John D. Thompson

612.217.6447 | jthompson@obermanthompson.com

John D. Thompson has concentrated his practice in the areas of employment law and commercial litigation for the last 25 years, practicing at several large law firms and as an in-house employment lawyer for five years at 3M Company before joining Oberman Thompson in 2006.

John represents a number of management clients, although he regularly assists executives in employment transition matters.  He has tried over a dozen employment cases to a verdict – involving claims related to noncompetition agreements; age, disability, race, and sex discrimination; sexual harassment; breach of contract; and negligent retention (involving workplace homicide).  John also does a substantial amount of preventive counseling and training.  His commercial litigation practice covers a wide range of cases: noncompetition, trade secret and other intellectual property disputes, securities and other types of fraud, dealer termination, breach of warranty and contract, legal malpractice, and others.

John is a prolific author and speaker.  He has authored nine editions of Minnesota Employment-at-Will Law, an extremely valuable guide for employment lawyers, and has taught employment law at Hamline University School of Law on several occasions.  John is consistently recognized by The Best Lawyers in America™ and Minnesota Super Lawyers.™

Beginning at 3M in the late 1980s, John developed a nationally recognized expertise in workplace violence and related security consulting.  He was General Counsel for Business Security Advisory Group, a group of former Fortune 500 chief security officers providing security consulting services.  He now serves as a Subject Matter Expert Faculty for the Security Executive Council, a Washington D.C.-based security organization.

John has lived in the Twin Cities all his life except while attending school.  John graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University in 1981 with majors in Theology and Philosophy.  After a year of graduate studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School, John went to Georgetown University Law Center, where he obtained his J.D. magna cum laude and Order of the Coif in 1986.  John loves running, music and boating.