Minnesota Lawyer Names Faegre Drinker Partners to 2025 "Business Litigation Power List"

The Minnesota Lawyer named business litigation partners Aaron Van Oort, Michael Cockson and Randy Kahnke as 2025 “Business Litigation Power List” honorees. The recognition highlights those whose mere presence on a case signifies the stakes, who have influenced the direction of the law, whose leadership in the community is pervasive and whose respect within the bar is undeniable.

In Kahnke’s profile, he discussed the challenges of business litigation, which tend to be breaking down complex issues so they are understandable to decision makers, including judges and juries. Kahnke shared that business litigation often involves complex factual and legal issues, which need to be distilled to get to the core issues of the case. Read Kahnke's profile here.

Van Oort’s profile addresses a common misunderstanding about business litigation, which is that it isn’t a specialized area of law. According to Van Oort, business litigation is indeed specialized, requiring not only recurring legal matters but also creativity, strong execution and practical judgment to achieve good results. Read Van Ort's profile here.

In Cockson’s profile, he also discussed a current challenge in business litigation, which is balancing remote work with the real-world benefits of physical proximity. He noted remote hearings diffuse the ability to experience the energy, facial reactions, body language, pauses, looks and timing of how things unfold, which is an important part of business litigation training. Read Cockson's profile here.

To select honorees, the publication interviewed respected attorneys and other leaders around the state, reviewed outcomes of a myriad of significant cases handled by these and other attorneys and consulted its archives to highlight people whose achievements and influence are recognized as powerful business litigators in Minnesota.

Read the full “Business Litigation Power List” to learn more (the full article is available for Minnesota Lawyer subscribers).