Accountant Liability
Greene Espel has extensive experience in a wide variety of disputes and problems confronting accounting firms, including the representation of Big Four, regional, and local accounting firms in audit, tax, and consulting negligence lawsuits, class action securities litigation, review board proceedings, and various federal and state regulatory and criminal matters.We pride ourselves in being proactive, using our extensive knowledge of accounting literature, standards, and guidelines to help our accounting firm clients avoid litigation and other problems.
Appellate
Whether you win or lose before the trial court, the appellate process is a whole new ball game. Greene Espel’s appellate attorneys understand the distinction between trial work and appellate advocacy. We rise above the tactics of trial and provide an independent and objective assessment of the pivotal issues for appeal. We develop an appellate strategy that is based on how appellate court judges are likely to view a case in light of legal, institutional, and policy considerations.
Business Litigation
Our business litigation practice embraces the wide variety of commercial disputes facing private and public companies today.Areas of particular expertise include intellectual property, antitrust, securities, employment, professional liability, and construction disputes.Our attorneys are experienced in handling matters involving complex financial instruments and transactions, trade secrets, and professional liability issues, and are regularly called upon to teach and write about these issues.
Design and Construction
We have handled a wide variety of construction disputes in trials, arbitrations, and mediations, and frequently provide advice about construction contracts, ownership, and use of construction documents and related issues.
Employment Litigation, Investigations and Counseling
The law governing employer/employee relationships gets more complex every day. We provide comprehensive employment law services, including counseling, investigation, and litigation, to corporations, individuals, and governmental entities. Our clients range from Fortune 500 companies and public institutions to executives and individuals who seek representation for a wide range of employment-related issues.
Environmental
Handling environmental and toxic tort cases is a fundamental part of our practice. In Minnesota and around the country, Greene Espel defends lawsuits, offers compliance counseling, and provides guidance thorugh legal and regulatory quagmires.
Government and Constitutional Litigation
Government and constitutional litigation is a cornerstone of Greene Espel’s practice. We proudly represent cities, counties, airports, school districts and regional authorities—often in high-profile conflicts where fundamental public policies are at stake or where the outcome carries significant financial implications. We also represent individuals and private businesses where their actions raise constitutional issues.
Our attorneys frequently are called on to educate other attorneys, judges, and law students at seminars on government and constitutional practice. We are honored to represent our clients in matters with great significance to the public.
Intellectual Property
Many of our clients’ business fortunes depend in large part on their ability to protect their intellectual property, or to defend against others’ allegations of misuse of intellectual property. These clients turn to Greene Espel’s attorneys where these most important assets are at stake. From burgeoning high-tech companies to large international manufacturers, our clients have entrusted us with responsibility for major disputes relating to trade secrets, patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Our attorneys have litigated, tried, and defended on appeal cases in these areas across the United States, often when tens of millions of dollars or more were at risk.
Internal Investigations and White Collar Criminal Defense
We represent corporations and individuals in white-collar criminal matters, and we conduct timely and thorough internal investigations for companies that suspect wrongdoing. Our attorneys are experienced in helping clients navigate through the criminal justice system, including working with regulatory bodies involved in “parallel” investigations. We have represented clients in securities, environmental, health care, tax, and other areas. Our clients have ranged from large publicly and privately held corporations and partnerships to individual professionals.
Mediation and Arbitration
From the founding of our firm, we have described ourselves as “attorneys and counselors.” We have done so to emphasize the opportunities to resolve conflicts in settings other than courtrooms—through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration.
Products Liability
Defending products liability claims has been a cornerstone of Greene Espel’s practice since our founding in 1993. Manufacturers and other businesses turn to us when they face product defect allegations brought by individuals, by large groups of plaintiffs, or as putative class actions.
Professional Liability
We have extensive experience in complex litigation affecting professionals and fiduciaries, including litigation against corporate directors and officers and related kinds of shareholder and corporate control litigation. We have defended individuals and firms in the securities, accounting, legal, and financial services industries against claims brought in federal and state court, arbitrations, regulatory enforcement actions, and professional disciplinary proceedings.
