Former U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug is well-recognized in the Minnesota legal community. His practice focuses primarily on complex litigation, but he assists clients on a variety of sensitive matters at the intersection of law, business, and government. 

He has represented three United States Senators. Most recently, he served as lead Minnesota counsel for U.S. Senator Al Franken in an eight-month recount and election contest. He tried and won the seven-week trial before a three-judge panel. Click here for a video summary of that trial.

As part of the firm’s White-Collar & Regulatory Defense Group, and working closely with the firm’s Corporate Governance & Investigations Group, David deals frequently with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, Minnesota regulators and administrative agencies, county attorneys, and city attorneys. 

Corporations, governmental entities, the University of Minnesota, and tribal organizations have retained David to perform internal investigations and prepare privileged reports of his findings.

Having been the founding chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Construction Law Section, David continues his long-established construction law practice. As a member of the firm’s Real Estate Litigation Group, he represents building owners, contractors, and design professionals in lawsuits, arbitrations, mediations, and governmental proceedings. David is also in demand as a mediator.

Pro bono work will always be an important part of David’s practice. From 2003 to 2008, representing numerous religious institutions, he won three lawsuits attacking the constitutionality of Minnesota’s so-called “conceal-carry” handgun law. Click here for more information. 

• “U.S. Supreme Court Update 2008,” Thomson University, August 2008


• “Watergate Revisited: the Role of the Lawyers,” University of St. Thomas School of Law, April 2008


• “Food Contamination Criminal Investigations/Prosecutions,” Mealey’s Product Recall and Food Liability Conference, April 2008


• “Managing the Risk of Crime and Fraud in the Construction industry,” National Business Institute, February 2007 and February 2008


• “The Federal False Claims Act and Related Statutes,” Minnesota State Bar Association Construction Law Section,  September 2006


• “Employee Embezzlement: Prevention, Detection, and Cure,” Fredrikson & Byron’s White Collar & Regulatory Defense Focus Newsletter, July 2006


• “Criminal Liability in the Construction Industry,” Minnesota State Bar Association Construction Law Section Symposium, June 2005


• “The Role of Construction Lawyers in the Public and Private Sectors,” Minnesota State Bar Association Construction Law Section Symposium, November 2004


• "Criminalizing Construction?" Fredrikson & Byron's White Collar & Regulatory Defense Focus Newsletter, November 2003


• “Fraud and Abuse Enforcement,” American Bar Association Healthcare Summit, November 2003


• "The Criminal Employee: Will the Company be Indicted, Too?" Fredrikson & Byron's White Collar & Regulatory Defense Focus Newsletter, January 2003

• Minnesota, 1979


• U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, 1979


• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 1981


• District of Columbia, 1981 (inactive)


• U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, 1982 (inactive)

• Harvard University, J.D., cum laude, 1979


• Augustana College, B.A., summa cum laude, 1976