Ian A. J. Pitz

Ian’s strong track record in commercial litigation is based on his success in trying cases before juries, judges, and arbitration panels. Clients and colleagues respect Ian’s sound professional judgment and creative thinking. He is often called upon to offer a second opinion in regard to especially challenging legal issues.

While Ian’s practice is largely focused on litigating licensing and contract disputes, he also addresses minority shareholder disputes on a regular basis. Ian has tried civil and criminal cases to juries before Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal, as well as Minnesota and Wisconsin State Appellate Courts.

In his diverse practice, Ian represents clients in cases involving a range of disputes, including:

• Product liability
• Professional licensure and regulatory proceedings
• Contracts
• Trade secrets

Solutions in action

• Prevailed in a 30-million-dollar case invalidating a perpetual contract. The case required more than a decade of litigation and trial work, including an arbitration hearing, district court trial, two trips to the Minnesota Court of Appeals and a winning argument before the Minnesota Supreme Court.
• Won a case allowing a hedge fund client to terminate a perpetual revenue share obligation and recovering attorneys’ fees and costs.
• Successfully litigated the largest arbitration matter ever heard before the National Grain & Feed Association. He prevailed on behalf of a Wisconsin ethanol company in a lengthy and complex arbitration with the supplier of a front-end wet mill operation.
• Obtained a jury verdict in a bank client’s favor in a case alleging negligence in administering a trust portfolio.
• Obtained a consent decree for nominal cleanup costs on behalf of a municipality client in a $100,000,000 environmental litigation matter.
• Successfully defended a web services client against claims of alleged shareholder oppression and breach of fiduciary duty. Ian obtained a jury verdict in the client’s favor.
• Obtained a summary judgment on liability in client’s favor in a breach of warranty and contract dispute. Client received a $19 million settlement.