Steve Kluz—Representative Matters

Insurance and Indemnity

  • Secured summary judgment for insurance company clients in case involving tens of thousands of breach-of-contract auto-glass claims arising in 16 states; asserted insurance fraud claims; and obtained successful confidential settlement of all claims.
  • Successfully defeated consolidation of hundreds of auto-glass claims and obtained summary judgment for insurance company clients in U.S. District Court U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
  • Successfully defeated claims in the New York Supreme Court for indemnification from outdoor equipment company and its stockholders in excess of $4 million for defense costs related to patent litigation.
  • Successfully prevailed on motion for judgment on the pleadings and obtained full indemnification for defense costs in Fair Credit Reporting Act case in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
  • Co-counsel in obtaining multimillion-dollar wrongful-death judgment against trucker and trucking company, and judgment against insurer in related declaratory judgment trial.
  • Successfully prosecuted insurance fraud claims against businesses.

Commercial

  • Lead counsel for two Minnesota counties in achieving favorable arbitration award in binding arbitration involving eight-figure valuation of facility that produces refuse-derived fuel as part of waste-to-energy process.
  • Obtained transfer of seven-figure breach of supply agreement case from plaintiff’s backyard in Michigan to defendant co-op’s home in Wisconsin and obtained summary judgment on technical statute of frauds theory.
  • Lead counsel for estate in complicated, multiparty litigation, involving issues of equitable mortgage, negotiable instruments, and receivership law, that culminated in transfer to estate of multiple businesses and parcels of real estate.
  • Prevailed on motion for judgment on the pleadings in six declaratory judgment actions brought in five Minnesota counties, and consolidated by the Minnesota Supreme Court, brought by investor partners against the general partners in low-income tax-credit-housing partnerships.
  • Obtained dismissal of seven-figure loss of prospective profit claim brought against food production and packaging company.
  • Obtained summary judgment for automobile dealership in case concerning misappropriation of trade secrets and tortious interference with contract.

Financial Services

  • Settled two-phase auction rate securities case against broker-dealer on behalf of biodiesel fuel company for over $5 million.
  • Obtained transfer of complex interest rates swap case from New York federal court to Missouri, concluding with favorable confidential settlement for biodiesel fuel company.

Pro Bono

  • Successfully represented victims of terrorist attacks in obtaining benefits from September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001.