Thanks for a Great 2011!

Readers:  I hope you had a prosperous 2011 and a wonderful holiday season. 2011 is over, and we’re all off to a fresh start in 2012.  Before looking ahead, however, I wanted to express my appreciation to all of the clients with whom I had the opportunity to work during the past year.

For me, the first half of 2011 was dominated by my representation of Revis Stephenson III, the former Chairman and CEO of Advanced BioEnergy, LLC.  Along with my colleagues, David Trevor and Marilyn Clark, we were able to achieve an outstanding result for Revis, following an arbitration involving 15 days of testimony.  For a description of that representation, see the article below, “How to Lose $4 Million When Firing an Executive—What Happens When It All Goes Wrong?”

In the second half of 2011, my practice was largely devoted to a new Dorsey client, Edwards Lifesciences LLC, an Irving, California medical device company that has developed a revolutionary, life-saving, transcatheter heart valve.  This new technology, which was approved for commercial sale in the U.S. by the FDA on November 2, 2011, will enable individuals suffering from severe aortic stenosis to have their aortic valves replaced without the need for open heart surgery.  The Edwards’ representation involved litigation in Minnesota, Massachusetts and Colorado, principally relating to the movement of employees from Boston Scientific Corporation to Edwards Lifesciences.  Happily, the two adversarial medical device companies were able to resolve their disputes amicably in December.

During 2011, I also had the opportunity to continue representing clients, both companies and individuals, with whom I have had a chance to work for years (some, for decades), as well as new clients with whom I established relationships last year.  You know who you are so I won’t list you here.  You also should know how deeply appreciative I have been for the chance to represent you.

One aspect of 2011 that was particularly gratifying was that I was retained by a Fortune 500 company that I had opposed in commercial litigation just two years ago and separately, retained by an opposing counsel who opposed one of my clients in a trade secrets dispute in 2010.  I strive to treat opposing parties and their counsel with dignity and respect, and these two retentions suggest that I achieve that goal, at least some of the time.  I also was pleased by the fact that near the end of last year, I was retained by a client from Chicago solely on the basis of this Blog.

Another aspect of 2011 that was both gratifying and humbling was the honor bestowed upon me by Minnesota Lawyer Magazine, which named me as one of its “2011 Attorneys of the Year.”  This is the second time I have won this award, the first coming in 2006 in connection with my defense of Cisco Systems, Inc. and two individual Cisco employees.  Because this was the second time I received this honor, Minnesota Lawyer Magazine also gave me its “Circle of Excellence Award.”

One consequence of my hectic year, however, was that I had much less time for my Quirky Employment Questions Blog.  I hope to rectify that problem in 2012.  Tomorrow I will post my first 2012 question and I will try to keep up with the weekly questions thereafter.  I also hope to include more submissions from my colleagues, and more submissions from guest contributors. (If you would like to write an article for my Blog, please contact me.)  I also will present a few more polls, and of course, will continue to pose more Employment Trivia Questions (look for a new question on Thursday).  In 2012, I also plan to incorporate more video into the Blog.  More to come on that issue.  Lastly, I hope to publish a few series this year, focusing on issues of importance to employers.

In sum, thanks again to all of you with whom I had the chance to work last year.  I look forward to continuing those relationships this year. I also remain hopeful that 2012 will enable me to establish new client relationships.  If you feel that I could provide assistance or guidance to you or your company, I hope that you will contact me.  Best regards, Roy