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Recently recognized as a 2007 "Attorney of the Year" by Minnesota Lawyer, Dan Oberdorfer is experienced at litigating and counseling in the area of complex employment disputes. He frequently prosecutes and defends cases involving non-competition agreements, trade secrets, and fiduciary duties. He has defended numerous employers against claims of sexual harassment, age discrimination, gender, race and religious discrimination, defamation and breach of contract, among others. In addition, he represents financial services firms in employment and customer disputes, frequently through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") arbitration process.
Dan received the 2007 "Attorney of the Year" award for his work leading a team of litigators in the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ highly successful non-competition and trade secret lawsuit against the Minneapolis Star Tribune and certain key executives. Their team was successful in securing a ruling from the Court ordering the Star Tribune’s publisher, Par Ridder, to cease work at the Star Tribune for one year based on a evidence that he violated Minnesota trade secret law. Dan and his colleagues also secured an earlier Order from the Court that directed the Star Tribune to give the Pioneer Press’ computer expert access to the Star Tribune servers as well as more than 10 home and business computer hard drives. These computer files netted evidence supporting the one-year injunction. The ground-breaking lawsuit received national news media attention, with stories appearing in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post, among others. In its annual column on the top industry stories, Editor and Publisher listed the Pioneer Press lawsuit and related events as the number 5 top newspaper story in the nation in 2007.
The "Attorney of the Year" honor is bestowed to 15 attorneys annually. Along with Dan, Minnesota Lawyer recognized Leonard, Street and Deinard shareholder Dominic Cecere as a 2007 "Attorney of the Year," the first time it has given the prestigious award to a team of successful lawyers.
Dan is the co-chair of Leonard Street’s Electronic Discovery (eDiscovery) Response and Legal Team, which helps firm clients on a full range of electronic discovery and evidence issues. The team provides strategic advice and technical assistance on such issues as how to discover the electronic documents an opponent wants to hide, when and how to satisfy a corporation’s obligation to preserve electronic documents, and the cost-effective use of vendors and experts. Dan’s and his colleagues’ efforts uncovering hidden electronic evidence has been critical to the success of multiple lawsuits, including the Pioneer Press case.
Before practicing law, Dan was a prize-winning journalist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune for 12 years, where he covered the courts and legal affairs. He was a regular contributor to the National Law Journal and a monthly columnist on Minnesota appellate court decisions. He frequently assists on crisis communication issues.
Dan is an author or co-author of numerous professional publications, including:
Thomson-West’s hard-cover treatise, titled Employment, published in 2003
in West’s Legal Forms series, and the book’s 2004 to 2008 pocket parts;
Annual Minnesota Employment Defamation and Privacy Surveys, published
by the Media Law Resource Center;
A book chapter, titled, False Statements In A Business Context: Business
Defamation, Product Disparagement & False Advertising, published in 2008
by the Minnesota CLE in its Minnesota Business Torts Deskbook; and,
A Summary Guide to Discrimination Claims, published by Minnesota CLE in
June 2007.
Dan clerked for the Honorable Donald P. Lay of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals before entering private practice. While a student at the University of Minnesota Law School, he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Minnesota Law Review, for 1991-1992.
PROFESSIONAL AND CIVIC ACTIVITIES
Chair, Minnesota State Bar Association, Bar-Media Committee (which acts as
a bridge between the bar and the media), 2000-2002
Chair, Minnesota State Bar Association, Fair Response Committee (which
assists the State Bar Association evaluate and respond to criticism of judges
in the media), 2007 to present (member since 2005)
EDUCATION
J.D., magna cum laude, University of Minnesota Law School, 1992
Order of the Coif
B.A., University of Michigan, 1979
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