After a four-day trial, a jury found on Aug. 31 that the city of Rochester, Minnesota, breached its contract with Maslon client Exhibits Development Group (EDG)—the former operator of the Chateau Theatre—and awarded EDG $335,000 in damages. The contract between the city and EDG also allows EDG, as the prevailing party, to recover its reasonable attorneys’ fees.

Maslon Partner Terry Newby, lead trial attorney on the case, said the city violated its lease agreement with EDG by failing to give the required 30 days' notice and an opportunity to address issues that had arisen.

The historic theater opened as a vaudeville house in 1927 in the heart of downtown Rochester. The city chose EDG in 2019 to operate the Chateau per a five-year contract.

Newby was assisted in the case by Partner David Suchar and attorneys Nathaniel Ajouri, Carmen Carballo and Abigail Maier, along with paralegal Bruce Johnson.