Lawyers should lead their communities by serving them. In my practice, I serve my clients’ needs, serve our community, and serve the cause of justice above all else. This means relentlessly seeking the truth and pursuing perfection in all that I do. I hunt for the connections others might miss and leave no angle unexplored when working on case. I make every effort to see the world a little differently, so that I can see your case differently.
Experience
Heather McElroy has represented both businesses and individuals in complex litigation matters. She has significant trial experience in high-stakes antitrust, trade-secret, employment, breach-of-contract, class-action, and financial litigation. While she loves trying cases, Ms. McElroy has also had great success developing creative legal strategies for obtaining early resolutions where it serves her clients’ best interests. Known for her creative thinking and problem solving skills, Ms. McElroy works tirelessly to craft creative arguments and draft winning briefs to secure victories for her clients. She does not let outdated legal precedents stand in her way.
Ms. McElroy also has significant appellate experience and has drafted appellate briefs or argued appeals before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Federal Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Ms. McElroy has provided many hours of service to the community through her pro bono work with the Advocates for Human Rights and the Immigrant Law Center—including helping an asylum seeker from Sierra Leone secure legal status after 5 years of trial and appellate court proceedings, obtaining a U-Visa for a domestic abuse survivor, and halting the deportation of workers from India unlawfully trafficked to the United States during Hurricane Katrina.
Ms. McElroy has been an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and a mentor in the award-winning UST Law Mentor Program.
Judicial Clerkship
Previously, Ms. McElroy served as a law clerk to the Honorable Wilhelmina M. Wright, then of the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Education
Ms. McElroy is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where she was an executive editor of the law review. She received her undergraduate degree in Philosophy & International Studies at Northwestern University.
Bar Admissions
- Minnesota
- United States Supreme Court
- U.S. District Court, Minnesota
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Selected Case Results
Negotiated a $27 million settlement in a royalty fee dispute, with Jan Conlin and Barry Landy, which was scheduled for arbitration. (2019)
Obtained a $12.5 million settlement as Co-Lead Class Counsel for ERISA Plaintiffs in Carver v. The Bank New York Mellon (S.D.N.Y.). Co-Lead Class Counsel representing ERISA participants, beneficiaries, and trustees that held American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) for which the Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) acted as a depositary bank. Won a contested motion for interim-lead co-counsel and prevailed over BNYM’s motion to dismiss on an issue of “first impression” under ERISA law. (see Carver v. BNYM, 2017 WL 1208598 (S.D.N.Y. 2017).) Following substantial and highly contested fact and expert discovery, including review of nearly three million pages of documents, taking or defending 24 depositions, briefing a motion for class certification, opposing summary judgment, and exchanging multiple rounds of expert reports, successfully obtained a settlement on behalf of the Class for $12.5 million, which the Court approved in May 2019. (2019)
Sightpath Medical, LLC v. Precision Lens, et al.: Represented Defendants in a business-to-business dispute involving defense of breach of confidentiality agreement, tortious interference with contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and other claims. Settlement obtained weeks before trial set to begin. (2015)
Hubbard Broadcasting v. DIRECTV: Represented Hubbard Broadcasting in a breach of contract dispute to enforce its direct broadcast satellite rights on DIRECTV. Sought temporary injunctive relief to prevent the shut-down of one of its networks and obtained summary judgment in 2014 upholding Hubbard’s interpretation of a contract and preserving the Hubbard family’s ability to broadcast its networks into the future.
White Bear Lake Restoration Association v. DNR: Represent group of homeowners on White Bear Lake in an action against the DNR under the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act seeking to prevent further destruction and impairment of White Bear Lake and the underlying aquifer.
Minnesota Works’ Compensation Reinsurance Association, et al. v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.: Part of the trial team representing four nonprofits in consumer fraud action against Wells Fargo. The plaintiffs participated in a securities lending program, in which the bank represented that the collateral in the program would be invested in short-term money market instruments, where the prime considerations would be safety of principal and liquidity. Instead, the bank invested a substantial portion of the collateral in risky and/or illiquid securities. The jury found that Wells Fargo breached its fiduciary duty and violated the Minnesota Consumer Fraud Act and awarded damages. The trial court also awarded Plaintiffs’ forfeiture of fees and pre- and post-judgment interest. Including recovery of attorneys’ fees and costs, the final judgment totaled more than $57 million. The decision was affirmed on appeal in 2012.
In re Wholesale Grocery Products Antitrust Litigation: Represented grocery wholesaler SuperValu Inc. in consolidated federal antitrust actions on behalf of putative multi-state class of grocery retailers challenging a 2003 asset exchange transaction. Obtained denial of class certification in 2012, which was affirmed on appeal.
SuperValu v. Bergmann: Represented grocery wholesaler SuperValu Inc. in a dispute with a competitor regarding former executive’s noncompete and confidentiality agreements. Case settled in 2012.
*Past results are reported to provide the reader with an indication of the type of litigation we practice. They do not and should not be construed to create an expectation of result in any other case, as all cases are dependent upon their own unique fact situation and applicable law.
Case results before 2015 were obtained while Heather was at her former firm.
Recognition
Named to Lawdragon’s list of 500 Leading Litigators in America (2022-2024)
Named to The Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation (2022, 2023, 2024)
Named to “Notable Women in the Law,” Twin Cities Business (2022)
Named Minnesota Super Lawyer (2019-2022)
Named to Lawdragon’s list of 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers (2019-2023)
Named “Attorney of the Year” by Minnesota Lawyer (2017)
Named a “Minnesota Rising Star,” Super Lawyers (2011-2018)
Named to Benchmark Litigation “40 & Under Hot List” (formerly “Under 40 Hot List”) (2019)
- Read more about Heather’s selection to the 2019 40 & Under Hot List here.
Named to the first annual Benchmark Litigation “Under 40 Hot List” of leading national litigators.
Member of the pro bono team to receive 2008 volunteer award from the Advocates for Human Rights for work involving state and social services programs for trafficking victims in Minnesota.**
**Being named to a list or receiving an award is not intended and should not be viewed as comparative to other lawyers or to create an expectation about results that might be achieved in a future matter.
Community Service
University of St. Thomas School of Law, Board of Governors (2016 to present).
Volunteer Attorney with the Advocates for Human Rights, successfully representing individuals in asylum proceedings both at the trial level and on appeal.
Volunteer Attorney with the Immigrant Law Center.
University of St. Thomas School of Law, Mentor and Adjunct Professor in St. Thomas Mentor Program (2007 to 2016).
University of St. Thomas School of Law, Alumni Advisory Board Founding Member (2007-2009).
