Lisa Edison-Smith

Lisa Edison-Smith is a shareholder at Vogel Law Firm in Fargo, North Dakota whose practice focuses on employment and labor law, employment litigation, labor matters, and alternative dispute resolution. Edison-Smith works with private and public employers in North Dakota and Minnesota, including schools and higher-education institutions on discrimination and harassment issues, wage and hour law, employment contracts, policy review, hiring and termination, investigations, benefits, negotiations, and arbitrations. The practice is grounded in the specific legal and business issues reflected in those matters, with attention to the governing law, the client’s objectives, and the practical steps required to move a matter forward.

Edison-Smith’s education includes a law degree from Hamline University School of Law, where she received the Lyons Award for the highest academic standing, and an undergraduate degree in accounting and business administration from North Dakota State University, summa cum laude. She also passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant examination with national distinction. This background supports careful legal analysis, research, writing, and problem solving in the matters handled in practice. It also provides context for evaluating legal risk, explaining available options, and connecting technical rules to the real-world decisions clients need to make.

Edison-Smith’s experience includes advising employers on federal and state compliance, workplace policies, investigations, discrimination claims, wage and hour matters, employee benefits, and labor negotiations and arbitration. Edison-Smith has also clerked for Chief Justice A.M. Keith of the Minnesota Supreme Court and previously spent more than eight years with GTE Corporation in finance and accounting. These matters have involved employment counseling, administrative matters, state and federal litigation, labor negotiations, arbitration, and neutral dispute resolution.

Lisa Edison-Smith has been recognized by Chambers USA, Great Plains Super Lawyers, and Best Lawyers and received a 2026 Lifetime Achievement honor from the YWCA Women of the Year Awards. In July 2026, she was appointed to the North Dakota Ethics Commission. Edison-Smith’s employment-law practice combines counseling, litigation, investigations, labor matters, and alternative dispute resolution, supported by experience in both legal practice and financial and accounting work.

Law Office Affiliations

• Shareholder, Vogel Law Firm
• Member, State Bar Association of North Dakota
• Member, Minnesota State Bar Association
• Member, State Bar of Arizona
• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, North Dakota School Boards Association’s Legal Services Program
• Member, Council of School Attorneys
• Editor, North Dakota Employment Law Letter
• Member, Employers Counsel Network (ECN)
• Member, North Dakota Ethics Commission (2026-2027)

Licensed State

• North Dakota
• Minnesota
• Arizona

Education

• North Dakota State University
  Bachelor’s Degree in accounting and business administration

Awards & Badges