Randi Winter

Randi Winter helps her clients achieve favorable litigation outcomes with respect to business, employment, and licensing disputes. She also represents clients in matters involving health law, labor law, and utility law. She is experienced in all facets of litigation and arbitration, but has particularly enjoyed helping clients, both large and small, obtain trial victories before judges and juries in federal and state court.

A large component of Randi’s practice is focused on helping commercial clients navigate complex, multi-party and multi-claim litigation and trust instruction proceedings. She has played an active role in the prosecution and defense of cases involving claims of contractual indemnification, fraud, and anti-trust violations. Throughout her career, Randi has litigated many disputes surrounding mortgage origination practices.

Another area of focus for Randi involves helping clients navigate sensitive and contentious employment disputes, particularly the defense of claims alleging discrimination and retaliation. Her employment practice also entails non-compete litigation, providing general employment law advice, and helping individual and business clients negotiate employment agreements. Randi has found that successful client advocacy requires preparedness, enthusiasm, and a willingness to think outside the box.

Highlights of Randi’s experience include:

• Member of a trial team that obtained a $21 million judgment in 2021 against a mortgage lender, capping off nearly a decade of federal RMBS litigation yielding nearly $1.4 billion in total recoveries for the client.
• Defeated a motion in Wisconsin state court in 2021 seeking to dismiss approximately a dozen claims arising from allegations of wrongful competitive activity and misappropriation of trade secrets in Wisconsin state court.
• Successfully argued summary judgment on unpaid commission claims on behalf of a client in Minnesota state court in 2020.
• Member of a litigation team that obtained a complete jury verdict, resulting in a $68 million judgment on claims involving defective mortgage loans, in 2019.
• Successfully argued for a favorable summary judgment outcome in a multi-million dollar claim of contractual indemnification in 2019 against a mortgage originator.
• Obtained affirmance by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals of summary judgment dismissal in 2018 of employment claims arising from the dismissal of an employee who refused mandatory vaccination.
• Obtained defense verdicts in federal jury and state court bench trials, as well as private arbitrations, involving employment discrimination and contract claims asserted against Minnesota-based health care systems between 2013 to 2018.

To view additional experience, please click here.

Presentations and Publications

• Presenter, “The Wild Ride of 2023: New Year, New Laws,” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Seminar, February 2022
• Presenter, “I’ll Take Compliance 101 for $200!” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Seminar, September 2022
• Quoted, “In the New Hybrid World, Should Employers Be Reimbursing Home-Office Expenses,” Star Tribune, July 2022
• Quoted, “As Employees Return to the Office, Companies Grapple with Vaccine Tensions,” American City Business Journals, April 2022
• Author, “Supreme Court issues vaccination mandate decisions: Where we stand today,” BenefitsPRO, January 2022
• Presenter, “COVID Compliance 2022 – A Workshop for HR,” Business Management Daily, January 2022
• Presenter, “The New Federal Workplace Vaccination and Testing Requirements Have Arrived—Are You Ready?” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Webinar, November 2021
• Presenter, “Managing Indefinite and Intermittent Leaves of Absence and Other Tricky Attendance Challenges,” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Webinar, September 2021
• Presenter, “COVID Pandemic 2.0 for Employers: Vaccination Issues & Challenges,” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Webinar, August 2021
• Presenter, “Civil Litigation A to Z: Case Management-Removal and Remand,” Minnesota CLE, August 2021, 2019, 2017
• Presenter, “The 2021 U-Turn: What Employers Need to Know About Regulatory Changes,” Children’s Hospital Association Seminar, May 2021
• Presenter, “Return to Office Update: Employer Challenges and Solutions,” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Webinar, May 2021
• Presenter, “Covid-19 . . . 20 . . . 21,” Spencer Fane Healthcare Summit Webinar, April 2021
• Presenter, “What the American Rescue Plan Means for Employers,” Spencer Fane WorkSmarts Webinar, March 2021
• Author, “American Rescue Plan proposed to provide expanded COVID-19 paid leave and unemployment relief,” BenefitsPRO, Feb 2021
• Presenter, “Retaliation Claims: Ten Myths and Truths,” Spencer Fane Virtual Seminar, 2020

Community Involvement

• Member of the Second District Ethics Committee
• Member of the General Rules Advisory Committee for the Minnesota Supreme Court
• Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Volunteer Attorney
• Member of the Hamline University Paralegal Advisory Board
• Hamline University Mock Trial, Volunteer Judge
• Former Co-Director of the Ramsey County Bar Association’s Judges’ Dinner Committee

Memberships

• Minnesota State Bar Association
• Hennepin County Bar Association
• Ramsey County Bar Association

Distinctions

• Attorney of the Year, the Minnesota Lawyer, 2021
• Minnesota Super Lawyers, Rising Stars, 2014-2022
• North Star Lawyer, Minnesota State Bar Association, in recognition of pro bono services provided in 2019

Contact Randi Winter at 612.268.7007 or rwinter@spencerfane.com.