Elliot Kaplan and Eric Magnuson Selected to Receive 2019 Minnesota ICON Award

Robins Kaplan LLP is pleased to announce that Elliot Kaplan and Eric Magnuson have been selected to receive the 2019 Minnesota ICON award by Finance & Commerce and Minnesota Lawyer. The award recognizes attorneys or business leaders who have demonstrated leadership in their chosen career and in the community and possess a keen ability to inspire others. This is the second year for this award. Ronald J. Schutz, chair of the firm’s executive board, won the award last year.

Elliot Kaplan has been a leader in the firm throughout his career. He served as a member of the firm's executive board for thirty years, as its chair from 1987 to 1995, and as chair of the firm's Business Litigation Group from 1970 to 1992. He led the firm’s initial stages of expansion into a national law firm. He has represented clients before numerous state and federal courts at the trial and appellate levels, including the United States Supreme Court. He has also represented clients before federal and state regulatory agencies. He has been responsible for complex multidistrict litigations, lender liability cases, employment cases, franchise litigation, trade secret cases, intellectual property cases, monopolization, and unfair competition cases.

Kaplan’s accomplishments have been recognized by his clients and by the legal press throughout his career. He has been awarded the University of Minnesota’s “Outstanding Achievement Award,” named to “Minnesota’s Legal Hall of Fame” by Minnesota Law and Politics, and regularly included in the “The Best Lawyers in America.”

Eric Magnuson served as Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court from 2008-2010. Both before and after his service on the court, his practice has focused almost exclusively on appeals in state and federal courts. Over 40 years, he has handled hundreds of appeals involving a wide range of issues including the constitutionality of the public school finance system, employment law, trust and probate matters, trade secrets, business contracts, corporate fraud, insurance law, and professional liability. Magnuson speaks regularly on appellate topics, as well as matters of public interest. He has served as an associate professor of law at William Mitchell College of Law and the University of St. Thomas School of Law, and taught at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

Magnuson has received recognition for his work throughout his career, including being named “Attorney of the Year” by Minnesota Lawyer, a Minnesota “Super Lawyer” for the past five years, "Appellate Attorney of the Year in Minnesota" by Global Law Experts, and was awarded the Minnesota State Bar Association Civil Litigation Section Advocate Award for significant contributions to improving civil justice.

You can find the full list of this year’s honorees here.