Tribute: Minnesota Law Mourns the Passing of Rebecca Egge Moos ’77

Rebecca Egge Moos ’77, a partner in the Minneapolis law firm of Bassford Remele and a former chair of the University of Minnesota Law School Board of Advisors has passed away. 

Moos joined Bassford Remele (then Richards, Montgomery, Cobb & Bassford) in 1977 as the firm’s first female attorney and was named its first female chief executive officer in 2005. During her career there, she defended and counseled leading health care organizations and earned a reputation as one of the most formidable, professional, and effective trial lawyers in the state.

Described as a woman of many firsts, major accomplishments in Moos’ long career included:

• In 1996, she was the first woman to serve as president of the Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association.
• In 2001, she was the first woman from Minnesota to be inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers.
• In 2010, she was named an Attorney of the Year and received the Outstanding Service to the Profession Award and the Minnesota ICON Award from Minnesota Lawyer.
• She served as president of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
• She was elected chair of the Hennepin County Bar Association’s Fourth District Ethics Committee.

At the time of her Attorney of the Year recognition, Moos said that what she enjoyed the most about her career was helping clients through the challenges of litigation. She said, “The process can be very difficult. And I really like the analysis of complex factual and legal issues.” Attesting to her leadership style and work ethic, former University of Minnesota Law School Dean David Wippman said, “When Moos decides to do something, she gives it her all and does it with enthusiasm. She has developed an outstanding career and gives back to the profession with great integrity and accomplishment.”

Moos’ many accomplishments as one Minnesota’s groundbreaking female lawyers did not go unnoticed. District Court Judge Kathryn Messerich, once a colleague of Moos, said that “with grace and good humor” she worked through a time when their mutual clients didn’t really believe that women could effectively try cases. “She paved the way for many women who fortunately will not have to deal with the presumption that their gender would make them less than effective advocates.”

Recognizing her exemplary work on behalf of its firm, Bassford Remele said that beyond her achievements, “Becky will be remembered for her extraordinary mentorship, her steady and calming presence, her humor, her perseverance, and her unwavering dedication to professionalism. She believed in winning the right way — and never compromised her ethics in the pursuit of success. Her wisdom, integrity, and compassion touched every life she encountered, and she will be dearly missed.”