John M. Baker

COMMERCIAL LITIGATION 

• Fairbrook Leasing Inc. v. Mesaba Aviation, Inc., 519 F.3d 421 (8th Cir. 2008). Obtained ruling affirming entry of summary judgment on behalf of defendant on $35 million claim for damages arising from alleged breach of term sheet regarding purchase of thirty jets and leasing of twenty additional jets.

FEDERAL JURISDICTION AND TAKING CLAIMS

• Kottschade v. City of Rochester, 319 F.3d 1038 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 825 (2003). Defeated “test case” created by property rights groups seeking to expand federal jurisdiction over ordinary claims that local regulations of land use constitute takings of property for which the owner receives compensation and attorneys fees.

FIRST AMENDMENT LITIGATION 

• Advantage Media LLC v. City of Eden Prairie, 405 F. Supp. 2d 1037 (D. Minn. 2005), aff’d, 456 F.3d 793 (8th Cir. 2006). Obtained summary judgment against billboard company’s groundbreaking effort to secure standing to invalidate entire sign code under multiple theories.
• Co-author of amicus briefs filed on behalf of the American Planning Association, International Municipal Lawyers Association, and other organizations, in the following federal appeals: Tanner Outdoor Advertising v. Fayette County, GA (11th Cir.), Prime Media v. City of Brentwood, TN (6th Cir.) Get Outdoors II v. City of San Diego, CA (9th Cir.), Naser Jewelers Inc. v. City of Concord, NH (1st Cir.), RTM Media LLC v. City of Houston (5th Cir.) and Midwest Media Property LLC v. City of Erlinger, Kentucky and City of Ft. Wright, Kentucky (6th Cir.).
• Workman v. Serrano et al., 2006 WL 771580, 34 Media L. Rep. 1577, (Minn. Ct. App. March 28, 2006). Overturned jury award totaling $625,500 in favor of an elected official and against weekly newspaper, its affiliates, and its editorial page editor, based in part on First Amendment-protected nature of the allegedly defamatory editorial.

LAND USE AND ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW 

• Nicollet Plaza, LLC v. City of Burnsville et al., 2019 WL 3410037 (Minn. Ct. App. July 29, 2019), review denied (Oct. 15, 2019). Representing a city that amended a planned unit development to enable a vacant lot in an otherwise completed development to be used to build rental apartments rather than owner-occupied condominiums, we obtained summary judgment, an affirmance on appeal, and a denial of Minnesota Supreme Court review.
• Hoyt v. City of St. Anthony Village, 2019 WL 2212147 (D. Minn. May 22, 2019). Obtained dismissal of claims by a disappointed housing development applicant against a city and two officials under Minnesota law, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the Fair Housing Act.
• Friends of Twin Lakes v. City of Roseville, 764 N.W.2d 378 (Minn. App. 2009). Representing a city, we successfully defended a negative declaration on the need for an environmental impact statement under the Minnesota Environmental Policy Act for a development plan, and upholding the City’s consideration of pre-existing regulatory oversight when determining that the proposed plan does not have the potential to create significant environmental effects.
• Iowa Coal Mining Co, Inc. v. Monroe County, Iowa, 257 F.3d 846 (8th Cir. 2001). At summary judgment stage, and on appeal, defended County and its zoning officials from constitutional and state-law claims arising from denial of permission to create 460 acres of landfill space.

LOCAL REGULATION OR FINANCING OF TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

• Mediacom Minnesota, LLC v. City of Prior Lake, 2010 WL 3744638 (Minn. Ct. App. 2010). On certiorari, successfully defended city’s award of a second cable television franchise.
• Bridgewater Telephone Co. v. City of Monticello, 765 N.W.2d 905 (Minn. Ct. App. 2009), review denied (Minn. Jun. 16, 2009). Obtained an order dismissing telephone company’s lawsuit alleging that the City’s plans to construct a high-speed Internet/telephone/cable system were unlawful because such a system is not a “utility or other public convenience from which a revenue may be derived,” within the meaning of the relevant Minnesota statutes. The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed, and two weeks later, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an expedited decision denying the telephone company's petition for review of the Minnesota Court of Appeals' decision. Following the supreme court’s denial of review, Greene Espel obtained a $1.5 million settlement in favor of the City of Monticello, based on the surety bond order it had secured from the district court.  The surety bond was conditioned for payment to the City of any loss or damage caused to the City or its taxpayers resulting from the pendency of Bridgewater’s lawsuit.

OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL LITIGATION 

• McCaughtry, et al. v. City of Red Wing, 831 N.W.2d 518 (Minn. 2013). Represented the City of Red Wing in a lawsuit brought by several landlords and tenants challenging the constitutionality of the City’s rental-housing inspection ordinance. The Minnesota Court of Appeals, followed by the Minnesota Supreme Court, affirmed the district court’s decision granting summary judgment in favor of the City and dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims.
• Olivier v. Willers, 2016 WL 1275032 (D. Minn. Mar. 31, 2016). Received summary judgment on behalf of a county deputy sheriff accused of violating protest group members’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by allegedly enabling them to use controlled substances as participants in a drug recognition training program. 

PUBLIC FINANCE 

• Nielson, et al. v. City of Roseville, No. 98-1625 (D. Minn. 1999 and 2000), and 2001 WL 1640040 (D. Minn. 2001). After partial summary judgment and a fifteen-day trial, won successful jury verdict rejecting claim that City's forgivable loan was motivated by an unconstitutional purpose, and successful court judgment affirming city's compliance with state tax-increment financing act.

PROCUREMENT LAW 

• Rochester City Lines Co. v. City of Rochester, 913 N.W.2d 443 (Minn. 2018), on remand, 2018 WL 4956966 (Minn. Ct. App. Oct. 15, 2018). Obtained reversal of lower court ruling against the City of Rochester that had found a transit procurement was illegal because procurement evaluation committee members who had been accused of bias against an incumbent provider in 2012 participated in the 2016 evaluation (in which the same company had submitted a bid for the next contract).
• ​Rochester City Lines Co. v. City of Rochester, 2018 WL 4956966 (Minn. Ct. App. Oct. 15, 2018), on remand from Rochester City Lines, Co. v. City of Rochester, 868 N.W.2d 655 (Minn. 2015), cert. denied, 136 S. Ct. 849 (2016). Defeated incumbent transit provider’s state law and constitutional claims against the City of Rochester arising from the City’s compliance with a federal competitive bidding requirement. The case included appeals to the Minnesota Court of Appeals and the Minnesota Supreme Court and a seven-day bench trial.