Staff
Joan Bibelhausen
Executive Director
Annette Erbst
Office Manager
Chase Andersen
Client Services Director
Jon Tynjala
Client Services Director
Sarah MacGillis
Outreach Director
Joan Bibelhausen has served as Executive Director of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers since 2005. She is an attorney and received her JD from the University of Minnesota Law School. Joan is nationally recognized for her work in the lawyer assistance and diversity and inclusion realms and has significant additional training in counseling, mental health and addiction, diversity, employment issues, and management.
Joan has a passion for reducing the stigma about asking for and offering help to do our best work and live our best lives in the legal profession. She has spent her career working with legal professionals at a crossroads because of mental illness and addiction concerns, well-being, trauma, stress, and related issues, and has a particular interest in helping those with career challenges.
Joan has developed and presented numerous CLE and other programs throughout Minnesota and nationally and has written on mental health and addiction, implicit bias and mental health, career and life balance and satisfaction, stress, diversity and inclusion, marketing, and other issues of concern to the legal profession. She is active in the MN State Bar Association, Hennepin and Ramsey County and American Bar Associations, the Federal Bar Association Minnesota Chapter, the Minnesota Disability Bar Association, and Minnesota Women Lawyers. She has served on the ABA Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs (CoLAP) and its Advisory Commission. She has chaired CoLAP’s Education Committee and its 2016 Conference Planning Committee. She has chaired the MSBA Life and the Law Committee and the HCBA Solo and Small Firm Practice Section and has co-chaired the HCBA Diversity Committee. She represents a mental health and disability perspective on many bar-related diversity committees and initiatives, including the MSBA Diversity and Inclusion Council. Joan also served on the MSBA Board of Governors, the HCBA’s Strategic Planning and Leadership Institute task forces, and the ADA Minnesota and Minnesota Alliance on Problem Gambling boards.
Joan wrote Lawyer Assistance Programs Provide a Lifeline for Juriste International, published in June 2024, coauthored “Stress and Resiliency in the US Judiciary” for the ABA 2020 Journal of the Professional Lawyer, “Reducing the Stigma,” published in the Mitchell Hamline Law Review (Vol. 41, Issue 3, 2015), and frequently writes for Minnesota and national bar publications. Minnesota Lawyer recognized her with a 2017 Diversity and Inclusion Award for her work regarding implicit bias and mental health in the legal profession. In 2022 she received an inaugural Impact Award from Minnesota Women Lawyers, was presented with the Chief’s Award from the Minnesota Supreme Court and Federal District Court for service to the health and well-being of the lawyers and judges in Minnesota, and was recognized by the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs with a Meritorious Service award in recognition of Extraordinary Service to Lawyer Assistance Programs. She received the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024.
Joan enjoys spending time with her family and community, especially when it involves local foods and cooking. She maintains a relatively untamed garden and always has too many pears and cherries in the summertime.
Chase Andersen, Esq., has always been committed, both personally and professionally, to assisting others. Chase received his B. S. in Criminal Justice from the University of South Dakota, located in Vermillion, South Dakota. Following undergraduate school, Chase worked several years in the social services arena as a residential counselor and then as a child-protective social worker. In 2006, Chase earned his J. D. from Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa. Chase then practiced family law for several years and understands the pressures facing today’s legal professionals.
Since joining LCL in 2015, Chase has worked daily with attorneys, law students and judges on issues related to well-being, mental health, substance use and addiction, ethics, and everyday practice stressors. He regularly presents at Minnesota’s three law schools as well as CLE programing focusing on ethics, client impairments, and the intersection of technology and practice. Chase facilitates LCL’s Discipline and Practice (DAP) Group, a free and confidential group that supports those dealing with professional conduct or character and fitness issues. He is an active member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Lawyer Assistance Program’s Law School Assistance Committee, the Board of Law Examiners Bar Exam and Competency Working Group and has co-chaired the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Well-Being Committee.
Chase’s article “Therapy: Being a Zealous Advocate for Yourself” was featured in the September/October 2021 volume of the Hennepin Lawyer magazine. In 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018, Chase was honored as a “Rising Star” attorney by Super Lawyers Magazine. Chase enjoys traveling, spending time with his family and friends and cheering on his step-daughter at the hockey rink.
Jon Tynjala, Esq., joined LCL as a Case Manager in 2022. Jon received his B.A. in Business Administration from the College of St. Thomas in 1989, and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1995. Prior to his affiliation with LCL, Jon was engaged in private practice serving businesses and their owners at larger and medium sized law firms in Minnesota, and, most recently, at a two-person firm in Maple Grove.
In addition to his practice, Jon has been actively engaged in recovery work through LCL, among other organizations, and is a prior Board member and past Treasurer of LCL. Over the years, Jon has been involved in numerous family interventions and other recovery outreach activities in support of recovering attorneys, their families, and others.
Jon believes that service is more than a professional or personal box to be checked. He believes service to others is essential to personal and professional fulfillment and has been actively engaged in the community during his professional career. Jon is a member and past Chair of the Board of Directors of Walker Methodist (a Minnesota provider of senior housing with services). He previously served as an elected member of the School Board for Mounds View Public Schools (ISD #621) and served as Chair of the Board for a number of years. Jon is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, teaching Unincorporated Business Associations to the next generation of lawyers.
In his free time, Jon enjoys camping, hiking, fishing, hunting with Nikko, his Golden Retriever, and spending quality time with friends and family. Jon plays the tenor saxophone in several bands, including the Northern Lights Concert Band and the Northern Lights Jazz Orchestra, both local amateur/community bands that play in and around the Twin Cities. Jon is also an inducted member of the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Fabulous Jadesmen.
Sarah MacGillis joined LCL as Outreach Director after a 27-year career in litigation. With a deep-seated compassion and genuine interest in people, Sarah is dedicated to ensuring attorneys receive robust targeted support, providing them with swift and easy access to essential tools when they are needed.
Sarah is enthusiastic about spearheading new initiatives at LCL, particularly in the realms of well-being, stress management, resilience and in all other areas where LCL supports legal professionals and their families.
Sarah’s extensive background encompasses both civil and criminal defense litigation. Through these experiences, she navigated the pressures of extensive discovery processes, tight deadlines, trial and motion work, occasionally challenging relationships with opposing counsel, and clients deeply involved in their defense. She empathizes with the demanding nature of legal practice, where attorneys are often called upon to dedicate long hours in furtherance of their clients’ interests. Furthermore, Sarah has advocated for numerous licensed professionals grappling with challenges that impacted their own overall well-being and their professional practice. This advocacy laid the foundation for her current role.
Sarah was recognized as a Super Lawyer every year from 2011-2024. Prior to that, she was recognized by the same publication as a Rising Star from 2000-2008. In addition, she previously acted as a Federal Defender Mentor for the District of Minnesota, and as an Adjunct Professor at both Mitchell Hamline and the University of Minnesota Law Schools. She has sat on multiple professional boards including the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Innocence Project and the Minnesota Board of Criminal Defense.
Beyond her professional commitments, Sarah is an avid runner who finds peace on Minnesota’s trails throughout the year. She has coached numerous women in their running and fitness pursuits over 20+ years of running.
Above all things, her greatest love is her family. She counts the times spent among them as her most cherished whenever and wherever they gather.
Annette Erbst joined Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers as its Administrative Assistant in 2008, becoming Office Manager in 2024. Annette has an A.S. in Accounting, an A.S. in Management, and significant additional training in nonprofit technology.