Introduction

Jamal Faleel is a shareholder in Fredrikson & Byron’s Litigation Group. His practice focuses on assisting clients in a wide range of complex business disputes, including contract matters, business torts, employment litigation, shareholder matters, and medical practices litigation. He has a special interest in international commercial contract disputes and antitrust litigation. Jamal served as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge, James M. Rosenbaum, before joining Fredrikson & Byron. Jamal has extensive experience litigating in both federal and state court. Jamal has been honored as a Rising Star for several years by Minnesota Super Lawyers magazine and Minnesota Law & Politics magazine, and was named an Up-and-Coming Attorney for 2005 by Minnesota Lawyer.

Education

• Hamline University School of Law, J.D., 2002, magna cum laude
• University of Minnesota, B.A., 1999, cum laude

Bar Admissions

• Minnesota, 2002
• Federal District Court for the District of Minnesota, 2004

Practice Areas

• Litigation
• Antitrust and Trade Regulation
• Shareholder Disputes
• Trusts & Estates Litigation
• Intellectual Property Litigation
• Energy
• Commercial Law

Languages

• Fluent Sinhalese
• Conversational Spanish

Representative Experience

Medical Practices Litigation

• Represented a regional medical center in an arbitration proceeding against one of Minnesota’s largest insurers for improper reimbursement of medical services. We obtained an award in excess of $1.4 million.
• Represented a number of healthcare providers and medical groups in a variety of matters, including breach of contract disputes, business tort claims, employment disputes, and shareholder disputes. 

Commercial Litigation

• Represented a group of municipal bondholders who sought to block the sale of an assisted living facility by a trustee for less than the fair market value of the facility. After a bench trial, the judge ruled in our client’s favor and denied the trustee’s petition for sale of the facility and appointed a receiver of our client’s choice. We were also successful in petitioning the court for payment of all of our attorneys’ fees and costs from the trust corpus at the conclusion of the litigation.
• Represented an investment group in seeking to recover money from a broker and classic car dealer for fraud, breach of contract, and violation of Minnesota’s civil theft statute. Our client was awarded the entire damage amount it requested, along with its claim for punitive damages under the Minnesota civil theft statute. 
• Represented a large sugar processor in a dispute over the operation of an adjoining shooting range’s violation of the Minnesota Shooting Range Protection Act. The Court found in favor of our client, holding that the shooting range violated the Minnesota Shooting Range Protection Act and enjoined all shooting range operations on the land adjoining the sugar processing plant.
• Defended proprietors of a small business in a suit alleging default of a commercial lease. The landlord sought to recover payments under the lease for the remaining period of the lease, plus attorneys’ fees and costs based on a written lease and personal guaranty they had allegedly signed. Days after our deposition of the landlord’s key witness, the lawsuit was settled for less than the cost of defense. 
• Represented a leading global manufacturer and marketer of consumer food products in a multi-million dollar dispute with a grain purchaser arising from the purchaser’s breach of a supply agreement. The client was able to negotiate a successful resolution of the dispute based on our advice and legal analysis of its claims.
• Represented a buyer of a business in exercising a “material adverse change” clause in an asset purchase agreement. Successfully negotiated concessions on purchase price due to material adverse changes in the target business.

Shareholder Disputes, Employment Litigation, and Business Tort Claims

• Represented a major national healthcare clinic and its physicians in employment related disputes, including employment discrimination claims, beach of contract claims, whistleblower claims, and business tort claims.
• Defended a medical group against a multi-million dollar claim of fraud, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by a former shareholder. The Court granted summary judgment in favor of our client and dismissed all claims brought by the former shareholder.
• Represented a national franchise in a race discrimination suit brought by two patrons of one of its restaurant in the Louisville area. Plaintiffs settled the dispute for a nominal amount following their depositions. 
• Represented a minority shareholder in a lawsuit against former shareholders of a closely-held corporation. The matter was resolved on terms very favorable to our client following a mediation.
• Represented a medical group that had terminated the employment of one of its shareholders based on inappropriate conduct that violated his fiduciary duties as a shareholder.  We positioned the dispute for an early mediation by aggressively investigating his claims for relief as a minority shareholder and asserting counterclaims against him based on his conduct. The matter was settled on favorable terms to our client within four months of the service of his complaint. 

Constitutional Matters

• Represented former Minnesota high school hockey players in a suit against a government agency for violations of Title IX and the players’ federal constitutional rights. Following a successful defense of a motion to dismiss alleging that the players did not have a private right of action under Title IX against the government agency, we were able to negotiate a settlement with the government agency that was extremely satisfactory to our clients and called for the implementation of significant changes in Title IX education programs at the high school level. 

Selected Publications & Presentations

• “Minnesota Court of Appeals Clarifies When Dissenters are Entitled to an Award of Expert Witness Fees,” co-authored with Jim Dorsey, May 2010
• “Recent District Court Ruling – A Minority Shareholder’s Rights Trump the Squeeze-Out Merger that the Majority Shareholders Had Sought,” co-authored with Jim Dorsey, September 2009
• “Remedies for Breach” Minnesota Contracts Deskbook (2nd ed.), August 2009
• “When Does a Domestic Choice of Law Provision Result in the Application of International Contract Law?,” co-authored with Harleigh E. Brown, Fredrikson & Byron’s International Focus Newsletter, June 2007

Professional Activities

• Hamline Alumni Association, Board Member 2003-Present
• Federal Bar Association-Diversity Committee 2007-Present
• Member, Minnesota State Bar Association Assembly, 2006-2007
• Chair, Minnesota State Bar Association, New Lawyers Section, 2006-2007
• Member, Minnesota State Bar Association Governing Council, 2006-2007
• Member, Minnesota State Bar Association Legislative Committee, 2006-2007
• Judge – Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Competition (Vienna, Austria), 2004; 2006-2007
• Coach – Hamline, Willem C. Vis, International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Team (Vienna, Austria), 2002-2004

Judicial Clerkship

• Chief Judge James M. Rosenbaum, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, 2002-2004

Honors & Distinctions

• Named a Minnesota Rising Star by Minnesota Super Lawyers magazine and Minnesota Law & Politics magazine
• Named one of Minnesota Lawyer’s 15 Up-and-Coming Attorneys for 2005