Practice Areas

Please click on a practice area to learn more about it.

Arbitration & Mediation
Banking & Finance Law
Business Formations / Operations
Business Litigation
Construction Law
Elder Law / Medical Assistance
Eminent Domain & Condemnation
Employment Law
Family Law
Landlord-Tenant Law
Land Use and Zoning
Personal Injury
Probate & Estate Administration
Real Estate
State, Local & Municipal Law
Taxation
Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

Arbitration & Mediation - Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is the process of resolving legal conflicts without going to trial.  Our firm advises clients on arbitration, mediation, mini-trials, and private judging.  We have extensive expertise in determining when a form of ADR is in the best interest of clients and meets their needs better than traditional litigation.  We have substantial experience and training in ADR and routinely advise our clients on the legal consequenses flowing from particular terms and conditions of all ADR options.

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Banking & Finance Law- Banks and financial institutions collect deposits from individuals and entities and invest those funds in loans, securities, and other assets. Our firm assists depositors, lenders, and borrowers in accordance with intricate state and Federal banking statutes and regulations. Our attorneys have experience in lending and secured transactions, loan workouts, mortgages and foreclosures, public finance, state and municipal bonds and financing, venture capital, and international banking matters. Our clients include borrowers, private lenders and commercial banks.

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Business and Commercial Law-We provide a wide variety of services to our business clients from preparation of agreements, sale and purchase of businesses, obtaining financing and funding for business operations, and employee relations, to dissolution. We pursue and defend a range of commercial litigation and contract disputes including business and real estate purchase/sale agreements, vendor/customer agreements, construction and construction management agreements, employment and shareholder agreements, non-compete, non solicitation, and non-disclosure agreements for employers and employees.

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Business Formations / Operations- The form of business chosen for a business entity potentially affects every aspect of its operations. Our firm assists our clients in formation and business planning in deciding whether to operate as a closely held business, limited liability company, partnership, or corporation. We advise our clients about directors’ and officers’ liability, dissolution, franchising, reorganization, trade association membership and activity, joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, business successions, and shareholders’ rights.

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Business Litigation- Litigation can have a significant impact on a company's ability to achieve its business objectives. We help companies involved in commercial litigation assess their options and make decisions consistent with their goals. Our commercial litigators have represented companies in complex litigation and alternative dispute resolution proceedings across a broad range of industries, from health care providers and consumer products to financial services and automobile dealers. We aggressively defend our clients' interests in matters such as breach of contract, consumer fraud and false advertising claims, corporate governance, and mergers and acquisitions.

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Construction Law-Our firm represents owners, contractors, construction managers, developers, design professionals, and suppliers in all aspects of the construction process, including bidding and document preparation, contract negotiation and formation, contract performance, financing and warranty issues, mechanics and materialmen liens, and claims and dispute resolution.

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Elder Law / Medical Assistance- Our firm provides in-depth analysis and guidance in the emerging area of elder law and the special planning needs of older clients: financial planning; estate planning; major entitlement programs such as Social Security income, pension and retirement benefits, Medicare, and Medicaid; health care considerations; planning for incapacity, including living wills, durable powers of attorney, right-to-die issues and discrimination against the elderly.

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Eminent Domain & Condemnation- The right of eminent domain is the right of the state, through its regular organization, to reassert, either temporarily or permanently, its dominion over any portion of the soil of the state on account of public exigency and for the public good. Our firm represents clients in all aspects of an eminent domain proceeding.

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Employment Law- Employment law covers a complex network of laws that controls how employers must treat employees, former employees, and applicants for employment. Our Employment Law Practice Group has significant experience in interpreting and construing state and Federal statutes and case law in areas such as employment discrimination, affirmative action, sexual harassment, employee benefits, whistleblower litigation, wrongful discharge, employment contracts, the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, the Federal Employer’s Liability Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and special laws governing municipal employment.

