Scott E. Korzenowski - Minneapolis, MN

Overview

Scott E. Korzenowski is a partner in Dady & Gardner, P.A., who has successfully helped dozens of franchisees and dealers achieve successful resolutions to their disputes with their franchisors and manufacturers, including franchisees in the Nursefinders, Staff Builders, Jamba Juice, Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut and Subway systems. Scott also has helped shape the law to provide additional protections for franchisees and dealers. In Romeo Maintenance & Rental v. U-Haul Co. of Minnesota, Bus. Franchise Guide (CCH) ¶12,259 (Minn. Dist. Ct. Feb. 13, 2002), Scott and John Holland successfully argued that U-Haul's requirement that its dealers maintain dedicated phone lines and install electronic data bases could qualify as franchise fees under the Minnesota Franchise Act. And in Town & Country Equipment, Inc. v. Deere & Company, Inc., 133 F. Supp. 2d 665 (W.D. Tenn. 2000), Scott successfully argued that the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing required John Deere to act reasonably in deciding whether to approve a dealer's relocation request. Scott also has successfully argued that state dealership laws apply to dealers located in those states despite contrary choice-of-law provisions in the dealership agreements. Cromeens v. AB Volvo, 369 F.3d 376 (7th Cir. 2003); Volvo Construction Equipment North America, Inc. v. CLM Equip. Co., Inc., 386 F.3d 581 (4th Cir. 2004). Scott also has successfully argued that a manufacturer’s decision to re-brand a line of equipment does not provide the manufacturer with good cause to terminate the dealership agreement. Volvo Trademark Holding Aktiebolaget v. AIS Constr. Equip. Corp., 416 F. Supp. 2d 404 (W.D.N.C. 2006); FMS, Inc. v. Volvo Construction Equipment North America, Inc., 2005 WL 843119 (N.D. Ill. 2005).

In addition to his trial experience, which includes several cases before juries and arbitrators, Scott has drafted a successful petition to the United States Supreme Court, and has argued appellate cases before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, Minnesota Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth, Seventh and Eighth Circuits.

Scott graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism, and later graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School, where he served as an associate managing editor of the Minnesota Law Review. Following law school, Scott clerked for The Honorable Esther Tomljanovich of the Minnesota Supreme Court. While at the Supreme Court, Scott helped author a chapter for The Minnesota Insurance Law Deskbook, outlining legal strategies for procuring insurance coverage for hazardous waste cleanup.

Scott has fought many successful battles for the "little guy." While with the Minnesota Law Review, Scott authored and published an article entitled, "Valuable in Life, Valuable in Death, Why Not Valuable When Severely Injured" that supported the proposition that Minnesota should recognize loss-of-consortium damages between parents and their severely injured children. Scott wrote the article after helping a local attorney receive a favorable settlement for a client whose young child had been severely injured by a negligent driver for a large linen supplier.

Scott also has first-hand experience with franchisee-franchisor issues, having watched as his father, a former franchisee restaurant owner, struggled with his franchisor over a period of years prior to a successful termination of the relationship in the late 1980s.

A former journalist and radio talk-show host, Scott has extensive writing and speaking experience. Prior to entering law school, Scott was a nationally recognized columnist with the Gannett News Service and later served as a copy editor for the Star-Tribune of Minneapolis and as a morning-drive talk-show host for a major Minneapolis/St. Paul radio station. In his spare time, Scott loves to watch sports and play golf.