Brian Melendez, Minneapolis Attorney | Barnes & Thornburg (2023)

Brian Melendez is a veteran litigator with more than two decades of experience in trial and appellate practice, and a former president of the Minnesota State Bar Association. His practice focuses on consumer-credit litigation and business torts. He has defended consumer-financial-services providers in more than 300 cases in over 40 states.

Brian was named by Minnesota Lawyer magazine in 2002 as one of the Top Ten Attorneys of the Year; he won the award a second time in 2008, only the second person to win twice. He has been named to the Minnesota Super Lawyers list in every year since 2003, and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.

Brian earned his bachelor’s degree with honors from Harvard College in 1986; his J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School in 1991, where he wrote on “Districting a Diverse Society,” and a master’s degree in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School in 1991, concentrating in ethics.

Trial-Litigation Practice

Brian has defended clients, including several Fortune 100 companies, in litigation ranging from contractual disputes to business torts to sophisticated consumer-protection claims. He has litigated more than 300 cases under federal and state consumer-protection statutes, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Consumer Credit Protection Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair & Accurate Credit Transactions Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Minnesota Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act. Brian has appeared in more than 30 federal district courts and in state courts in more than 20 states. He serves on the Federal Practice Committee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, where he chairs the style committee.

Brian is admitted to the bar in Minnesota and Florida. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the District of Minnesota, District of Colorado, Middle District of Florida, Southern District of Florida, Eastern District of Michigan, Eastern District of Wisconsin, and Western District of Wisconsin, in addition to the appellate courts listed below.

Class Action Experience

Brian has defended more than a dozen putative nationwide class actions involving federal consumer-protection statutes, including one of the earliest class-action claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act in 2000. Please see the drop-down buttons for Class Action Experience and Consumer Protection Experience.

Appellate Practice

Brian has argued cases before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Seventh, Eighth, and Tenth circuits, and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and 12 of the 14 federal courts of appeals. He has filed amicus briefs in the Supreme Court and nine federal circuits. He represented the lead petitioner in ACA International v. Federal Communications Commission (D.C. Cir. 2018), the consolidated challenge to the commission's 2015 ruling on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the 2015 TCPA Order).

Professional Parliamentarian

Brian has served as parliamentarian for more than a dozen organizations, including seven terms for the ABA Young Lawyers Division, and two years on the Committee on Rules & Calendar for the ABA House of Delegates. He chaired the ABA Standing Committee on Constitution & Bylaws, and has written the constitution or bylaws for over two dozen organizations. He has taught seminars on parliamentary law for many bar-association, political, and other groups. He is a contributing editor defining more than 400 parliamentary-law terms for the eighth (2004), ninth (2009), and tenth (2014) editions of Black’s Law Dictionary. Brian is a member of the American Institute of Parliamentarians and the National Association of Parliamentarians.

Brian has also written and taught about legal writing and drafting. He was a contributor to The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style, published by the West Group; and the second through fourth editions of Garner’s Modern English Usage by Bryan A. Garner, published by Oxford University Press.

