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Minneapolis Business & Corporate Law Lawyer
Overview
A commercial lawyer for over twenty years, Joseph P. Beckman is chair of the firm's Business and Corporate Practice Group. In this capacity he provides counsel to clients ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups to high growth companies...
A commercial lawyer for over twenty years, Joseph P. Beckman is chair of the firm's Business and Corporate Practice Group. In this capacity he provides counsel to clients ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups to high growth companies...
A commercial lawyer for over twenty years, Joseph P. Beckman is chair of the firm's Business and Corporate Practice Group. In this capacity he provides counsel to clients ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups to high growth companies. Joe's practice is focused in the following areas:
- E-commerce and technology
- General corporate and business representation
- Conflict resolution (strategy & prosecution)
- Business litigation
In addition to general corporate and business law, Joe has extensive hands-on experience with e-commerce business models and contracts (domestic and international), hardware and software licenses/sales/acquisitions, Internet law, payment processing, privacy law and complex insurance coverage issues (with a focus on health, professional errors/omissions, and bad faith claims).
Technology Transactions
Over the past decade, Joe has negotiated scores of hardware, software (both hosted applications and on site installations) and e-commerce agreements. Such agreements typically include sophisticated software licensing components, separate service level agreements, data privacy obligations or agreements, preparation/ownership of custom code, and multiple types of implementation obligations (acceptance/payment milestones, training, ongoing professional services, multiple SOWs, etc.)
Joe has negotiated multiple seven figure agreements in each of the following styles (alphabetically): Co-Location/Internet Data Services Agreements, Database Licenses, Data Privacy and Data Security Agreements, Hardware Acquisition Agreements, IP Rights Assignment Agreements, sophisticated domestic and international Service Level Agreements, Software Development Agreements, Source Code (and other Technology) Escrows, and Telecommunications Agreements. The vast majority of these agreements involved contract partners who are Fortune 500 companies or whose names are commonly known to the average person.
Joe has more than half a decade of service in the on-site general counsel role for two publicly traded technology companies, including the corporate secretary role. He has been involved in multiple business negotiations and sales. His time "in house" provides substantial real world experience and insight into the diverse and often complex legal needs of corporate clients. By combining the skills of a seasoned business attorney with his courtroom expertise, he provides clients with pragmatic risk management advice, yet remains well equipped to provide front-line leadership when a matter must move from the corporate office suite to the courthouse.
Trial Experience
Prior to moving to Minnesota and establishing his business practice, Joe spent eleven years as a full time trial attorney. He handled high stakes, high profile commercial litigation – practicing for 7.5 years with one of the 100 largest firms in the U.S. in his native Chicago, and then in Helena, Montana with that state's oldest firm. In 2010 he played a substantial in court role in a three-week, 14 party construction defect case in Dakota County.
Joe has more than a dozen verdicts to his credit, a substantial majority of which had over $500,000 at issue. This includes meaningful trial experience in areas as diverse as: a challenge to the largest (at the time) government contract award in Montana history (a managed mental health care contract); an eight figure bankruptcy voidable preference claim; multiple insurance coverage/fraud claims; seven figure partnership disputes; six and seven figure employment contract disputes; seven figure shareholder derivative actions; and even getting a campaign finance law declared unconstitutional. He has briefed and argued appeals at the Federal Circuit level, and briefed multiple cases at the state appellate and supreme court levels.
Professional Organizations
Joe is active in the ABA Business Law Section, the Association of Corporate Counsel and the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), where he holds the Certified Information Privacy Professional credential. Joe is also a graduate of the famed National Institute of Trial Advocacy ("NITA") national session.
A member of the ABA Section of Litigation Leadership since 1996, Joe is currently the Editor-in-Chief for Litigation News, the Section's quarterly flagship publication. Prior to this, he served in the Executive Editor and Managing Editor positions. Before that Joe was published six times annually as Associate Editor.
Joe has also presented on topics including technology, contracts and indemnity issues at Minnesota Continuing Legal Education (“MCLE”) and ABA Section of Business Law events. He is currently working on an installment of MCLE’s popular Summary Guide series covering Data Privacy and Protection.
Joe also gets into the courtroom regularly in another capacity – as a volunteer with the Ramsey County Guardian ad Litem program. Joe has maintained an active caseload as a guardian since 2002, and brings the same passion to this aspect of his practice as he brings to his business counseling and dispute resolution practice.
Joe earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1988, where he was the Business Editor for the American Criminal Law Review. He earned his undergraduate degree in Psychology from Loyola University of Chicago, cum laude, between 1982 and 1985.
Since 1996, Joe has been AV® Peer Review Rated. AV® is the highest possible Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Joe is also a qualified neutral under Rule 114 of the Minnesota General Rules of Practice.
About Joseph P. Beckman
Practice Areas
- Business & Corporate Law
- Employment Law
- Information Technology & E-Commerce
- Insurance Litigation
- Intellectual Property
- Litigation
- Mergers & Acquisitions
Current Employment Position(s)
- Partner
Qualifications
Bar Admissions
- Illinois, 1988
- Montana, 1996
- Minnesota, 2001
Specialties and Certifications
- Certified Information Privacy Professional, International Association of Privacy Professionals, 1996
Other Affiliations
- American Corporate Counsel Association
- American Bar Association
- Ramsey County Bar ASsociation
- Hennepin County Bar Association
- Minnesota State Bar Association
- ABA Section of Litigation Leadership, 1996 - Present (Member)
- ABA, Section’s Trial Practice Committee, 2014 - 2016 (Co-Chair)
- ABA, Content Management Committee, 2012 - 2014 (Co-Chair)
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, District of Columbia, 1988
J.D.
