Introduction - Litigation Bio
Former U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug is well-recognized in the Minnesota legal community. His practice focuses primarily on complex litigation, but he assists clients on a variety of sensitive matters at the intersection of law, business, and government.
He has represented three United States Senators. Most recently, he served as lead Minnesota counsel for U.S. Senator Al Franken in an eight-month recount and election contest. He tried and won the seven-week trial before a three-judge panel. Click here for a video summary of that trial.
As part of the firm’s White-Collar & Regulatory Defense Group, and working closely with the firm’s Corporate Governance & Investigations Group, David deals frequently with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, Minnesota regulators and administrative agencies, county attorneys, and city attorneys.
Corporations, governmental entities, the University of Minnesota, and tribal organizations have retained David to perform internal investigations and prepare privileged reports of his findings.
Having been the founding chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Construction Law Section, David continues his long-established construction law practice. As a member of the firm’s Real Estate Litigation Group, he represents building owners, contractors, and design professionals in lawsuits, arbitrations, mediations, and governmental proceedings. David is also in demand as a mediator.
Pro bono work will always be an important part of David’s practice. From 2003 to 2008, representing numerous religious institutions, he won three lawsuits attacking the constitutionality of Minnesota’s so-called “conceal-carry” handgun law. Click here for more information.
Education
- Harvard University, J.D., cum laude, 1979
- Augustana College, B.A., summa cum laude, 1976
Bar Admissions
- Minnesota, 1979
- U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, 1979
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 1981
- District of Columbia, 1981 (inactive)
- U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, 1982 (inactive)
Practice Areas
- Litigation
- Real Estate Litigation
- White Collar & Regulatory Defense
- Corporate Governance & Investigations
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Construction
- Internal Investigations
Representative Experience
Complex Litigation
- Pet Food Contamination Cases. Acted as litigation general counsel for international pet food manufacturer in connection with massive product recall due to contaminated ingredient from
- Pipeline Design Arbitration. Attorney for the owner of a natural gas pipeline, on claims for professional negligence against a pipeline engineering company. After three days of arbitration, the claims were settled confidentially. Legal issues in the case included: delegation of design issues to contractors; inspection responsibilities of engineers and contractors; the legal effect of warnings contained in soils reports; and the collateral estoppel effect of an arbitrator’s holdings and award in a previous arbitration between owner and contractor.
- Chemical Plant Claim. Attorney for the owner of a chemical plant managed by a major commodities production company. Client made a multi-million dollar claim for damages, including lost production and repair costs, arising out of equipment breakdowns and vapors emitted by the manager’s adjacent plant. The claim was settled through negotiation by amendment to the management contract. The amendment was worth at least $2.5 million to the client.
- Witcher Construction Co. v. The Estes II Limited Partnership, et al., Second Judicial District Court File No. C4-89-5693, 465 N.W. 2d 404 (Minn. Ct. App. 1991), and Witcher Construction Co. v. Nicollet Historic Associates L.P., et al., Fourth Judicial District Court File No. 89-7677, 1992 Minn. App. LEXIS 663 (Minn. Ct. App. 1992). Attorney (at a previous firm) for a medium-sized Minnesota general contractor on two million-dollar mechanic’s lien actions against Arizona and New York lenders arising out of renovations of prominent buildings. Organized joint efforts of sixteen contractors. Tried and won the cases in Ramsey County and Hennepin County District Courts. Argued and won the cases in the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Recovered attorneys’ fees.
- Tacoma Federal Courthouse Litigation, Washington State Superior Court, Pierce County, 1993. Attorney for a California general contractor on the construction and renovation of the Tacoma Union Station into a federal courthouse. This case involved a variety of claims, counterclaims and cross-claims for construction delay, disruption and change orders. Claims by and against the general contractor totaled $3.5 million. The case was settled after extensive discovery and motion practice and a marathon mediation.
Government/White-Collar/Investigations
- University of Minnesota Independent Investigations. Retained by the University’s General Counsel in 2001-2002, 2004, and 2007 to perform independent investigations in sensitive matters. Lengthy privileged reports were prepared that served as the basis for the General Counsel’s legal advice to the President and the Regents.
- Indian Tribe Investigation. Retained by the government’s chief legal officer to perform an independent investigation of real estate development and construction. The report led to a change in governance.
- Defense of Various Government Investigations. Successfully represented clients in non-public investigations by the United States Department of Justice, the Minnesota Attorney General, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota OSHA, the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board, several County Attorneys, and the Minneapolis City Attorney.
- Minneapolis Police Department Investigation. Attorney for the Deputy Chief of the Minneapolis Police Department responding to an investigation commenced and publicized by a new Chief of Police. Representation included defending the Deputy Chief in the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigation, countering the Chief’s media statements, and responding to a City personnel investigation. The BCA investigation report, released to the public, concluded that the Deputy Chief had done nothing wrong. The Deputy Chief was completely vindicated and returned to her position.
