Christopher Madel

Christopher Madel
U.S. Department of Justice
Trial Attorney
In office January, 1994 – December, 1995
Personal details
Born	Christopher W. Madel 1966 Waseca, Minnesota
Alma mater	Waseca High School (BA) University of Michigan Law School (JD)
Profession	Attorney

Christopher Madel (born 1966) is an American attorney, known as the founding partner at Madel PA. He has previously served as a trial attorney for U.S. Department of Justice.

Early life and education

Madel was born in Waseca, Minnesota, in 1966. He received his early education from Waseca High School before graduating from Macalester College in 1989. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1992.

Career

Madel started his career at Winthrop & Weinstine in 1992 and presented his first jury trial five months after receiving his license to practice law. Madel is the former chairman of the Business Litigation Department and member of the executive board of the law firm, Robins Kaplan LLP. In March 2017, he left Robins Kaplan LLC and started his own law firm, Madel PA.

Notable cases

• Niemi et a. v. Erwin Lasshofer: Madel represented professional golfer Jesper Parnevik, and two real-estate investors, in a lawsuit against an Austrian citizen. After the case was originally thrown out, it was later restored. Parnevik and other investors obtained a judgment of over $184 million.

• Fiesta Bowl: In 2010, Madel investigated the Fiesta Bowl for illegal activities including giving money to politicians illegally, spending money improperly, and even paying for strip club visits and a big birthday party. Several people including the Fiesta Bowl’s CEO and COO were found guilty.

• 2003 representation of Minnesota Vikings: In 2003, Madel helped the Minnesota Vikings with a case involving a criminal assault claim during their charity event named “Arctic Blast.”

• 2014 Internal Investigation of Minnesota Vikings: In 2014, Madel, along with a former Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court looked into claims by a football player, Chris Kluwe. Chris said he was kicked out of the team because he supported gay marriage. They spent about six months talking to 31 people, checking computer files and papers, and asking for specific information from those they talked to. They even had former FBI agents at the interviews. Two football experts, 30-year NFL Player Personnel Executive Jerry Angelo and two-time Pro Bowl and 17-year NFL punter Craig Hentrich were asked to analyze Kluwe's performance during 2012 season. After all this, the Vikings stated that there wasn't enough evidence to show they attempted to discourage Kluwe from supporting marriage equality or equal rights activism.

• Kirby Puckett: Madel represented Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer Kirby Puckett in a case where Puckett was accused of a criminal sexual misconduct. On April 3, 2003, charges against Puckett were dropped by the jury.

• MSU Head Football Coach Todd Hoffner: Madel represented Minnesota State University head football coach, Todd Hoffner, relating to charges that he possessed child pornography of his children. The district court dismissed the case for lack of probable cause.

• United States v. Steven Dornsbach. et al.: In 2023, the U.S. government accused a cement company and its CEO of cheating in bids for Minnesota schools and cities. One person, Clarence Olson, admitted guilt and testified. In May 2023, a jury dismissed all the charges against Madel’s client.
• TaxMasters: Madel represented TaxMasters, Inc., in a lawsuit brought by the State of Minnesota.