Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.
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James E. Dorsey
James E. Dorsey
 
jdorsey@fredlaw.com
p: 612.492.7079
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f: 612.492.7077
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Assistant: Roxanne Gangl 612.492.7517
MEET JIM.
MEET JIM

“
Over the years, I have taken great satisfaction in helping co-owners, who are fighting over control of closely-held companies, part ways - either through negotiation or through trial.”
General Bio
 

Introduction

Jim practices in the area of Commercial Litigation and is the Chair of the Valuation Dispute & Litigation Group, which encompasses shareholder disputes, condemnation, and real estate tax matters. Prior to joining Fredrikson & Byron in 1992, he had a variety of work experiences, including two years with a state drug policy agency; seven years in commercial litigation, corporate and environmental law practice; and a one-year clerkship in West Virginia. Jim is an active pro bono volunteer and is a co-founder and current president of Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights.

Education

  • University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1981
  • Yale University, B.A., 1974

Bar Admissions

  • West Virginia, 1981
  • Minnesota, 1982
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, 1982

Practice Areas

Representative Experience

Closely-Held Shareholder Disputes:

  • Represented an employee/shareholder who was discharged in May 2009. At the time of his discharge, the company and its other shareholders agreed to buy our client’s shares at a given price. When company and the other shareholders subsequently refused to make the purchase (claiming that the original agreement had been only an agreement to agree), our client sued for breach of contract. In November 2010, the Hennepin County District Court granted summary judgment to our client in the full amount of the originally agreed upon purchase price.
  • Represented a shareholder/principal in 2009 who found out that the two other shareholders/principals were siphoning large amounts of money from the company. We brought suit on behalf of our client and quickly showed the defendants the evidence that we had gathered concerning their conduct. Within a month, the parties entered into a settlement agreement whereby the other two shareholder/principals agreed to walk away from the business and indemnify our client from any then-current liabilities of the business.
  • Represented a group of physicians who had terminated the employment of one of their colleagues. After we investigated and presented the multiple grounds for the termination to the lawyer for the former colleague, the former colleague brought no claim.
  • Represented an electrical supply and contracting company and six shareholders after they terminated the employment of the seventh shareholder. We negotiated the purchase of the seventh shareholder’s stock and thereby avoided a lawsuit.
  • Represented a 50% shareholder in a lawsuit brought by the other 50% shareholder in a business involving granite and marble building materials. The parties agreed to expedited discovery and settled the case with a buy-out of our client’s interest well before the case would have gone to trial.
  • Represented several co-defendants in a case alleging breach of fiduciary duty between business partners who owned the Mall of America. Triple Five v. Simon, 404 F.3d 1088 (8th Cir. 2005).
  • Represented two partners who were having problems dealing with their third partner in a business that provides billing services to physicians. We helped our clients terminate the employment of the third partner and then negotiate a buy-out of his interest in the company.
  • Represented minority shareholders in a dissenters’ rights proceeding arising from the majority shareholder’s decision to force them out of the business, which owned several car dealerships. After trial, the court awarded our clients more than 3 times what the company had been paid them, plus an award of costs, attorneys’ fees, and expert witness fees.
  • Represented minority shareholders in a dissenters’ rights proceeding where they were being squeezed out of a telecommunications company. After trial, the court awarded our clients more than 7 times what the company had paid them, plus an award of costs, attorneys’ fees, and expert witness fees. American Sharecom, Inc. v. LDB International Corporation, 1995 WL 321540 (Minn. Ct. App.) pet. for review denied (Aug. 3, 1995).

General Commercial Litigation:

  • Represented parties in contractual disputes involving:
    • food processing machines,
    • the sale of dairy product ingredients,
    • the production of yogurt,
    • the sale of jet aircraft,
    • non-competition agreements,
    • the production of laminated identity cards,
    • the sale of business management software, and
    • the manufacture of hydraulic pumps.