- United State ex rel. Johnson-Pochardt v. Rapid City Regional Hospital, U.S. District Court, District of South Dakota, 252 F.Supp.2d 892 (D.S.D. 2003). Attorney for the relator in a health care False Claims Act case venued in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota. The case settled for $6.5 million. At the time, this was the largest Stark Law settlement in history, and the largest settlement for the government in the District of South Dakota. In awarding the relator a 24% share of the recovery, out of a possible 25%, the Court stated that the client’s disclosure of the fraud was “nearly flawless” and that “her attorneys’ crucial contributions” had led to the record-breaking result.
Mediation
- Retail Store Roof Case. Successfully mediated to settlement a significant claim by a major retailer for damages arising out of the blow-off of a roofing system at a store in Duluth, Minnesota.
- Mixed-Use Project Litigation. Successfully mediated to settlement complex contract and lien claims between and among a developer, construction lenders, title insurers, general contractor, and subcontractors arising out of the construction of a mixed-use project in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
- Historic Condominium Claims. Successfully mediated to settlement claims regarding alleged construction defects and parking rights made by a condominium association against the developer of an historic renovation in St. Paul, Minnesota.
- Downtown Restaurant Lease. Successfully mediated to settlement a breach of lease claim by a major downtown Minneapolis property owner against a national restaurant chain.
Selected Publications & Presentations
- “The State of
- “Doing Business With the State? Heads-Up on the New
- “
- “Watergate Revisited: the Role of the Lawyers,”
- “Food Contamination Criminal Investigations/Prosecutions,” Mealey’s Product Recall and Food Liability Conference, April 2008
- “Managing the Risk of Crime and Fraud in the Construction industry,” National Business Institute, February 2007 and February 2008
- “The Federal False Claims Act and Related Statutes,” Minnesota State Bar Association Construction Law Section, September 2006
- “Employee Embezzlement: Prevention, Detection, and Cure,” Fredrikson & Byron’s White Collar & Regulatory Defense Focus Newsletter, July 2006
- “Criminal Liability in the Construction Industry,” Minnesota State Bar Association Construction Law Section Symposium, June 2005
- “The Role of Construction Lawyers in the Public and Private Sectors,” Minnesota State Bar Association Construction Law Section Symposium, November 2004
- "Criminalizing Construction?" Fredrikson & Byron's White Collar & Regulatory Defense Focus Newsletter, November 2003
- “Fraud and Abuse Enforcement,” American Bar Association Healthcare Summit, November 2003
- "The Criminal Employee: Will the Company be Indicted, Too?" Fredrikson & Byron's White Collar & Regulatory Defense Focus Newsletter, January 2003
Professional Activities
- United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota, 1994-1998
- Member, White-Collar Crime and Native American Issues Subcommittees of the U.S. Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, 1994-1998
- Ex-officio Board Member, Minnesota County Attorneys Association and Urban County Attorneys Association, 1994-1998
- Board of Directors, Federal Bar Association Minnesota Chapter, 1995-1998
- Founding Chair, Minnesota State Bar Association (“MSBA”) Construction Law Section, 1989-1991
- Governing Council, MSBA Civil Litigation Section, 1987-1990
JUDICIAL CLERKSHIP
- U.S. District Court Judge Harry MacLaughlin, District of Minnesota, 1979-1981
Honors & Distinctions
- “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell
- Listed in Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in the World
- Outstanding Alumnus Award, Augustana College, 2006
- Minnesota State Bar Association Author’s Award, for article on settlement agreements in complex civil cases, 1990
- Mondale Fellow, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, 1990-1991
Community Involvement
Political
- Attorney for, and senior advisor to, U.S. Senate campaigns: Al Franken, 2008; Amy Klobuchar, 2006; Paul Wellstone, 2002
- Senior advisor to Walter Mondale, U.S. Senate campaign, 2002
- Co-chair, Minnesota DFL Party Convention, 2006, 2004, 2002
- Candidate for U.S. Senate, 2000
- Delegate to the Democratic National Convention, 1992
- Senior advisor to Paul Wellstone, U.S. Senate campaign, 1990
- Traveling issues aide and executive assistant to Walter Mondale, presidential campaign, 1983-1984
Non-Profit
- Advisory Council, American Constitution Society Minnesota Chapter, 2004-2009
- Board of Directors, Growth & Justice, a progressive Minnesota think tank, 2002-2008
- Midwest Leadership Council, Lutheran World Relief, an international relief organization, 2006-2009
- Chair, Crosstown Conference, Minneapolis Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 2006-2007
- Church Council, Edina Community Lutheran Church, 2001-2003
- Board of Directors, Minnesota Justice Foundation, organization supporting pro bono clerkships for law students, 1986-1989