The State Bar Association of North Dakota Summer 2014 Gavel Magazine | Page 14

TOGETHER IN LOVE AND LAW
Lawyers married to lawyers bring advantages, challenges

TIFFANY JOHNSON VINJE AND JUSTIN VINJE

Tiffany Johnson and Justin Vinje met while attending law school
at the University of North Dakota. Tiffany, from Williston, and
Justin, from Bismarck, didn’t know each other until he returned
from military service in Kansas after being called up by the National
Guard half way through his first year of school in 2002.
This put Justin a year behind in law school, not returning to the
classroom again until the spring semester of 2004. “As we got to
know each other better, I became interested in practicing law in
Bismarck because that’s where Justin planned to practice,” says
Tiffany. Following her graduation in 2005, she joined the Pearce
and Durick Law Firm in Bismarck. After working with several of
the firm’s lawyers, she focused on a specialty of school law, practicing
with partner Gary Thune.
Justin returned to Bismarck in 2006, joining the law firm began by
his father, Ralph, in 1977. He continued to practice at the Vinje
Law Firm after his father’s death in October 2009, specializing in
criminal defense and personal injury.
Justin and Tiffany were married in September 2009. Tiffany had
become a partner at Pearce and Durick, and continued to work
there until January of this year. She now works with Justin at the
Vinje Law Firm, focusing mostly on personal injury.
The birth of their son, Kai, in September 2012, was the reason for
Tiffany’s decision to reduce her work load to part-time. “When you
14

THE GAVEL

have a family, priorities change,” she says. “With Justin being in
court almost every day, I decided to opt for more flexibility in my
schedule.”
Early in their relationship, they say they talked about their careers
a lot more than they do now. “We’ve learned to leave work at the
office and enjoy our personal time,” says Justin.
They say they also have differences in their styles as lawyers. “I’m
more of a Type A personality and have a ‘bad cop,’ style. Justin has
more of a ‘nice guy,’ style,” says Tiffany. “In criminal law, he finds
himself more involved in the personal lives of his clients.”
One of the challenges of the type of law he practices, Justin says, is
that “you can be pulled away at any time, and time management is
always a concern. It’s not always an 8 to 5 job.”
“With both of us being lawyers, we understand the demands we
are facing,” says Tiffany. “Even while in law school, I wondered
about how to balance work and family, and I have learned a lot from
presentations by other lawyers, especially in the Women’s Section of
the State Bar.”
But, as two lawyers and parents, Justin and Tiffany say they are
committed to making it work. “So far we believe we have done a
pretty good job,” says Justin.