Biography
Hon. Janice M. Symchych (Former) is a sought after international mediator and arbitrator. She has more than 30 years of professional experience handling international complex litigation matters. As a United States Magistrate Judge she presided over civil litigation involving foreign parties, and in that setting supervised international discovery disputes and engaged in settlement conferences attended by foreign nationals and their counsel. She has mediated and settled more than 2000 cases during her career.
As a first-chair litigation partner at Dorsey & Whitney, Ms. Symchych conducted international work assignments for corporate clients, travelling in Europe and Asia, and working with local counsel and translators in foreign countries.
As Deputy General Counsel for litigation at a Fortune 200 Medical Device Company, Ms. Symchych had responsibility for litigation worldwide, and worked daily with both company counsel and clients across the globe, as well as with outside and opposing counsel around the world. Her international litigation docket included trial and settlement work in such matters as intellectual property litigation venued both in foreign courts and foreign arbitration forums, mass tort litigation and one-off tort litigation in dozens of foreign countries, and law enforcement and investigation work as well. She has travelled extensively to foreign venues to supervise and work on these matters. Her experience in these matters has extended to all continents except Africa and Australia (and Antarctica, of course).
Her experiences have taught her to communicate across multiple European, Asian, and South American cultures and to navigate the peculiarities of resolving matters which involve a multiplicity of laws of different nations.
Ms. Symchych is known for her ability to mediate complex cases involving a wide range of issues, with special expertise in intellectual property, False Claims Act, health care and biosciences, and white-collar and fraud matters.
Representative Matters
- Management of international discovery disputes in complex litigation: e.g., scientific and engineering documents in product liability matters involving Japanese aircraft and automobile manufacturers
- Creation and execution of settlement strategies for worldwide mass torts litigation in biosciences products, involving differences in country law spanning Europe, Asia, and South America
- Handling of parallel, near-simultaneous patent litigations in multiple European and Asian venues, including both courts and arbitration venues- with emphasis in the biosciences
- Representation of companies defending parallel Grand Jury, U.S. and foreign civil litigation proceedings regarding foreign conduct
- Multiple internal investigations regarding allegations of corrupt foreign conduct, including Belgium, Balkans, India, China, and Brazil
- Formal executive global leadership training in American company practices, behaviors, and roles in international business, including overseas in-country training
- Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS
- Co-Author, What Is…ADR in Health Care Disputes?, ABA Book Publishing (Health Law Section), 2015
- Awards during private practice:
- Chambers USA, American Leading Lawyers for Business
- Best Lawyers in America
- National Federal Investigators Award
- Minnesota Civil Litigation Award
- Fellow, American Bar Association
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (prior to going in-house)
- Member CPR Roster of Distinguished Neutrals
- AAA Roster of Commercial Litigation Neutrals; Appointed Arbitrator for Pan American Games (IOC)
- Manville Trust, National Panel of Arbitrators & Mediators
- Judicial System
- Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Advisory Committee, 1998-2005
- Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Gender Fairness Task Force, 1993-1998
- U.S. District Court MN Local Rules Committee, 1990-2003
- U.S. District Court MN Ombudsman for Employees, 1997-2003
- State of Minnesota Judicial Selection Commission, 1999-2001
- MN Supreme Court Gender Fairness Task Force, 1987-1990
- Bar Associations: Fellow of American Bar Association; General Counsel Roundtable; ACC; MN State Bar Association (Past Chair Civil Litigation Section and Women in Legal Profession Task Force)
- Various health law and criminal law specialty organizations
- Legal Teaching
- Adjunct Professor, White Collar Criminal Justice Studies including Healthcare Fraud, University of Colorado School of Law, Boulder, CO
- Adjunct Faculty, University of Colorado Law School, 2014
- Former Trial Skills Instructor, National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA)
- Minnesota Trial Advocacy Institute (Founder of organization)
- U.S. Department of Justice Advocacy Institute
- Former Adjunct Professor, William Mitchell College of Law
- Frequent Speaker on Litigation Topics such as the 2009 Chief Litigation Officers Conference and Keynote Address on Multidistrict Litigation Strategies
- Deputy General Counsel-Litigation, Medtronic, Inc., 2005-2010
- Partner, Halleland, Lewis, Nilan & Johnson LLP, 2003-2005
- Partner, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, 1989-2003
- United States Magistrate Judge, District of Minnesota, 1985-1989
- Assistant United States Attorney, District of Minnesota, 1981-1985
- Assistant Hennepin County Attorney, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1977-1981
- J.D., magna cum laude, William Mitchell College of Law, 1977 (Valedictorian)
- B.A., magna cum laude, University of Minnesota, 1973
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Practice Areas
- Arbitration
- Business/Commercial
- Class Action/Mass Tort
- Employment
- Federal Law
- Governmental/Public Agency
- Health Care
- Intellectual Property
- International & Cross-Border
- Life Sciences
- Special Master/Discovery Referee
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