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Kluger Kaplan Expands Beyond Florida With Minneapolis Office

by Monika Gonzalez Mesa

Miami-based litigation firm Kluger, Kaplan, Silverman, Katzen & Levine is expanding, having decided to open its first out-of-state office in Minneapolis.

The firm’s partners say that they decided on Minneapolis because it sees an opportunity to capture some of the legal market there. Minnesota’s economy­ was ranked 17th by GDP in the U.S. in 2015, and the state is home to 17 Fortune 500 companies, including General Mills, Target, Land O’Lakes, Hormel Foods, Best Buy and 3M. Yet, Big Law has largely bypassed the market in favor of traditional power centers such as New York, Boston and Washington, D.C.

“It’s much less rust belt and old industry than you would think you would see in the Midwest,” said Alan Kluger, a founding partner of Kluger Kaplan. “It’s really cutting-edge finance, internet, banking. Target is there. There’s a pretty robust litigation practice.”

Indeed, firms in the last few years have been taking a second look, and some, such as DLA Piper and Jones Day, have opened offices in Minnesota. Kluger Kaplan, which has more than 30 lawyers in South Florida, says it hopes to capture more of the Midwest legal market with a Minneapolis office that opens May 1.

Minneapolis has also become attractive to firms because it has well-regarded courts and a highly experienced bench.

Former Parker Rosen partner Daniel Rosen will head up Kluger Kaplan’s Minneapolis office as partner-in-charge. Rosen, who has 23 years of courtroom experience and has been a friend of Kluger’s for about as long, focuses his practice on complex commercial and real estate litigation. Kluger said he expects to hire two additional lawyers at the new office in the coming months.

Although the Minneapolis office doesn’t officially open until May 1, Kluger said the firm has already been retained “by two huge top 50 companies.” Kluger declined to name them, but said they were companies that had previously worked with Rosen.

Kluger plans to further expand in the Midwest later this year, opening an office either in St. Louis or Chicago. Once the Midwestern offices are up and running, the firm may head to New York, Kluger said.

“We have a lot of clients that we do work for in Florida that have their headquarters in Chicago,” Kluger said. “We have a very significant client in St. Louis, and that discussion is happening right now. That may move quicker than Chicago.”

Kluger Kaplan’s litigation practice includes high-stakes business and commercial litigation disputes, including securities and financial fraud, probate, class actions, complex matrimonial, probate and trust litigation.