J. Michael Dady

Michael Dady is widely regarded as one of the most prominent franchisee and dealer attorneys in America. He and the other lawyers in his ten lawyer franchisee/dealer boutique law firm limit their nationwide practice to helping franchisees and dealers preserve and enhance the value of their businesses as effectively and as efficiently as possible. He and his colleagues at Dady & Gardner have made new law for franchisees nationwide, and together they are credited with having tried and won many significant cases on behalf of franchisees and dealers located throughout the United States. He and his partners have successfully represented franchisees and dealers in more than 350 different franchise and supplier organizations, and they currently represent over 50 different franchisee and dealer associations. Again in 2023 Chambers USA, after its nationwide survey of franchise lawyers, ranked Dady & Gardner as the top franchisee law firm in America, it ranked Michael Dady and his partner, Ron Gardner, as two of the top four franchisee lawyers in America, and of the 21 franchisee lawyers it recognized, six of them are Dady & Gardner lawyers. Michael is a frequent national speaker and writer on franchise law topics, and was an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas Institute for Franchise Management. Michael is listed in the Best Lawyers in America, is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum (having obtained several results in excess of one million dollars for franchisee and dealer victims of unfair treatment), was selected by the Minnesota Lawyer as one of its ten “Attorneys of the Year” for the year 2000, was honored with the AAFD’s (American Association of Franchisees & Dealers) Total Quality Franchising Award for Lifetime Achievement to the Franchising Community for the year 2003, has been recognized by his Minnesota lawyer peers for more than ten years as one of Minnesota’s Top 100 Super Lawyers, from among its more than 29,000 lawyers, and he, along with seven of his partners at Dady & Gardner, has been consistently recognized by Franchise Times as one of the top 200 franchise lawyers in America, all of whom it designates as “Legal Eagles.” Michael is active in supporting several service organizations. He has formerly served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, as Chair of the Board of Regents of St. John’s University, and as the Chair of the Board of Ecumen, a $200 million a year non¬profit corporation that cares for elders the way they want to be cared for. He is a longtime member of the Board of Directors of the C.M. Russell Museum of Western Art. He has been honored by both his university, Saint John’s University, and his high school, Sisseton High School, as their Alumnus of the Year. A native of Sisseton, South Dakota, Michael is a rancher in his spare time, and considers “doing cowboy work” his favorite recreational pursuit. Awards and Honors Super Lawyers® Selectees J. Michael Dady included in a Super Lawyers® list Honors Selected to Super Lawyers: 1994 - 2025 “Legal Eagle” by the Franchise Times “Best Lawyers in America” in the field of Franchise Law, 1995 - 2025 “Best Lawyers in America” named Michael the “Lawyer of the Year” in Franchise Law in Minneapolis, 2011 AAFD TQF Lifetime Achievement Award, 2003 "WWL Thought Leaders - USA” by Lexology, 2024 Chambers & Partners, 2007 – 2024 Other Sources of Feedback About J. Michael Dady Included on the 2026Minnesota Super Lawyers list Past Lists 2025 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2024 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2023 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2022 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2021 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2020 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2019 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2017 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2016 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2015 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2014 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2013 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2012 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2011 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2010 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2009 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2008 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2007 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2006 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2005 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2004 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2003 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2002 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2001 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 2000 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 1999 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 1998 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 1997 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 1996 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 1995 Minnesota Super Lawyers list 1994 Minnesota Super Lawyers list

• Lindquist & Vennum, Partner, 1975 - 1975
• Lindquist & Vennum, Senior Partner, 1994 - 1994

• Speaker, American Bar Association, National Franchise Law Institute
• Speaker, International Franchise Association's Legal Symposium
• Speaker, Forum on Franchising, American Bar Association
• Speaker, Distribution and Dealer Termination, The National Law Journal
• Lecturer, Mini-MBA in Franchise Management, University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Business, 1999
• Lecturer, Institute For Franchise Management, University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Business, 1998, 1999

• Lano Equipment Inc. v. Clark Equipment Company
• Citation: 399 N.W.2d 694
• Court: Minn. Ct. App.
• Year: 1987
• Serial Number: 1987013505
• Wadena Implement Co. v . John Deere & Co. Inc.
• Citation: 480 N.W.2d 383
• Year: 1992
• Serial Number: 1992030849
• TCBY Systems, Inc v. RSP Company, Inc.
• Citation: 1994 WL 460804
• Court: 8th Cir.
• Year: 1994
• Serial Number: 1994175711

• Minnesota, 1975
• U.S. District Court District of Minnesota, 1976
• South Dakota, 1983
• Specialties and Certifications
• Civil Trial Specialist, Minnesota
• Nationally Certified Trial Lawyer, National Board of Trial Advocacy

• Ecumen, Chair, Board of Directors
• C.M. Russell Museum of Wester Art, Member, Board of Directors
• Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Past Chair, Board of Directors
• St. John's University, Past Chairman, Board of Regents, 1992-1995
• St. John's University, Past President, Alumni Association
• American Creativity Association, Past Member, Board of Directors
• Children's Heart Link, Past Member, Board of Directors
• Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association, Past Member, Board of Directors
• American Bar Association's Forum on Franchising, Past Member, National Governing Committee
• The Franchise Handbook, Past Member, Board of Advisors