Brian Thomas Rochel

I hired Brian to help with an employment situation. Brian is the epitome of a great lawyer. He responded in a timely manner, was easily accessible, has great communication skills and is very respectful. Hiring a lawyer means you are usually experiencing a stressful situation. Brian was always k...ind and empathetic. It was difficult for me to share disparaging information with anyone but he made me feel at ease. Brian reviewed my employment contract and situation and explained my options. He also is upfront and ethical with billing practices. I highly recommend Brian Rochel.

During my career, I have worked with minority firms and had the opportunity to see how corporate America engages in discrimination. However, I was not expecting to experience age discrimination in professional hiring. My experience with a large Minneapolis firm paralleled the discriminatory behavio...r that I had previously seen. I was ultimately referred to Brian Rochel by another respected Minneapolis firm due to their confidence in Brian’s expertise in employment law and litigation. I have retained and worked with a number of highly respected domestic and international lawyers and thus have extensive professional experience in hiring and evaluating legal counsel. Brian is among the best. At inception, Brian thoroughly evaluated and researched my case. There are a lot of nuances in law and particularly employment law that only a skilled practitioner can address. I was pleased with Brian’s knowledge and ability to patiently address any and all issues that needed clarification. He was always prepared. Much of law requires an analysis and presentation of the issues in writing. Brian has an ability to clearly articulate the issues and present the strengths and weaknesses of the case as it progressed and as new evidence came to light. Opposing outside counsel for the company was formidable – a senior partner and his team from a large nationally recognized law firm that only represents companies. Brian handled the depositions of the company personnel and he was always prepared knowing exactly the line of questioning and information he hoped to elicit from each individual. When I was deposed, he was able to keep the company’s counsel within bounds and clarified my testimony when required for the record. At times, opposing counsel was overreaching in an effort to intimidate, but he always knew how to successfully push back. Brian’s firm took my case on contingency which meant that he believed in the validity of my claims. Unfortunately, corporate counsel was particularly ruthless and made ferreting out the truth difficult to the point of confusing the facts. Ultimately it became evident that the muddle that had been created would preclude the expected resolution. Brian knew when the case began that it would be a difficult case as there was little legal precedent available. Nevertheless, Brian’s commitment never waivered in aggressively pursuing my claims and he was able to clearly articulate the risks and alternative approaches to resolution considering available evidence. If I ever need employment counsel in the future, I would call Brian without hesitation and would recommend him without reservation to anyone needing the very best in employment counsel.

Brian Rochel is a well prepared, readily available and articulate lawyer. He listens to the claims made, answers questions, gathers pertinent information and explains the law, in both legal and laymen terms, so a comprehensive understanding is reached. Brian guides you through the arguments, gives ...you an idea of what likely will be contested and is very reasonable and fair in his billing practices. It was reassuring to have an attorney comfortable with the law, dedicated to the case, mindful of case details, quick to respond and an ardent advocate for my claim. Brian Rochel is a professional and someone I would highly recommend arguing the merits of your case.

Brian handled my wrongful termination case against a smaller company. This small company was absolutely ruthless in its efforts to stall and derail my case against them. However, Brian was totally determined to seek justice for me and we prevailed. I am very happy with how well Brian performed h...is job and took time to explain how things work in the legal system. He is very intelligent, organized, and motivated attorney who knows his job very well. I was also very happy that even though lawyers work for money like everyone else, he never pushed me to accept any low ball settlement offers or concede in any way just so he could move on to another case and make his money. Brian was very committed to seeing justice done! I highly recommend Brian as a lawyer and a great person.

I had Brian represent me in an unpaid wages claim against my former employer, a large Fortune 500 company based MN. I decided on Brian after interviewing three attorneys because he was always quick to get back to me, was very clear about how he would approach my case, and because he was not afraid t...o litigate if it came down to it. He also seemed genuinely interested in helping me win this case and my best interest, where the other two firms I spoke with seemed mostly interested in maxing out the amount they could charge, and my not best interest. In the end, I am extremely happy that I went with Brian. When Brain reached out to my former employer initially about my unpaid wages, of course they refused to settle the claim and provided multiple reasons why they were in the right. Brian then promptly replied, systematically going through all their reasons for not paying, and detailed why they were in the wrong and providing specific examples when courts had sided on the employee side in similar cases. This process went on for a few months, with my former employer always claiming they were in the right, and Brian continuing to rebut their claims by citing specific laws and cases when the courts upheld those laws. I found Brian to be extremely knowledgeable and thorough in this area, and created a compelling argument why we would win if my case went to court. Eventually it go to the point where it was clear litigation was our only option as were in a stalemate, so Brian informed them that since we were unable to reach an agreement we would be litigating. As soon as he did this, they came back with a proposed settlement. I was unhappy with this amount, and we countered with a different amount, and said if this amount was not met we would move forward with litigation. Still fearing litigation, they countered with an different offer. This continued, until in the end Brian helped me reach a number I was happy with, and we settled the case without the need to litigate. I do strongly believe though that if we had not been willing to litigate like Brian was, I would not have got the settlement that I did. Throughout the entire process I found Brian to be very professional and always quick to keep me in the loop. I lived out of state, so I never met with him in person, but every time he would send my former employer an email, or receive an email from them the would forward it to me and we would discuss on the phone within a day. This is light years better than attorneys I have worked with in the past. I would be happy to refer Brian to anyone I know looking for employment law help, as I feel my case could not have been handled any better. Should I ever need a lawyer again, Brian will be my first phone call.