Business Litigation

For decades, corporate clients have trusted Maslon to help resolve their thorniest business disputes, up to and including litigation, while minimizing disruption to their operations, reputation, and important commercial relationships.

With particular success handling breach of contract, business tort, and cases involving claims for breach of statutes regulating business practices, Maslon is ranked among the leading firms in Minnesota for business litigation. Our philosophy is simple: understand the client’s business better than anyone outside the company and then develop tailored litigation strategies aligned with business goals. Our experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in business litigation includes:

• Breach of Contract: Disputes regarding the meaning and application of important contract terms, broken contracts, and enforcement issues around contract remedies and disclaimers, liquidated damages, injunctive relief, forum selection, and arbitration. Maslon’s experience spans a wide variety of contractual settings, including supply agreements, license agreements, distributorship agreements, master services agreements, and more.
• Unfair Competition and Tortious Interference: Disputes arising from interference with the contractual relationships of another business and under statutory and common law unfair competition law.
• Antitrust: Disputes in civil litigation and government investigations involving federal and state antitrust laws, ranging from horizontal and vertical restraints to monopolization to price discrimination, and including antitrust counseling and merger analysis.
• Noncompete and Nonsolicitation: Disputes arising from violations of noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements, many of which are now banned in Minnesota.
• Misappropriation of Trade Secrets: Disputes arising from theft or misuse of confidential information by employees, owners, or contractors, and protected by contracts enforceable under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), state trade secret law, or common law where there is a fiduciary duty to protect confidential information.
• Franchise: Disputes in litigation and arbitration involving franchise and purported franchise relationships under the Minnesota Franchise Act and similar state franchise acts, other statutes and regulations of dealer and distributor relationships and “special industry laws,” including defense of claims for wrongful termination, failure to comply with franchise relationship statutes and regulations, and equitable recoupment.
• False Advertising, Product Disparagement, and Defamation: Disputes involving claims of untrue, deceptive, or misleading advertising for goods or services, including defense and prosecution of Lanham Act claims, as well as claims for product disparagement and alleged defamation via libel and slander.
• Ownership: Disputes between partners, shareholders, or other members of closely held corporations, typically involving claims of breach of fiduciary duty arising from shareholder oppression, fair value and dissenters’ rights, or business divorce.
• Mergers & Acquisitions: Disputes arising before, during, or after the purchase or sale of a business, such as those related to bidding wars, valuations, payments, obligations subsequent to closing, as well as forced sales or acquisitions.
• Business Fraud: Disputes involving claims of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, or breach of fiduciary duty arising from allegations of false and misleading representations and failures to disclose material information in a business relationship.
• Theft and Misappropriation: Disputes arising from misappropriation or theft of business assets with which a person or entity was entrusted.
• Intellectual Property: Disputes involving claims of infringement—unauthorized use or sale—of copyrights, trademarks, or patents; misappropriation of trade secrets; or breach of IP license agreements.

We have proudly partnered with business leaders and owners in every major industry, helping them avoid costly litigation when possible and zealously defending them in court and arbitration when necessary. Business clients have said they appreciate our business acumen, responsiveness, lack of arrogance, value for fees, and collaborative culture—also extended to co-counsel, in-house counsel, and business leaders.

We define success on our clients’ terms, leveraging trial readiness and the development of strong themes that will resonate with a judge and jury to position each case for the best possible resolution. Our business clients also benefit from the involvement of our in-house appellate specialists, who have a strong record of either preserving trial court victories or persuading an appeals court of the trial court's error, and our insurance recovery lawyers, who regularly wade through related policy issues to help clients obtain coverage for losses or the cost of defense.

Maslon’s Litigation Group also offers well-established practices in construction and real estate litigation, employment litigation, tort and product liability, as well as complex trust and estate litigation. The team also includes former prosecutors who are uniquely positioned to guide business clients through government-led and sensitive internal investigations. Maslon’s litigators also frequently work hand in hand with the firm’s Corporate & Securities and Real Estate groups, which are among the leading teams in Minnesota for business and real estate transactions.