Lori Johnson
Partner
Phone: 612.355.4100
Fax: 612.355.4101
Email: [email protected]
Address: 888 Colwell Building
123 North Third Street
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401
Professional Experience
- Lori is a litigator who specializes in complex business disputes. Lori has represented clients ranging from individuals and small businesses to institutions with billions of dollars under management in everything from small contract disputes to highly sophisticated securities fraud class actions. Lori has successfully represented many clients in shareholder, business divorce, corporate governance, and family business disputes.
- Lori also represents clients in defamation cases and was part of the trial team who won a $2 million slander verdict in favor of [Aaron Greterman] in 2019, an award which was affirmed after post-trial motions were soundly defeated.
Areas of Practice
- Litigation
- Defamation
- Business divorce, shareholder, partnership and family business disputes
- Fraud claims, including in receivership and bankruptcy proceedings
- Contract disputes
- Business torts
- Breach of fiduciary duty
- Health care business disputes
- FINRA arbitration
- Non-competes and other business competition disputes
- Counsel to Special Litigation Committee
- Nationwide complex class action litigation
- Securities Litigation
- Appellate Advocacy
Courts Admitted
- Minnesota
- United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
- United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
Education
- Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota: B.A. in English and French — 1993
- University of Minnesota Law School: J.D. (cum laude) — 2001
Representative Cases
- Greterman v. Oxbow Golf and Country Club, Inc., David Campbell, et al. (Cass County, North Dakota 2019-2020). Trial team member who represented Aaron Greterman in his slander case against a country club and some of its members, resulting in a $2 million verdict for Greterman, the largest award for slander ever made by a North Dakota jury.
- Represented directors and officers of a nationwide labor services company in complex business dispute resulting in very favorable result for our clients, including their sole control and ultimate ownership of the company.
- Finn v. Moyes (U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, 2014-2017). Represented Jerry Moyes, the founder of Swift Transportation in a case brought by Patrick Finn, as Receiver for First United Funding and Corey Johnston. Johnston ran a Ponzi scheme through his business in which he defrauded banks by overselling participations in loans. After his criminal conviction, the Receiver sued Moyes, a borrower who repaid his loans in full, for claims of fraudulent transfer, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, among others. After prevailing on almost every issue in the parties’ cross-summary judgment motions, Moyes settled for a fraction of the original damages claimed by the Receiver. See Finn v. Moyes, No. 14–1293 (JRT/TNL),2017 WL 1194192 (D. Minn. March 30, 2017).
- Scarlett v. White (U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, 2016-2017). Represented majority shareholders in wine industry shareholder case in which a former shareholder alleged breach of fiduciary duty and attempted to force litigation in Minnesota, his state of residence. Prevailed on motion to transfer case to California to be consolidated with prior litigation there based on “first-filed” rule of federal court procedures.
- Petters Bankruptcy Proceedings – Fraud and Claw-Back Claims (U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Minnesota, 2010-2016). Represented the trustees and receiver in adversary proceedings arising from one of the largest Ponzi schemes ever, a multi-billion dollar scheme operated by Tom Petters. The adversary cases included claims against many investors who profited from the scheme, as well as fraud claims against a primary lender to the Petters organization.
- Defended a registered representative against claims of breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets and conversion, and brought a successful counterclaim for defamation, conversion, unjust enrichment and other claims against the broker-dealer, reaching a substantial seven-figure settlement for our client just prior to the FINRA arbitration.
- Represented a physician in a shareholder dispute between deadlocked partners in a medical practice, settling the matter prior to arbitration with our client gaining complete control of the corporation.
- In re AOL Time Warner, Inc. Securities and ERISA Litigation, MDL No. 1500, No. 02 Civ. 5575 (SWK) (U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York 2002 -2007). Represented the Minnesota State Board of Investment and a class of investors in a securities fraud class action against AOL Time Warner that ultimately settled for $2.65 billion on behalf of defrauded shareholders.
Representative Clients
- Labor Services Company
- National Retailers
- CEO of Fortune 1000 Company
- Bankruptcy Trustees and Receiver
- Financial Advisors
- Pension Funds
Honors
- Minnesota Super Lawyer, 2024
- Dean’s List, all academic years
- Staff member, Minnesota Law Review, University of Minnesota Law School
Community Involvement
- Member of Minnesota Women Lawyers, Partner Leadership Council 2018-2019
- Member of Minnesota State Bar Association
- Volunteer Attorney, The Advocates for Human Rights, 2017 – present
- Federal Bar Association’s Pro Se Project, 2014-2016