David L. Lillehaug brings to JAMS a rare combination of high-level federal and state experience as a Minnesota Supreme Court justice and a United States attorney for the District of Minnesota, along with decades of large-firm, first-chair practice litigating complex civil and regulatory cases in federal and state courts and in arbitrations.

During seven years on the Minnesota Supreme Court, Justice Lillehaug sat on more than 600 cases and wrote over 140 opinions. Legal scholars have focused on his civil jurisprudence, including on the standards for dismissal and summary judgment. He was the court’s liaison to its committees on professional responsibility, evidence and alternative dispute resolution.

In private practice, Justice Lillehaug’s clients included Fortune 100 companies, his state’s highest-ranking public officials, the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the University of Minnesota, tribal nations and pro bono litigants.

Justice Lillehaug has particular experience in matters at the intersection of civil, criminal and regulatory law, such as white-collar and corporate internal investigations. He has represented clients on all three sides of False Claims Act cases: governments, defendants and relators. 

Justice Lillehaug also has a deep background in real estate and construction litigation, including pursuing and defending claims for delay, acceleration, scope changes, mechanic’s liens, defective work and design malpractice. He was the founding chair of the construction law section of his state bar association and is an honorary fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers.

Reflecting Justice Lillehaug’s standing in the legal community, his state’s U.S. senators have twice appointed him to committees to recommend new federal judges.

Representative Matters

• Business Commercial
• Acted as litigation general counsel for an international pet food manufacturer in connection with a massive product recall caused by a contaminated imported ingredient; the representation included supervising the defense of over 100 consumer class actions, negotiating a $24 million multidistrict litigation (MDL) settlement, defending FDA civil and criminal investigations and resolving significant insurance coverage issues
• Represented the owner of a chemical plant managed by a major commodities production company on multimillion-dollar claims against the manager for damages, including lost production and repair costs, arising out of equipment breakdowns and vapors emitted by the manager’s nearby plant; the claim was settled successfully by a contract amendment
• Construction
• Represented a national architectural firm in school construction litigation with a damages claim of $85 million; after successful motion practice and a nonbinding jury mini trial, the case was settled for a small fraction of the claim
• Represented the owner of an international natural gas pipeline on claims against a pipeline engineering company for professional negligence; after three days of arbitration, the parties chose to settle their claims
• Governmental & Public Agency
• Special counsel to the governor in high-profile litigation arising out of state government gridlock and shutdown; the representation included constitutional litigation before the Minnesota Supreme Court, six injunction hearings in state district court and 70 special master hearings before the former chief justice
• Working closely with national counsel, tried and won a seven-week U.S. Senate election contest trial before a special three-judge panel
• Health Care
• Successfully represented a relator in a False Claims Act case against a regional hospital; in awarding the relator a 24% share of the $6.5 million settlement, the court stated that the relator’s disclosure of the fraud was “nearly flawless” and that “her attorneys’ crucial contributions” had led to a record-breaking recovery

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Representative Opinions

• Walsh v. U.S. Bank, 851 N.W.2d 598 (Minn. 2014) (affirming the traditional standard for motions to dismiss and declining to follow the federal Twiqbal standard)

• Commerce Bank v. West Bend Mutual Ins. Co., 870 N.W.2d 770 (Minn. 2015) (discussing how district courts should analyze cross-motions for summary judgment)

• State of Minnesota v. Finch, 865 N.W.2d 696 (Minn. 2015) (identifying the correct procedure to challenge denial of a request to disqualify a judge for cause and holding that a reasonable examiner would have questioned the judge’s impartiality)

• In re Petition for Distribution of Attorney’s Fees, 870 N.W.2d 755 (Minn. 2015) (denying quantum meruit recovery of fees when an attorney withdraws under a contingency-fee agreement based on the refusal of a client to accept a settlement offer)

• Storms, Inc. v. Mathy Construction Co., 883 N.W.2d 772 (Minn. 2016) (discussing whether a pass-through change order reducing price breached the subcontract)

• In re the Application for an Administrative Search Warrant, City of Golden Valley v. Wiebesick, 899 N.W.2d 152 (Minn. 2017) (establishing the standard and procedure under the Minnesota Constitution to obtain an administrative search warrant for an inspection in the absence of individualized suspicion)

• Senogles v. Carlson, 902 N.W.2d 38 (Minn. 2017) (discussing the standard for landowner liability to a child guest for harm arising from a particular activity or condition on the owner’s property)

• Fenrich v. The Blake School, 920 N.W.2d 195 (Minn. 2018) (analyzing whether a school assumed a duty of reasonable care to the general public by agreeing that one of its students would drive himself and other students to an out-of-town extracurricular activity)

• White Bear Lake Restoration Ass’n v. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 946 N.W.2d 373 (Minn 2020) (holding that nonprofit associations stated a claim under the state environmental rights act for alleged excessive pumping of aquifer water but declining to apply the common-law public trust doctrine)
  
  

Memberships and Affiliations:

• Minnesota Supreme Court Historical Society, Board of Directors, 2018–2025
• Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Board of Directors, 2010–2019
• Augustana College, Board of Trustees, 2010–2013
• University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Advisory Council, 2010–2013
• Active in Minnesota State Bar Association, including as founding chair of the construction law section, member of the civil litigation section governing council, member of the mock trial program board and recipient of the annual magazine writing award
• American Constitution Society Lawyers Chapter, Advisory Council, 2004–2009, 2021–2025

Selected Awards and Honors:

• Attorney of the Year, Minnesota Lawyer, 2009, 2020
• Awards for judicial service from the Mitchell Hamline Law Review, Minnesota Urban Debate League, Minnesota State Bar Association Mock Trial Program, Minnesota County Attorneys Association, Academy of Certified Trial Lawyers of Minnesota and American Constitution Society’s Lawyers Chapter

Background and Education

• Senior Counsel, Fredrikson & Byron, Minneapolis, 2020–2025
• Associate Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court, 2013–2020
• Officer/Shareholder, Fredrikson & Byron, Minneapolis, 2002–2013
• Attorney, Lillehaug Law Office, 2000–2002
• U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, 1994–1998
• Associate/Partner; Leonard, Street and Deinard; Minneapolis; 1985–1994, 1998–1999
• Issues Aide and Personal Assistant to Vice President Walter Mondale, 1983–1984
• Associate; Hogan & Hartson; Washington, D.C.; 1981–1983, 1984–1985
• Law Clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Harry MacLaughlin, District of Minnesota, 1979–1981
• J.D. cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1979
• B.A. summa cum laude, Augustana College, 1976