Benchmark Litigation

Minnesota

Review

Dispute resolution
Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg

Chicago’s Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg offers a litigation group that is recognized for its expertise and focus on specific industries. The firm has litigators specializing in a broad spectrum of practice areas and is a “one-stop-shop" for industry-leading clients, particularly in motor vehicles and luxury goods. 

     Robert Shapiro is among the firm’s multidisciplined litigators and has experience in intellectual property, antitrust, and commercial competition disputes. He focuses on serving clients in the fashion and luxury retail sectors especially. Shapiro recently secured a settlement on behalf of Tiffany & Co in a trade secrets case brought by Cartier, which garnered significant press coverage. He also successfully defended Sephora in a lawsuit filed by Amanda Ensing, a fashion influencer, alleging defamation, among other claims. The lawsuit was one of the “woke” culture cases, involving media attention and First Amendment issues. Shapiro obtained a voluntary dismissal by the plaintiff following a favorable transfer to a California federal court. Shapiro and co-chair of the litigation group Maile Hitomi Solís are lead counsel defending luxury designer brand Christian Dior in a Biometric information Privacy Act (BIPA) lawsuit alleging that the “virtual try-on” feature for eyewear collects BIPA-regulated biometric information in violation of the law. The team obtained a dismissal at district court, agreeing that the feature was exempt under the general healthcare exemption. 

     Solís acts as national counsel to Louis Vuitton and leads the team with Owen Smith in defending the high-end luxury client against a putative class action. The lawsuit alleges antitrust claims, specifically that the defendants’ “no-hire agreements” restrain competition and compensation for employees within the luxury retail market. Solís and Smith took the lead in the briefing with the co-defendants and secured a dismissal with prejudice earlier this year. 

     Smith chairs the motor vehicle group, specializing in handling litigation for industry-leading motor vehicle companies. His recent work has been on behalf of Porsche and Volkswagen. In a franchise agreement dispute in Florida, Smith obtained a crucial reversal from the Florida Appellate Division, instructing the administrative court to dismiss the case on remand. In Illinois, Smith is challenging the constitutionality of the Multiplier Act, an amendment to the Motor Vehicle Franchise Act, which changed how much manufacturers must reimburse dealers for warranty services and restricts them from recovering costs associated with the act. The case is being litigated, and Smith is seeking injunctive relief and a declaration that the amendment is unconstitutional on behalf of Volkswagen.

    Beyond commercial disputes, the firm also maintains expertise in financial litigation with the prominence of W. Scott Porterfield, who has dedicated his practice to representing banks, as well as their officers and directors. Recently, he obtained a key settlement for client County Bancorp in a putative class action alleging that the directors breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders, further alleging that the clients sold the company for an inadequate price. Porterfield’s defense of the client secured a forced settlement with the plaintiff for 0.4% of the alleged damages. 

Blackwell Burke

Blackwell Burke is one of Minnesota’s premier litigation shops, one of the few in Minneapolis exclusively dedicated the disputes practice. The firm is the recipient of universal acclaim from all peers familiar with it and is equally cheered by its clients. One raves, “Blackwell Burke takes the time to learn my company's business and is expert at synthesizing complex information into consistent and easily-communicable themes. The firm enlists confidence with my company's legal leadership team and does so at rates and under fee arrangements that work well with a law department's budget.” The firm is equally appreciated for less easily quantified aspects of its approach, particularly the diversity of its partner mix. “Blackwell Burke is comprised of a diverse bench, in terms of gender, sex, sexual orientation, and race/ethnicity, and, most importantly, it provides significant responsibility and client contact to its diverse team members,” testifies a client. 

     Few would argue with the contention that the firm’s center of gravity remains founding partner, CEO, chairman and all-purpose trial lawyer Jerry Blackwell. In addition to scoring a recent landmark win for locally based but globally recognized 3M in its ““Bair Hugger” forced-air warming blanket product liability litigation, in 2021 Blackwell was thrust onto the national stage as trial counsel during what could easily be considered as one of most controversial, widely broadcasted, closely watched and intensely debated cases of the past year, or even of recent times: that of the prosecution of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with (and eventually convicted of) the May 2020 murder of George Floyd. This incident, and its aftermath, has become a flashpoint for a reassessment of racial and social justice worldwide, particularly as it pertains to police. Blackwell joined the prosecution team on a pro bono basis, delivering impassioned and critical arguments and earning near-universal applause for his efforts. It is also worth noting that this case comes hot on the heels of another milestone victory for racial justice – sadly, another one that came posthumously – in the securing of an acquittal for Max Mason, a black circus worker that was wrongly accused (and convicted) of rape of a white woman over 100 years ago. 
     Beyond its unquestioned dedication to social justice matters, the firm is also a noted champion in the product liability arena, with many appointments by clients that have become local industry brand names. Jamal Faleel was retained by pet food manufacturer Blue Buffalo as lead litigation counsel and trial counsel in a case in which the defendants, an ingredient supplier and an ingredient broker, engaged in a scheme to defraud Blue Buffalo and other premium pet food manufacturers by passing off readily available, cheaper, inferior ingredients for harder to find, more expensive, premium ingredients. As a result of the defendants’ illegal scheme, Blue Buffalo was sued by one of its chief competitors and faced seven consumer class-action lawsuits, claiming it falsely advertised its products as free of poultry by-product meals. Prior to Blackwell Burke’s involvement, Blue Buffalo paid almost $90 million in settlement amounts and attorney fees. The US federally prosecuted the civil defendants and several of their employees in six separate criminal cases, alleging that the defendants sold adulterated and mislabeled food ingredients. The defendants all pled guilty and were ordered to pay millions of dollars in criminal restitution to Blue Buffalo. Mary Young is defending a Fortune 500 packaged foods company in high-profile cases across the US in which the plaintiffs claim burns and other personal injuries resulting from alleged defects in cooking spray aerosol cans. In January 2020, Young won complete summary judgment in one case involving allegations of design defect and failure to warn. “Mary is expert at managing her team to meet my needs,” confirms a client. “She is highly responsive and is constantly looking for solutions that fit within her understanding of our risk profile.” Geraldo “Jerry” Alcazar serves as national product liability counsel defending a Fortune 100 conglomerate’s fall-protection equipment, currently defending several cases in jurisdictions across the country. Alcazar also works with Blackwell in defending Delta Dental against a group of dental services providers across the nation who sued more than 50 Delta Dental members and entities and the Delta Dental Plans Association. Plaintiffs allege that the Delta Dental entities engaged in an unlawful market allocation conspiracy, a price-fixing conspiracy, and an unlawful revenue restriction conspiracy.  

 

Robins Kaplan

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.