Alex Hontos, partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, focuses his national practice on procurement law, government contracting and federal civil-fraud litigation.

Hontos began his legal career as a judicial clerk on state and federal appellate courts before serving as a prosecutor for the City of Minneapolis. He later joined the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., as a trial attorney through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, where he served as lead counsel in government-contracts disputes, fraud claims and bid protests, including a procurement challenge to a $40 billion Defense Department contract.

At Dorsey & Whitney, Hontos has first-chaired dozens of litigated matters and argued dozens of appeals in federal appellate courts, with filings in the United States Supreme Court. His representative work includes successful bid protests, False Claims Act defense and internal investigations for academic institutions, hospital systems and defense contractors. He is co-founder and editor of FCA Now, Dorsey & Whitney’s False Claims Act blog.

David Johnson, partner at Faegre Drinker, leads the firm’s Minnesota government relations practice, representing clients across a range of industries before the Minnesota Legislature, state and federal agencies, and local governments.

Johnson served as a Minnesota state senator from 1997 to 2002, including two years as majority whip, focusing on transportation and economic development issues and serving as vice chair of the Senate Finance Committee. He has since built a practice counseling clients on government contracting and compliance, licensing, open meeting law, and state and federal campaign finance law.

Among his notable engagements, Johnson served as legislative counsel to the Minnesota Vikings in connection with state legislation authorizing construction of U.S. Bank Stadium. He maintains an active pro bono practice, including work as part of a Minneapolis team that in 2023 successfully advocated for legislation creating compensatory relief for indigent Minnesotans wrongfully denied access to towed vehicles. Johnson is a member of the Minnesota Governmental Relations Council and the Hennepin County Bar Association.

Surya Saxena’s path from federal prosecutor to in-house counsel to private practice gives him a vantage point on government enforcement matters that few defense attorneys can match. A partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Saxena represents clients in government enforcement matters, white collar defense, False Claims Act investigations and litigation, health care fraud matters, FCPA and anticorruption investigations, and complex commercial litigation.

As a federal prosecutor, Saxena tried high-profile cases including one of the country’s first prosecutions of synthetic cannabinoid distribution and served as lead trial counsel in a seven-day fraud trial involving approximately $13 million in losses to farmers. He also served as co-counsel in the two-month Starkey Laboratories fraud trial involving approximately $20 million in embezzlement from Starkey Hearing Technologies.

In private practice, Saxena has represented multiple Fortune 100 companies in response to Department of Justice False Claims Act Civil Investigative Demands and grand jury investigations, and as lead counsel negotiated a favorable resolution of $35 million in allegations in federal court.

In 2023, Gov. Tim Walz appointed Saxena to Minnesota’s Sentencing Guidelines Commission.

Eric Swanson, shareholder at Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A., focuses his practice at the intersection of energy, regulatory, legislative and appellate law, representing utilities, energy developers, industrial customers and other regulated entities.

Swanson began his legal career as an assistant attorney general with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, an experience that shaped his approach to anticipating regulatory challenges and understanding agency priorities. He subsequently built a practice centered on complex proceedings before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, state agencies, the legislature and appellate courts.

His work spans permitting, rate cases, contested administrative litigation, legislative advocacy and appeals. Throughout his career, Swanson has been involved in precedent-setting regulatory matters that have helped shape Minnesota’s energy landscape.

In addition to his client work, Swanson is known for mentoring and developing younger attorneys within his firm, sharing institutional knowledge and modeling standards of professional judgment. He is admitted to practice in Minnesota.