Richard Kaspari

Richard Kaspari has served as the Representative of Public Employees – Alternate since 2021. He was most recently reappointed in March 2026 to a term ending in January 2030.

Kaspari has represented employees and their unions since 1981. His practice has included advising unions on all aspects of labor law in both the public and private sectors and representing them in arbitration, administrative proceedings, and in state and federal, trial and appellate courts. He began his legal career as an associate attorney at Peterson, Engberg, and Peterson before leaving to become a shareholder at the firm that became Metcalf, Kaspari, Engdahl, and Lazarus. He now serves on staff with the Inter Faculty Organization, representing Minnesota’s state university faculty members, while maintaining a small private practice.

He is a founding member of the AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance and a member of the MSBA Labor and Employment Section. He is currently admitted to practice in Minnesota, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kaspari graduated from Hibbing High School, earned his BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and received his JD from the University of Minnesota Law School.