Robins Kaplan is uniquely positioned in its market sphere; it operates through seven offices (three of them firmly entrenched in the Upper Midwest, including both Dakotas as well as its Minneapolis headquarters) and is also one of the few firms of its size to hold a dominant position in the plaintiff capacity emphasizing intellectual property and antitrust, areas in which the firm is equipped with what has been acknowledged as “real trial lawyers.” The firm is a favorite with clients; one extols, “Robins Kaplan is a litigation powerhouse. They are very good at client counseling and complex legal disputes.” Another cheers the firm’s “high-quality work product, great customer service and highly effective communications that always exceed expectations.” A peer declares, “My firm doesn’t really do IP, so I often get cases that I try to refer to some bigger-name IP shops that advertise themselves as one-stop shops, only to find out they really only have prosecution capabilities. It’s frustrating! Fortunately, Robins Kaplan is the opposite – a great referral source for honest-to-goodness IP court work.”
Several of the firm’s IP litigators are domiciled in the Minneapolis office and are recognized nationally in the practice. Chris Larus is the chair of the IP and technology group. A client champions Larus as an “excellent communicator and reliable resource, with a wealth of knowledge about the process and business.” Chair of the Minneapolis office patent trials group,
Cyrus “Cy” Morton also has no shortage of client admirers. One offers the glowing accolade, “Cy is an exceptional attorney that is at the top of his game in legal and professional capabilities. He assembles high-performing, inclusive and diverse teams that have the proper skill level to deliver great value to a given project. He invests the time to fully understand the client's business model and needs.”
Robin’s Kaplan also boasts a dominant position in antitrust plaintiff-side work. A team led by
Craig Wildfang and including Stacey Slaughter (both based in Minneapolis) scored a landmark win in this area in March 2023 when the Second Circuit unanimously upheld the District Court’s order giving final approval of a $5.6 billion settlement on behalf of US merchants in against the major credit-card entities. The cases allege that Visa, Mastercard, and their member banks violated antitrust laws and charged merchants who accept credit and debit cards supra-competitive fees on card transactions. In the firm’s New York office, Kellie Lerner
is spearheading cases that have taken on Goliaths in several diverse industries, ranging from vaccines, to poultry, to auto parts.
