Overview
Jon Dalager joined Eckberg Lammers in 2024 after a distinguished career in higher education as a professor, dean, and administrator for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Dalager is a Minnesota native, originally from Morris in the West Central part of the state. He earned a diploma from Brown Institute in Radio and Television Broadcasting and then attended the University of Minnesota Morris, where he majored in Political Science and Speech Communication. He attended the University of Minnesota Law School, receiving his J.D., and was admitted to the State and Federal Bars of Minnesota and North Dakota.
Jon practiced law in Breckenridge, Minnesota with the firm of McCartney and Dalager, and then returned to his hometown where he practiced with the firm of Fluegel, Anderson, Dalager, Dalager, and Seibel. Jon and his wife continued their education at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana where he earned his doctorate in Political Science. He was admitted to the Illinois Bar and worked part-time for the Champaign City Attorney while attending graduate school.
Jon accepted a position at Georgetown College near Lexington, Kentucky where he served as a professor of political science and pre-law advisor. Jon coached the mock trial team, created a pre-law student organization, established an attorney mentorship program, and taught courses in Constitutional Law, Civil Rights and Liberties, the American Legal System, and more. Jon was admitted to the Kentucky State Bar and the Federal Bar of the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky. When not teaching at Georgetown, Jon worked for the law firm of McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie, and Kirkland, PC in Lexington. His academic research focused on legal issues in higher education, and he is an internationally recognized scholar with many publications and presentations concerning academic freedom, faculty tenure, employment law in higher education, and equity practices.
As a system director for Minnesota State, Jon worked with the law enforcement program directors and faculty at the 30 two-year colleges and seven state universities in the system. Among his accomplishments, he drafted an intra-agency agreement for the Law Enforcement Consortium between six metro area colleges and served on the Law Enforcement Consortium Council, he was the system’s liaison to the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board, and served on the statewide Minnesota State Taskforce on Law Enforcement Education Reform and Inver Hills Community College’s Collaborative Law Enforcement Task Force on Racial Equity in Law Enforcement Education.
In addition to his legal work for Eckberg Lammers, Jon is currently teaching online courses for Alexandria Technical and Community College in Criminal Justice and Constitutional Democracy and Government and will be teaching Juvenile Justice in the Spring of 2025.
Jon is an avid downhill skier and a supporter of Minnesota United soccer team. He regularly volunteers with the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival, the Twin Cities Film Festival, Twin Cities Public Television, and the Open Door Community Theater in Woodbury. He has served as a board member and president of the Minnesota Fulbright Association, a board member and president of the University of Minnesota Morris Alumni Association, and a board member of the Minnesota Sinfonia.
Education
University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, MN,
– J.D.
University of Illinois, Urbana, IL,
– MA, PH.D.
St. Cloud State University, Higher Education and Student Affairs,
– MA
University of Minnesota, Morris, MN,
– BA
Bar Admissions
Minnesota
North Dakota (inactive)
Illinois (inactive)
Kentucky (inactive)
U.S. District Court of Minnesota
U.S. District Court of North Dakota
U.S. District Court of Eastern District of Kentucky
U.S. District Court of Western District of Kentucky
Professional Affiliations
Minnesota State Bar Association
Community Involvement
Southern MN Regional Legal Services 2024-present
Northwest MN Legal Services 1982-1988
Publications
“Supervising Faculty – Legal Issues for Deans.” ACAD Resource Handbook for Academic Deans, 3rd edition. January 2014.
“Legal Issues in Faculty Evaluation.” ACAD Resource Handbook for Academic Deans, 3rd edition.
January 2014.
“The Danger of Being Too Nice: Avoiding Legal Pitfalls in Faculty Evaluation.” Academic Leader: The
Newsletter for Deans and Department Chairs, October 2012, Vol. 28, No. 10.
“Legal Issues in Faculty Evaluation: When Evaluations Go Bad.” The Department Chair: A Resource for Academic Administrators, Vol. 21, No. 4 (2011): 10.
“Legal Issues in Faculty Evaluation: Avoiding Problems.” The Department Chair: A Resource for Academic Administrators, Vol. 21, No. 3 (2011): 9.
“Review of FERPA Clear and Simple: The College Professional’s Guide to Compliance, by Clifford A. Ramirez,” The Department Chair: A Resource for Academic Administrators, Vol. 20, No. 4, Spring 2010.
“Legal Issues in Faculty Recruitment and Hiring.” The Department Chair: A Resource for Academic Administrators, Vol. 19, No. 3 (2009): 1.
“The Faculty Handbook: A Guideline or a Labyrinth?” The Department Chair: A Resource for Academic Administrators, Vol. 19, No. 2 (2008): 3.
Reported Cases (appellate practice):
State v. Medenwaldt, 341 N.W.2d 885 (Minn. App. 1984); 1984 Minn. App. LEXIS 2984.
Dorweiler v. Dorweiler, 413 N.W.2d 572 (Minn. App. 1987); 1987 Minn. App. LEXIS 904.
Banken v. Banken, 403 N.W. 2d 693 (Minn. App. 1987); 1987 Minn. App. LEXIS 4216.
Evenson v. Evenson, 1989 Minn. App. LEXIS 283 (unpublished by court order).
