Kari Berman

Kari Berman is an accomplished attorney with more than two decades of experience as lead counsel in complex commercial litigation, business law, regulatory law, and corporate governance. She represents businesses across a broad range of industries through all phases of litigation in jurisdictions nationwide and abroad.

Her experience encompasses class action and multidistrict litigation defense, employment law and litigation, environmental law, tax litigation, products liability litigation, healthcare law, FDA counsel for medical device manufacturers, and business torts of all kinds. She also serves as FDA counsel for medical device manufacturers and advises them on regulatory matters internationally.

Kari routinely represents clients in shareholder disputes, contractual disputes, restrictive covenants, trade secret violations, intellectual property issues, fiduciary breaches, and other similar matters. She has handled SEC and FINRA investigations and frequently represents companies and their governing boards with both litigation and corporate strategic issues.

Kari is also a trusted adviser of companies in the structure, negotiation, and drafting of commercial agreements with third parties, along with assisting business teams in meeting business needs while complying with legal corporate and administrative requirements.

She has litigated many cases in federal courts across the country involving non-competition agreements and alleged misappropriation of trade secrets. Kari regularly assists clients with implementing corporate policies, prevention of employment-related claims, and lawsuit avoidance by ensuring compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations.

This encompasses unlawful employment practices prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as well as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) False Claims Act, Stark Law, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and other state and federal laws.

She also represents clients at the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, the Minnesota Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Minnesota Department of Revenue, Internal Revenue Service, and other state and federal government departments.

Her practice also includes representing clients in connection with various regulatory compliance issues, Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) issues, and tax disputes with the IRS and Minnesota Department of Revenue. Kari also provides legal counsel and defense in connection with claims arising under HIPAA, Stark Law, and state and federal anti-kickback laws.

In addition to her busy legal practice, Kari is on the board of directors of the Ronald McDonald House, Upper Mid-West and is an adjunct professor of appellate advocacy at the University of St. Thomas Law School (in Minneapolis). She is also a long time contributing editor for the Minnesota Courtroom Evidence Deskbook.

Kari has state-wide recognition in Minnesota, where she served as a governor-appointed member of the Minnesota Sentencing Guideline Commission and as a governor-appointed commissioner of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which administered a $207 million annual budget, with oversight of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and its numerous reliever airports. Kari graduated from Columbia University, Barnard College with a degree in English literature and from Hamline University School of Law.

EXPERIENCE :

• Represented individual lenders with exposure close to $1 billion in connection with the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Tom Petters, which was the largest such scheme in Minnesota history. After protracted and complex litigation, the matter was resolved favorably.
• Represented a defendant in an SEC investigation into a $195 million Ponzi scheme, and provided expert testimony in federal court in connection with the related criminal prosecution.
• Represented the defendant in multidistrict litigation involving product liability claims centering on suicides alleged to have been caused by use of a smoking cessation product. The matter settled.
• Represented the defendant company in several Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective actions in federal courts throughout the country centering on classification of delivery drivers and various wage payment issues.
• Represented a private lender and affiliates in clawback litigation arising from a $3.5 billion Ponzi scheme and related Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• Successfully represented a client in litigation that included a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) claim that was tried and resulted in a multi-million dollar jury verdict.

EDUCATION :

• Hamline University School of Law, J.D.
• Columbia University, Barnard College, B.A.

AFFILIATIONS :

• American Bar Association
• Minnesota State Bar Association
• Hennepin County Bar Association.
• William Mitchell College of Law: National Security Forum, Past Advisory Committee Member