Randall Kahnke, Faegre Drinker

Overview:

Randall Kahnke is a highly ranked and regarded trial attorney known for his clout in extensive consulting, pretrial and trial experience with complex commercial and IP disputes.

Kahnke has been with Faegre Drinker, or its former iterations, since 1996—first with Faegre & Benson, which became Faegre Baker Daniels in 2012. Faegre Drinker was created in 2020, following the merger of Faegre Baker Daniels and Drinker Biddle & Reath. The firm has offices across the US, as well as in London and Shanghai.

A former federal law clerk, Kahnke is currently a partner at the firm and has served as group head of its business litigation practice.

A high-profile peer counts Kahnke among the cream of the crop of trade secrets experts, which is evidenced by Kahnke’s involvement as lead trial attorney on cases across the US and on three continents, as well as his position as a thought leader.

Based in the firm’s Minneapolis office, Kahnke was a founding member of the respected Sedona Conference working group on trade secrets. He is co-editor of Trade Secrets (Law Journal Press), and The Secrets to Winning Trade Secret Cases (Thomson West).

Key matters:

• Kahnke won a multimillion-dollar jury verdict in favour of a Fortune 100 company on claims of tortious interference with contracts protecting trade secrets and confidential information.
• In a case alleging theft by a Chinese corporation of British trade secrets valued at more than $100 million, Kahnke secured dismissal of the complaint in the Central District of California, and prevailed on a subsequent appeal in the Ninth Circuit.
• Kahnke executed key trial testimony role in six-year, billion-dollar pharmaceutical trade-secret dispute resulting in a permanent injunction.
• Representing a global science company in protecting its most valuable trade secrets, Kahnke won six motions in six months and reached a favourable settlement after the final pre-trial. Faegre Drinker represented the company through to settlement after taking the case over from a fellow AmLaw 100 firm.

Clients:

3M, Allianz, Boston Scientific Corporation, Cargill, CarVal, CommScope, FICO, General Mills, Honeywell, HTI, IBM, Target, United Health Group, and Wells Fargo.