Condemnation:

  • Represents Xcel Energy in an acquisition of right-of-way for the construction, operation, and maintenance of new 345 kV transmission lines known as the CapX 2020 Transmission Projects.
  • Represented Minnesota Pipe Line Company, LLC, in the condemnation of right-of-way for its 305-mile long crude oil “MinnCan” pipeline project through 13 Minnesota counties. At a consolidated hearing in September 2007, District Court Judge Steven Drange granted the condemnation petitions and the quick-take motions, which resulted in the client’s immediate title to and possession of permanent and temporary easements across 223 parcels in those 13 counties. The valuation hearings before the various county condemnation commissioner panels have commenced.
  • Represented Alliance Pipeline in connection with its land acquisition activities in 1997 through 2000 for the building of a high pressure natural gas pipeline across North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. In Minnesota, we commenced actions against about 1,000 owners of over 300 parcels in 13 counties. As part of that effort, we worked with Alliance personnel to make presentations before county and legislative bodies to secure necessary permits for construction, maintenance, and operation of the pipeline. With respect to right-of-way acquisition, we took the role of coordinating the condemnation efforts in the four states. We engaged soil scientists, agronomists, and crop specialists to prepare analyses of the effects of a pipeline and its construction techniques on various types of farmland.
  • Represented the Metropolitan Council in acquisition of right-of-way for sewer interceptors.
  • Represented electric power companies (both rural electric cooperatives and investor-owned utilities) in condemnation of right-of-way along railroad corridors and across agricultural lands for power lines.
  • Represented landowners in connection with condemnation on property for road expansion purposes.
  • Represented municipality in connection with condemnation of residential and commercial property for urban renewal purposes.

Major Pro Bono Cases:

  • In November 2010, participated in a 4-member delegation of the Advocates for Human Rights to take part in the first-ever comprehensive review of the United States’ human rights record before the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
  • Represented an Algerian detainee held in Guantanamo Bay in Zemiri v. Bush (transferred to Algeria in January 2010);
  • Represented intervenor-defendant Minnesota FairVote (an organization that promotes instant runoff voting) in Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Minneapolis, 766 N.W.2d 683 (Minn. 2009), in which the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the city’s new instant runoff voting system for municipal elections;
  • Represented the NAACP in Hollman v. Cisneros, a major housing discrimination case in Minneapolis that resulted in a change in how the public housing program in the region is run;
  • Traveled to and investigated human rights abuses in South Africa, Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala;
  • Represented the defendant in Louisiana v. Busby, 538 So.2d 164 (La. 1988) (death sentence vacated on constitutional grounds);
  • Represented the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union in State v. Gray, 413 N.W.2d 107 (Minn. 1987), in which the Minnesota Supreme Court recognized for the first time a right of privacy under the Minnesota constitution; and
  • Represented the American Civil Liberties Union in MPIRG v. Selective Service System, 468 U.S. 841 (1984), before the U.S. Supreme Court (challenging the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment which ties federal tuition assistance to draft registration).

Selected Publications & Presentations

Professional Activities

  • Minnesota Office of Drug Policy, 1989-91, formulation and implementation of state drug strategy
  • Dorsey & Whitney Law Firm, 1982-89, Litigation and Corporate Law

Judicial Clerkship

  • Justice Richard Neely, West Virginia Supreme Court, 1981-82

Military Experience

  • First Lieutenant, Infantry, U.S. Marine Corps, 1975-77

Honors & Distinctions

  • Pro Bono Distinguished Service Award, Hennepin County Bar Foundation, 1996
  • AV rating in Martindale-Hubbell
  • Qualified Neutral under Rule 114, Minnesota General Rules of Practice
  • Listed, “Super Lawyer” (Business Litigation), Superlawyers.com (formerly Minnesota Law & Politics)

Community Involvement

  • Fredrikson & Byron, P.A., Foundation Board of Directors, Member

  • Board member, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights (1983-89; 1999-present); President (1988-1990, 2000-2002, 2009-present)
  • Chair, International Human Rights Committee, Section of International Law and Practice, American Bar Association (1994-99)
  • Board member, Minnesota International Center (2001-2007)
  • Board member, Citizens League (1991-99)
  • Board member, Leadership Minneapolis Program, Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce (1989-91)
  • MSBA, Legal Advice to the Disadvantaged Committee (1987-91)
  • Hennepin County Volunteer Lawyers Network (1982-present)
  • Chair, Task force of the Minnesota Board of Medical Examiners on disciplinary procedures (1989-90)
  • Volunteer Hennepin County Guardian ad Litem in child abuse and neglect cases (2000-present)