Minneapolis

Fulbright & Jaworski’s Minneapolis location opened in February 2000 and has grown rapidly to serve a broad client base both in the Midwest and throughout the United States. We remain focused on the ever-changing needs of our clients who face a broad range of corporate transactions, complex business litigation and arbitration, intellectual property, and labor and employment matters.

Corporate and Transactions

Our Minneapolis corporate lawyers provide a broad array of corporate legal services to a diverse client base that ranges from start-up ventures to large multinational companies. With other Fulbright locations in New York, London, Dubai and Hong Kong, the Minneapolis location is well-connected to major financial centers around the world. We carefully guide our clients through the legal issues that affect not only their ability to obtain financing, but also to maintain their operations in today’s highly competitive, highspeed business environment. We are particularly active in the following corporate areas, including:

• Mergers and acquisitions
• Joint ventures
• Finance/capital markets
• Venture capital
• Public offerings
• Private equity and investment funds
• Master limited partnerships
• Structured and project finance/equipment finance
• Restructurings
• Corporate governance and compliance
• Broker-dealer regulation
• Licensing and E-commerce
• International

Our corporate rankings include:

• Top ten most-mentioned firms by corporate in-house counsel for “Best Reputation,” Corporate Counsel
• One of the nation’s best corporate law firms for the sixth year in a row, Corporate Board Member Magazine

Intellectual Property

Our Minneapolis location offers a full range of intellectual property services in a wide range of industries, including medical devices, consumer health care, food and beverage, food processing, recreational products, automotive, semi-conductor devices and computer hardware and software. Each of our IP lawyers brings not only a clear and proven understanding of the law, but also a unique understanding of its application to IP technology. Many of our IP lawyers have technical backgrounds that include electrical, mechanical and chemical engineering degrees and experience.

Our Minneapolis trademark and patent practice groups focus on:

• Clearance, development and prosecution of trademark, patent and copyright rights
• Proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) and the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences
• Enforcement
• Counseling
• Preparation of opinions
• Licensing

In addition, our Minneapolis lawyers have substantial experience trying complex disputes involving all types of intellectual property law rights, including patent, trademark, trade dress, domain names and other Internet disputes, copyright, false advertising, and trade secret cases.

Fulbright’s recent IP rankings include:

• One of the top five firms FORTUNE 100 companies rely on for IP matters, IP Law & Business
• A top 10 firm for intellectual property litigation, IP Worldwide
• “Top Patent Defense Firm” for IP litigation matters, The American Lawyer
• One of the “Top Patent Firms” in the country, Intellectual Property Today
• The top five firms in the U.S. for trademark registrations, Intellectual Property Today
• The top three U.S. firms for trademarks as named by “Global 50” companies, IP Worldwide

Labor and Employment

Fulbright is one of the country's leading firms in labor and employment law, and our Minneapolis labor and employment lawyers are likewise recognized as leaders in the field. Honors for Fulbright's Minneapolis labor and employment lawyers include recognition in Chambers USA, the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, the Best Lawyers in America, the Best of the Best USA, and Minnesota Law & Politics Super Lawyers (including Top 100 in any discipline and Top 40 in Employment). Fulbright's labor and employment lawyers assist clients in all aspects of labor and employment law, including counseling and litigation involving:

• Discrimination and harassment (e.g., Title VII, Minnesota Human Rights Act, and other civil rights statutes)
• Wage-hour and other labor standards, including under the Fair Labor Standards Act
• Retaliation and whistleblowing under federal and state laws (e.g., Title VII, Sarbanes-Oxley, Minnesota's whistleblower statute, Minnesota Human Rights Act, and other statutes)
• Class actions, representative actions, and multiple plaintiffs
• Non-competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, and breaches of fiduciary duty
• Leaves (including under the Family and Medical Leave Act and other statutes)
• Disability, religious, and other accommodations
• Wrongful discharge and other employment torts
• Employment contracts and agreements
• Corporate transactions
• Restructurings, reductions in force, and plant closings
• Safety and health
• Labor relations
• Affirmative action
• Employment benefits and ERISA
• Other labor and employment laws

In handling labor and employment matters, our Minneapolis labor and employment lawyers partner with clients to learn their businesses and understand their employment practices. Coupling that knowledge and information with a keen understanding of the law, we implement effective and efficient strategies to achieve our client's objectives in a timely and valuable manner. This collaborative, client-focused approach has led to excellent labor and employment counseling, and in the case of litigation, some of the most significant labor and employment defense results not only in the Midwest, but throughout the country.

Litigation and Arbitration

Our Minneapolis litigation team is made up of trial lawyers with a wide range of experience involving intellectual property, products liability, franchise, information technology, contract and insurance disputes. We represent clients in federal and state courts, both in Minnesota and throughout the United States. In addition, our lawyers regularly represent clients in alternative dispute resolution  proceedings. In fact, Fulbright has significant affiliations with almost every ADR institution, several of which we were instrumental in organizing.

Fulbright is consistently ranked by peers and clients among the leading firms in the United States for litigation and alternative dispute resolution.

The firm’s more recent rankings include:

• Fulbright was “Highly Recommended” among national dispute resolution law firms by its peersin the 2004/2005 Global Counsel Dispute Resolution Handbook
• The “Arbitration Elite,” the world’s top 17 international arbitration firms, The American Lawyer
• Fulbright was the sixth most-mentioned firm in the country for litigation work by FORTUNE 250companies according to Corporate Counsel

Industry Experience

Our Minneapolis lawyers have represented clients in a number of industries, including:

Awards

• For the sixth year, Corporate Board Member named Fulbright one of the top 20 law firms in the nation. Read more . . .