Mike Geiermann Retires After Nearly 40 Years of Standing Up for Members

Mike Geiermann has known for a long time who he is — and who he hoped to be.

“There were two things I always wanted to be,” Geiermann said. “I always wanted to be a teacher, and I always wanted to be a lawyer.”

Now, after nearly 40 years of working alongside and representing the educators and public employees of North Dakota United and its predecessor organizations, Geiermann can look back on a career in which he found a way to bring those two ambitions together.

At first, the path seemed destined to lead into a classroom rather than a courtroom. Geiermann graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1981 with a degree in education. But law school eventually won out, and after earning his law degree from UND and passing the bar, he began his legal career in public service.

“I was originally employed by the Attorney General’s office for two and a half years,” Geiermann said, representing several state agencies. “But the big state agency that I represented was the Department of Public Instruction.”

Then, in 1987, the two paths Geiermann had imagined for himself began to converge.

He joined the Chapman Law Firm, which had represented the North Dakota Education Association for years. From the beginning, representing NDEA members would be a central part of his work.

“When I was hired by the Chapman Law Firm, my job was to take care of the NDEA,” he said. “They wanted to plug me immediately into working with teachers, which I was very excited about.”

For the next six years, Geiermann handled many of NDEA’s major cases. When he left Chapman in 1993 to become a partner at what was then the Ralston Law Firm, NDEA remained his client — a relationship that continued through the organization’s 2013 merger with the North Dakota Public Employees Association to form North Dakota United.

Even after closing his private practice in August 2022, Geiermann stayed on as NDU’s general counsel. He finally retired July 31, bringing to a close a relationship that had spanned nearly four decades.

“So, I had just started my 40th year of representing teachers and then subsequently public employees,” Geiermann said. “And I’ve done it, you know, basically my entire legal career.”

Looking back on his legal career — and nearly 40 years spent representing NDEA and NDU members — Geiermann says motivation often mattered as much as the law itself.

“I always wanted to represent the underdog,” he said. “I always wanted to help people that couldn’t help themselves. I couldn’t stand bullies.”

That did not mean every difficult situation had a legal solution. Geiermann remembers hundreds of conversations with members who came to him after something had gone wrong at work, sometimes unaware of what protections were — or were not — available under the law or their contracts.

“I’ve had hundreds of those conversations with teachers — lots of Kleenex, lots of tears,” he said. “Sometimes there’s simply nothing that can be done, and they need to hear that.”

But when members had been unfairly treated and the facts and law were on their side, Geiermann was ready to fight for them.

“These people just want to be treated with respect,” he said. “The one thing I found over the years is that when we had legal issues, a lot of it boiled down to that: They wanted to be respected by their administrators and their school boards.”

One case that has stayed with him involved Fargo teacher Jeannie Hart, who was nearing retirement when she was sued for roughly $12 million after a student was seriously injured in an after-school incident Hart neither organized nor knew was going to happen.

“We went through two jury trials, two appeals to the Supreme Court, before it was all said and done and resolved,” Geiermann said. Hart initially received a favorable jury verdict, but that judgment was reversed on appeal. She later settled before a second trial involving the school district.

The case stretched across years and into Hart’s retirement. Geiermann said that without the legal representation provided through her NDEA membership, the cost of defending herself could have consumed much of what she had spent her career saving.

“Had she not been a member, she probably would have had to take her retirement and give it to a lawyer for five years,” he said. “But because she was a member of NDEA at the time, she got the benefit of legal services.”

Of all the cases he handled over four decades, Hart’s remains the one Geiermann remembers with the most pride.

“When I look back at the almost 40 years that I represented teachers, it’s my proudest moment,” he said.

NDU President Nick Archuleta said Geiermann’s value to members extended well beyond his knowledge of the law. Just knowing that someone with his experience was standing behind them gave members confidence when difficult situations arose.

“Mike brought first to NDEA and then NDU a sense of security,” Archuleta said. “His interactions with our members gave them confidence knowing that Mike, an expert in education law, was going to ensure that they were treated fairly and with dignity.”

Geiermann’s judgment also carried weight outside the courtroom. Because his word was respected by people on all sides of an issue, Archuleta said, sometimes the possibility of legal action was enough to prevent a bad decision from going any further.

“It is his constancy and abilities over the course of his career that defines Mike’s impact on our organization,” Archuleta said.

That sense of security, Geiermann said, begins with membership.

“In my opinion, membership in NDU is priceless,” he said. “We will ensure that the process gets followed, and that’s hugely important.”

Membership cannot guarantee the outcome of every workplace dispute, but it does mean members do not have to navigate difficult situations alone. It gives them access to people who understand their contracts, their legal rights and the processes designed to protect both.

And, Geiermann cautioned, that protection has to be in place before trouble begins.

“You can’t buy insurance when the house is on fire,” he said.

As Geiermann steps away after nearly 40 years of representing educators and public employees, that work is continuing under attorney Kylie Oversen.

“Mike has been an incredible mentor to me even before I officially stepped into this role,” Oversen said.

Oversen was selected earlier this year to take over NDU’s legal work, and Geiermann has spent the months since helping make the transition as seamless as possible. She said he has made himself available whenever questions arose, walking her through complicated legal issues, explaining the history behind labor disputes in North Dakota and offering guidance on individual cases.

“Mike is known, and has proven himself, as a tenacious, dedicated advocate for our members,” Oversen said.

Oversen’s own story has some echoes of Geiermann’s. Like him, she grew up in North Dakota in a family that valued work, public service and education.

“I am the daughter and granddaughter of working people,” Oversen said. “My Grandpa Don was a Teamster. My Grandpa Erwin was a longtime custodian at my hometown public school.”

Growing up in Killdeer, earning her law degree from UND and later serving in the North Dakota House of Representatives all helped shape the perspective she brings to the role. Just as important, Oversen said, has been Geiermann’s guidance as she prepares to “dive in head first.”

“Mike continues to be a resource for me as I learn the ropes so that, hopefully, members don’t have any lapse in high-quality legal services,” she said. “Importantly, I hope members keep in mind that our field staff are a truly valuable resource to them. Their knowledge and advocacy skills have been such an asset to me in my first months on the job.”

Geiermann, for his part, has every confidence in his successor.

“Kylie is a very fine, capable lawyer who has been fighting for people that can’t fight for themselves,” he said. “So, she fits perfectly into this job.”

Retirement will surely give Geiermann more time for family and friends, following his beloved UND hockey team and getting outdoors during hunting season. But after nearly 40 years representing educators and public employees, he hopes the lasting measure of his career will be the people he stood beside and the principles he defended.

“I always advocated for what I thought was right. … I was dedicated to what I thought was right. I was dedicated to the union concept,” Geiermann said. “People do better when they stand together. And I think that’s how I’d like to be remembered.”