI Discrimination and Where Do We Go from Here?, Labor and Employment Law Institute (2025)
• 2025 Midwest Mashup, Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute (2025)
• Employment Law Updates in North Dakota and Minnesota, Cass County Bar Association (2025)
• Employment Law for the Non-Specialist, State Bar Association of North Dakota (2024)
• Workplace Investigations Workshops, Fargo-Moorhead Human Resources Association & Greater Grand Forks Human Resources Association (2024)
• Managing Leave and Accommodation Requests, Vogel Employment Law Seminar (2024)