• Barry v. Dell Computer Corp., No. C8-00-3437 (Minn. 2d Jud. Dist.). Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Class certification denied.
• Muro v. Target Corp., No. 1:04-cv-06267 (N.D. Ill.), on appeal No. 081256 (7th Cir.). Truth in Lending Act. Class certification denied, affirmed on appeal. Published opinions, 250 F.R.D. 350 (N.D. Ill. 2007); 580 F.3d 485 (7th Cir. 2009).
• Acosta v. Target Corp., No. 1:05-cv-07068 (N.D. Ill.), on appeal No. 132706 (7th Cir.). Truth in Lending Act. Class certification denied, affirmed on appeal. Published opinion, 745 F.3d 853 (7th Cir. 2014).
• Higgins v. Patenaude & Felix, A.P.C., No. 2:05-mc-02025 (W.D. Pa.). Dismissed; no class certified.
• Todd v. Target Corp., No. 1:10-cv-05598 (N.D. Ill.). Fair & Accurate Credit Transactions Act. Dismissed; no class certified.
• Giannangeli v. Target Nat’l Bank, N.A., No. 1:11-cv-02154-WJM-MEH (D. Colo.), on appeal No. 12-1344 (10th Cir.). Usury; National Banking Act. Dismissed, no class certified; affirmed on appeal. Appellate opinion, 543 F. App’x 785 (10th Cir. 2013).
• French v. Target Nat’l Bank, No. 0:13-cv-02626-DSD-TNL (D. Minn.), transferred from No. 3:13-cv-00233-JAH-KSC (S.D. Cal.). Telephone Consumer Protection Act. (Minnesota counsel only)
• Nelson v. Target Nat’l Bank, No. 0:13-cv-00741-DSD-TNL (D. Minn.), transferred from 4:13-cv-00205 JAR (E.D. Mo.). Telephone Consumer Protection Act. (Minnesota counsel only)
• Joy v. Target Stores, Inc., No. 1:13-cv-05085 (N.D. Ill.). Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Dismissed; no recovery.
• Manczak v. Target Corp., No. 1:14-cv-02742 (N.D. Ill.). Telephone Consumer Protection Act. (Co-counsel only)
• Muransky v. Godiva Chocolatier, Inc., No. 0:15-cv-60716-WPD (S.D. Fla.). Fair & Accurate Credit Transactions Act. Settlement class certified. On appeal, Price v. Godiva Chocolatier, Inc., No. 16-16486 (11th Cir.); Muransky v. Isaacson, No. 16-16783 (11th Cir.).
• Serrano v. Target Corp., No. 5:15-cv-03908 (N.D. Cal.). Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Dismissed; no class certified.
• Young v. Target Corp., No. 2:16-cv-00769-BRO-RAO (C.D. Cal.). Fair Credit Reporting Act. Dismissed; no class certified.
• Garcia v. Target Corp., No. 0:16-cv-02574-MJD-BRT (D. Minn.), transferred from No. 1:16-cv-20727-JEM (S.D. Fla.). Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Settlement class certified.
• Ponce v. Lenovo (U.S.) Inc., No. 0:16-cv-01000-JNE-SER (D. Minn.). Minnesota Unlawful Trade Practices Act; Minnesota Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act; Minnesota Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act; Minnesota False Statements in Advertising Act; California Consumer Legal Remedies Act; California False Advertising Law; California Unfair Competition Law. Settlement class certified. (Minnesota counsel only)
• Prukala v. TD Bank USA, No. 3:16-cv-00894-MEM (M.D. Pa.). Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; Pennsylvania Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act. Complaint dismissed.
• Diaz-Lebel v. TD Bank USA, N.A., No. 0:17-cv-05110-BRT (D. Minn.), transferred from No. 1:17-cv-1611-JBS-AMD (D.N.J.). Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Dismissed; no class certified.
• Carlson v. Target Enterprise, Inc., No. 4:18-cv-40139-TSH (D. Mass.). Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act; Massachusetts Debt Collection Regulation. Settlement class certified.
• Cox v. Schrimpshire, No. CV-18-900260 (Ala. Cir. Ct., Mobile Cnty.). Common-law claims. Pending.
  

Federal Law

Bankruptcy Code

Consumer Credit Protection Act

Credit Repair Organizations Act

Electronic Fund Transfer Act

Fair & Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act)

Fair Credit & Charge Card Disclosure Act of 1988

Fair Credit Billing Act

Fair Credit Reporting Act

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act

Junk Fax Prevention Act

National Bank Act

Regulation Z

Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)

Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991

Truth in Lending Act

State Law

California Business & Professions Code

California Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act

California Consumer Legal Remedies Act

California False Advertising Law

California Proposition 64 (Limit on Private Enforcement of Unfair Business Competition Laws)

California Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

California Song–Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971

California Unfair Competition Law

Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act

Florida Deceptive & Unfair Trade Practices Act

Iowa Debt Collection Practices Act

Kentucky Consumer Protection Act

Maryland Commercial Law

Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act

Maryland Fair Credit Reporting Act

Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act

Massachusetts Debt Collection Regulation

Minnesota False Statements in Advertising Act

Minnesota Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act

Minnesota Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act

Minnesota Unlawful Trade Practices Act

Missouri Merchandising Act

New York General Business Law

North Carolina Debt Collection Act

North Carolina Unfair & Deceptive Trade Practices Act

Oregon Unlawful Debt Collection Practices Act

Pennsylvania Dragonetti Act (Wrongful Use of Civil Proceedings)

Pennsylvania Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act

Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices & Consumer Protection Law

South Dakota Codified Laws—Fiduciaries & Trusts

Texas Consumer Credit Reporting Act

Texas Debt Collection Act

Texas Finance Code

West Virginia Consumer Credit & Protection Act

Wisconsin Consumer Act