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Family Law - Our firm handles a full range of family law matters including divorce; annulment; legal separation; child support; child custody and parenting plans; parenting access time, liberal visitation, reasonable visitation, and supervised visitation; children in need of protective services; multi-state jurisdictional cases; grandparent and third party rights; alimony and spousal maintenance; marital and non-marital property; debt division; adoptions; pre-marital and post-marital agreements; contempt, enforcement of court orders; and children's education trust funds.

There are several methods to resolve family court matters. Some people practicing family law generally have a favorite mode of practice, but if used properly, each style has an application in many cases. Some cases are better suited for one method over another. The default option is to use the District Court in motion and trial litigation practice. Since that system had some difficult aspects in some cases, other methods have been developed to better suit certain known or common problem areas. These alternate methods can be called Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) generally. Administrative procedures, arbitration, mediation and Collaborative Law are more specialized tools designed to better resolve some, but not all, cases.

We also handle post divorce issues including Department of Social Services Child Support Magistrate cases; recalculation of child support; custody and visitation modifications; agreements by parties or applications to the court to moving with children; child support collection; maintenance collection; and enforcement of divorce decrees or other court orders. We also handle family type matters not related to marital status, such as domestic violence; cohabitation agreements; partition actions; replevin actions and harassment orders.

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Landlord-Tenant Law- We draft and review both commercial and residential leases. Representing both tenants and landlords, we will make sure our clients receive full benefits of all rights afforded to them by law. We also assist landlords with evictions and unlawful detainer actions.

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Land Use and Zoning- Zoning is the division of a city by legislative regulation into districts and the prescription and application in each district of regulations having to do with structural and architectural designs of buildings and of regulations prescribing use to which buildings within designated districts may be put. Our firm assists clients interact with governmental entities in issues of zoning, control of real estate development and use, environmental impact studies and land use planning laws which are implemented by local zoning and land use laws and ordinances.

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Personal Injury - Our firm represents individuals injured because of the negligent or intentional behavior of another. Victims of personal injury are entitled to financial compensation for their medical and property expenses, incidental costs caused by the accident, and may be entitled to additional damages to cover future expenses, pain and suffering, or other issues. If you or a family member has been injured as a result of medical care, nursing home care or neglect, or in a car accident or other accident, contact us to discuss your case.

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Probate & Estate Administration- Our firm specializes in Probate and Estate Administration. Probate is the legal process by which a person's debts are paid and assets are distributed upon her or his death. Estate Administration includes the probate process as well as non-probate transfers of the deceased's assets. Individual state laws direct the probate court how to distribute the deceased's estate. State laws and procedures vary greatly, so, it is important to consult a firm with expertise in this area of the law to ensure that the deceased's assets are distributed correctly.

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Real Estate- Our firm represents both commercial clients and individuals in all proceedings and transactions that deal with real property—land and the structures attached to it—including purchase and sale, construction, mortgages and foreclosures, leases, zoning, title examinations, quiet title actions, closings, and management.

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State, Local & Municipal Law- The attorneys in our firm who practice in the State, Local & Municipal Law area have expertise and knowledge in the areas of powers and liabilities of state and local government and municipal corporations, including matters such as land use and zoning issues, municipal employment disputes, and injuries to personal or property by municipal employees.

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Taxation - We assist individuals and entities with tax preparation, tax audits, tax planning, and tax collection issues. Our firm will also represent clients in tax controversies including Federal and Minnesota Tax Court and at the Appeals stage in both jurisdictions. We also represent taxpayers who have not filed income tax returns in the past and taxpayers who have not paid tax liabilities from past years. We pride ourselves in our knowledge and resources in this complex area of law.

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Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning - We handle a variety of estate matters, including planning for the distribution of an individuals's property at his or her death and taking into account wills, taxes, insurance, property, and trusts so as to gain the maximum benefit of all laws, while, at the same time, carrying out the person's wishes.  Our firm is experienced in providing estate planning along a spectrum of income levels from hourly wage earners to physicians and other professionals with both family and business concerns.  By way of example, estate planning may include wills, spousal and children's trusts, insurance trusts, special needs trusts, irrevocable trusts, advance medical directives, powers of attorney (general, special and medical) as well as an array of sophisticated planning techniques used to protect assets from unnecessary probate costs and taxation.

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