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For more than thirty years, John Hinderaker has had a broad-based and varied commercial litigation practice. A veteran of close to 100 jury trials, he has appeared in courts in 17 states. John has been recognized by Minnesota's Journal of Law and Politics as one of the state's top commercial litigators. In recognition of his achievements the Journal of Law and Politics named John Minnesota's "Super Lawyer of the Year" in 2006. He is also listed in The Best Lawyers In America.
John has represented clients in such diverse areas of litigation as antitrust, intellectual property, construction, Lanham Act, trade secrets, product liability, and the First Amendment. He also is experienced in class action litigation.
John's extensive litigation experience is illustrated by the following representative cases:
He successfully represented the world's largest syringe manufacturer in antitrust litigation brought by a competitor.
He represented one of the world's largest seed companies before federal agencies in antitrust matters relating to the biotech seed industry.
He represented the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District in litigation arising out of the construction of Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. Beginning by defending an $87 million claim against the District, he ultimately obtained a $33 million net recovery in the District's favor.
He represented a major chemical company in antitrust and Lanham Act litigation, venued in Delaware and South Carolina, involving herbicides and genetically modified crops, heading a team of more than thirty lawyers and staff.
Representing a construction manager that was terminated for cause from a $50 million condominium project in Wisconsin, he defeated a $6 million damage claim and obtained a $5 million judgment against the developer/owner, as well as a cash recovery from the construction lender and a written apology by the developer and lender.
He won a settlement valued at up to $200 million on behalf of three nationwide classes, totaling more than 1 million people, in class action litigation against a manufacturer of defective water heaters. The settlement was later reversed as insufficiently favorable to the corporate defendant.
He won a trial victory on behalf of an architectural firm in a case where plaintiff alleged that failure to control costs led to the failure of a major mixed-use development project.
He represented the nation's largest insurance company in asserting claims and defending counterclaims totaling more than $50 million, arising out of the construction of a $290 million facility.
He tried $100 million in claims under the Alaska Tort Claims Act on behalf of approximately 700 Alaska residents who lost homes or other property in the Miller's Reach Fire of 1996. Bartek et al. v. State of Alaska, 31 P.3d 100 (Alas. 2001); Angnabouguk et al. v. State of Alaska, 26 P.3d 447 (Alas. 2001).
He won a defense verdict on behalf of an equipment supplier in a $40 million lawsuit arising out of the failure, due to noxious odors, of a composting facility in Florida. U.S. West Financial Services, Inc. v. Buhler, Inc., 150 F.3d 929 (8th Cir. 1998).
He won a landmark victory in the Minnesota Court of Appeals on behalf of a surety that was sued for fraud and breach of contract in connection with a highway project in Arkansas. D. H. Blattner & Sons, Inc. v. Firemen's Ins. Co., 535 N.W. 2d 671 (Minn. App. 1995).
He won a significant First Amendment victory for two college professors in an academic freedom case. Burnham v. Ianni, 899 F.Supp. 395 (D. Minn. 1995); aff'd, 119 F.3d 668 (8th Cir. 1997); see "Burnham v. Ianni: The Eighth Circuit Forges Protection for the Free Speech Rights of Public University Professors Outside the Pickering-Connick-Waters Analysis," 32 Creighton Law Review 883 (1999).
He represented one of the country's largest manufacturers in a series of unfair competition cases involving purportedly false advertising. Porous Media Corp. v. Pall Corp., 110 F.3d 1329 (8th Cir. 1997); Porous Media Corp. v. Pall Corp., 173 F.2d 1109 (8th Cir. 1999); Porous Media Corp. v. Pall Corp., 186 F. 3d 1077 (8th Cir. 1999); Porous Media v. Pall Corp., 201 F.3d 1058 (8th Cir. 2000).
He obtained a multi-million dollar recovery on behalf of a major medical center in a case arising out of the settlement of the ground floor slab in a medical care facility.
He recovered $6.5 million, including a $2.5 million jury verdict, on behalf of a consortium of food companies in several related cases in Montana that arose out of a PCB spill in a packing plant. Unigard Mutual Ins. Co. v. Abbott, 732 F.2d 1414 (9th Cir. 1984).
He successfully represented bondholders in the litigation arising out of efforts to block the construction of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. Davies v. City of Minneapolis, 316 N.W. 498 (Minn. 1982).
On behalf of the principal lender to the Galtier Plaza project in St. Paul, he supervised a broad range of litigation arising out of that development, including claims against the construction manager, various contractors, design professionals, a title insurance company, and the local taxing authority.
He defended two chemical manufacturers against claims asserted by 250 sugar beet growers in western Minnesota.
He won a defense verdict in favor of a developer in a multi-million dollar case involving allegations of breach of contract and fraud relating to a shopping center development.
He won a $1.2 million jury verdict in favor of a highway contractor in a breach of contract case against another contractor. Richard Knutson, Inc. v. C. S. McCrossan, Inc., 1994 WL 25506 (Minn. App. 1994).
He represented the Minnesota Timberwolves in litigation arising out of the proposed sale of the Timberwolves to New Orleans interests.
He represented a major chemical company in a lawsuit by a seed corn company, in which it was alleged that a fungicide caused millions of dollars in damages to hybrid seed corn.
He represented the mechanical contractor in lawsuits arising out of the repeated deflations of the HHH Metrodome roof.
In addition to his work on behalf of clients, John served for 17 years as counsel to Faegre & Benson. As such, he was responsible for matters involving ethics and professional responsibility, and represented the firm in court.
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