Law Review: American Criminal Law Review, Business Editor, 1986 - 1988 - Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 1985
B.S.
Honors: cum laude
Honors: With Honors
Major: Psychology
Pro Bono Activities
- Volunteer Guardian Ad Litem, Ramsey County, MN , 2001 - Present
Classes and Seminars
- Indemnity Clauses, MN CLE, 2005 - Present
- Indemnity Clauses, American Bar Association Business Law
Achievements
Other Sources of Feedback About Joseph P. Beckman
Honors
- AV® Peer Review Rated, 1996 - Present
Office Information
Address
8050 West 78th Street Minneapolis, MN 55439
Phone
Fax
- (952) 941-2337
Office Hours
Mon – Fri: 8am to 5pm
Publication
Articles
- Chapter Author, Data Security Protections, Law and Business of Computer Science, Second Edition, Katheryn Andresen, West, 2007
- The Use of Computerized Animations in the Courtroom: Chapter 3 (Pre-Trial Matters), ABA Judicial Administration Division (Bench/Bar Relations Section) Handbook, with David Adams, Summer, 1996
- The Employment At Will Doctrine, Employee Termination Practice Handbook, with Kathryn G. Montgomery, Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, August, 1994
- An Introduction to the Use of Computer-Based Litigation Support Systems, Business and Commercial Litigation Handbook, Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, 1993, Updated 1996
- Certified Information Privacy Professional, International Association of Privacy Professionals, 2006
- National Institute of Trial Advocacy, National Session, Boulder, Co, July, 1998
- "Latest Survey Shows Corporations Increasingly Unhappy with Outside Lawyers," co-author with Douglas Motz, Litigation News, Vol. 32, No. 5, 2007
- "Supreme Court Permits Patent Licenses to Challenge Underlying Patent Without Breaching License", Litigation News, Vol. 32, No. 4, 2007
- "Congress Amends Trademark Dilution Act", Litigation News, Vol. 32, No. 3, 2007
- "Study Shows Federal Judges Acquit More Frequently Than Juries", Litigation News, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2007
- "December Rule Changes to Impact E-Discovery", Litigation News, Vol. 32, No. 1, 2006
- "Small Firms Getting Great Work", Litigation News, Vol. 31, No. 6, 2006
- "Supreme Court Approves Modified Rule on Unpublished Opinions", Litigation News, Vol. 31, No. 5, 2006
- "Coalition Obtains Reform on Privilege Waiver Requests", Litigation News, Vol. 31, No. 4, 2006
- "Departures on the Rise", Litigation News, Vol. 31, No. 3, 2006
- "Wisconsin Malpractice Damages Cap Overturned", Litigation News, Vol. 31, No. 2, 2006
- "Use of Future Conflict Waivers Expanded", Litigation News, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2005
- "Model Instructions for Patent Litigation", Litigation News, Vol. 30, No. 6, 2005
- "Starting Your Law Career 101", Litigation News, Vol. 30, No. 5, 2005
- "Change in Deposition Testimony Leads to Preclusion", Litigation News, Vol. 30, No. 4, 2005
- "Changes to ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct Proposed", Litigation News, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2004
- "Section of Litigation Publishes Guide to Oral Advocacy" (Book Review), Litigation News, Vol. 30, No. 2, 2005
- "Court Outlines Criteria for Authenticating Computer Evidence", Litigation News, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2004
- "Federal Criminal Records Now Accessible Online", Litigation News, Vol. 29, No. 6, 2004
- "Outside Counsel Fees Remain Top Concern of In-House Counsel", Litigation News, Vol. 28, No. 6, 2003
- "Federal Courts Expand Electronic, Remote Access to Case File Data", Litigation News, Vol. 28, No. 4, 2003
- "In-House Counsel Give Surprising Answers in Ethics Survey", Litigation News, Vol. 28, No. 3, 2003
- "A Lawyer's Guide to Effective Use of Courtroom Technology" (Book Review), Litigation News, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2003
- "Federal Courts' CM/ECF Project Moving Right Along", Litigation News, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2002
- "Who Pays to Search E-Mail Archives?", Litigation News, Vol. 27, No. 5, 2002
- "Lawyer's Liability to Third-Party Non-Clients", Litigation News, Vol. 27, No. 3, 2002
- "Federal Civil Case Files to Be Available Online", Litigation News, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2002
- "Section Updates Best-Selling Book on Privilege Law" (Book Review), Litigation News, Vol. 27, No. 1, 2001
- "Split Decision", Litigation News, Vol. 26, No. 4, 2001
- "Revisions Bring Uniform Act into the 21st Century", Litigation News, Vol. 26, No. 2, 2001
- "A Primer for Working with the Media", Litigation News, Vol. 25, No. 4, 2000
- "The Malpractice Ghost Buster", Litigation News, Vol. 25, No. 3, 2000
- "Electronic Surveillance in the Workplace", Litigation News, Vol. 25, No. 1, 1999
- "'Student to Student' Sexual Harassment: Schools May Be Liable", Litigation News, Vol. 24, No. 5, 1999
- "Courts Cooling to Compulsory Arbitration of Civil Rights Claims", Litigation News, Vol. 24, No. 3, 1999
- "Supreme Court Puts Employers on Defensive in Sex Harassment Cases", Litigation News, Vol. 24, No. 1, 1998
- Editor-in-Chief for Litigation News, 2011-2012
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