About V. John Ella, Esq.
A proven trial attorney with courtroom experience
V. John Ella has represented private businesses, non-profits, universities, and counties in dozens of defamation lawsuits across Minnesota. He also specializes in all aspects of employment law, business law, commercial litigation, with an emphasis on defamation, employment defense and insurance defense.
Mr. Ella has obtained successful verdicts in state and federal district court trials and jury trials in Minnesota and Iowa. He has also appeared before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Supreme Court, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Ella also advises businesses, employers, individual executives, and professionals in the areas of employment contracts, non-compete and trade secret litigation, handbooks, drug testing law, privacy law, commission claims, fraud, sexual harassment claims, employment and housing discrimination, ERISA benefits litigation, public accommodations under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and state law, wage and hour compliance, whistleblower and Sarbanes-Oxley claims, professional licensing issues, appeals, manufacturer sales representative contracts, and closely-held corporation and partnershp disputes.
Labor and employment law specialist
Mr. Ella was named a Minnesota Top 100 Super Lawyer in 2014. He is certified by the Minnesota State Bar Association as a Labor and Employment Law Specialist. He is also certified as an Information Privacy Professional by the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Mr. Ella was appointed to the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice in 2010 and again in 2014 and also serves on the Minnesota State Board of Legal Certification.
Mr. Ella worked as a Law Clerk for Judge Carol B. Amon, Eastern District of New York from 1996-1997 and for Judge William E. Kalar, Ninth Judicial District of Minnesota from 1994-1995.
After ten years as an attorney at a local general practice firm, he spent almost ten years at the nation’s second-largest labor and employment defense firm as a partner where he represented many Fortune 500 and large global corporations in all aspects of employment law. He joined Trepanier MacGillis Battina P.A. in 2016.
Mr. Ella is admitted to practice in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and New York.
Recent defamation cases
Some of V. John Ella's representative cases involving defamation claims:
Magee v. Trustees of the Hamline Univ., Civil No. 11-949 (JRT/AJB), 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45222, (D. Minn. March 29, 2013), affirmed 747 F.3d 532 (8th Cir. 2014)
Sherman v. Rinchem Company, Inc., No. 10-CV-2062 (PJS/FLN), 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87663 (D. Minn. 2011), affirmed 687 F.3d 996 (8th Cir. 2012)
Quinn v. St. Louis Co., No. 09-CV-1372 ADM/RLE, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43356 (D. Minn. 2010, affirmed 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 18481 (8th Cir. 2011)
Klinkhammer v. Anishanabe Legal Services, No. 08-6320, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59145 (D. Minn. 2009) (denying motion for remand) and U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33041 (D. Minn. 2010) (granting summary judgment)
Glenn v. Daddy Rocks, Inc., 171 F.Supp.2d 943 (D. Minn. 2001)