On March 3, 2018, Timothy Jung was inducted into the College of Workers’ Compensation lawyers. The College honors lawyers who “possess the highest professional qualifications and ethical standards, character, integrity, professional expertise and leadership… and have shown significant evidence of scholarship, teaching, lecturing, and/or distinguished published writings on Workers’ Compensation or related fields of law.”
Timothy Jung participated in the American Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Midwinter Conference in Nashville, TN on March 1st and 2nd. On the first day of the conference, Tim moderated a panel discussion concerning mental health injuries and worker’s compensation coverage.
Molly de la Vega recently published an article in the Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association Mid-Winter Magazine titled “The Gig Economy: Concerns For Businesses Who Hire Non-Traditional ‘Gig’ Workers”. The article explores the issues businesses and organizations face when hiring “gig workers,” and how gig workers may require employers to re-examine who they classify as employees versus independent contractors. See article below.
The Gig Economy – Concerns For Businesses Who Hire Non-Traditional Gig W.._
Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson, P.A. is very pleased to announce that Katie Storms has been elected as a firm shareholder.
A graduate of the St Thomas School of Law, Ms. Storms focuses her practice on insurance defense litigation, primarily in the workers’ compensation arena. She specialized in representing employers and insurers in a variety of complex employment and workers’ compensation issues. Katie also serves as a volunteer attorney for the VLN, and has handled a variety of pro bono civil matters. Additionally, Ms. Storms is a frequent lecturer on workers’ compensation and employment related matters for both local and national seminars. She is a member of the MDLA, CLM, MEWCA, and the HCBA. The firm considers her a tremendous asset to our clients.
On January 2, 2018, attorneys Mark Fredrickson, Katie Storms, and Joao Medeiros presented the first oral argument of the new year before the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Thomas J. Evenson, a Shareholder at Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson, PA, was recently nominated by the Minnesota State Bar Association Assembly to serve another term as a Lawyer Member on the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board.
Tom Jensen led a panel presentation on “Defense and Adjustment of Chiropractic and Outpatient Surgery Center Cases” at Professional Liability Defense Federation’s Annual Meeting in Chicago on September 28, 2017.
Timothy Jung was selected to edit and update the Workers’ Compensation chapter of the Minnesota Insurance Law Deskbook. The Insurance Law Deskbook is available through the Minnesota State Bar Association and Minnesota Continuing Education.
Timothy Jung has been appointed chair of the Workers’ Compensation and Employer Liability committee of the Tort, Trial and Insurance Practice section of the American Bar Association, for 2017-18.
Tom Jensen’s Article “Building a Successful Mediation Practice” was published in this months edition of the DRI’s For the Defense.
More than half of Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson’s attorneys named Minnesota Super Lawyers or Rising Stars.
Super Lawyers
William L. Davidson
Appellate
Mark Fredrickson
Personal Injury / General: Defense
Thomas D. Jensen
Civil Litigation Defense
Patrick J. Larkin
Construction Litigation
Richard A. Lind
Civil Litigation: Defense
Jack D. Moore
Civil Litigation: Defense
Timothy J. O’Connor
Civil Litigation: Defense
Paul C. Peterson
Professional Liability: Defense
Matthew D. Sloneker
Civil Litigation: Defense
Eric J. Steinhoff
Civil Litigation: Defense
Brian A. Wood
Personal Injury General: Defense
Rising Star
Elizabeth M. Sorenson Brotten
Personal Injury Products: Defense
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations The list is published in all 50 states and D.C. and reaches over 13 million readers annually. All honorees are listed on the Super Lawyers website at www.superlawyers.com.
Thomas J. Evenson, a Shareholder at Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson, PA, was reappointed by the Hennepin County Bar Association to serve as the Hennepin County Bar Association Voting Representative to the MSBA Assembly.
Thomas J. Evenson, a Shareholder at Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson, PA, was nominated to serve as the President-Elect for the Mitchell Hamline School of Law Alumni Association Board for the 2017 to 2018 school year.
The Mitchell Hamline Alumni Association promotes relationships among alumni, and between alumni and Mitchell Hamline and current students. It does this through encouraging alumni to attend CLEs and events (such as the Alumni Golf Tournament and the Women in Law Tea), to support students by volunteering as mentors, speakers, mock interviewers, and more, and to support the school through financial contributions.
Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson employees are proud to have contributed to the efforts of the Defense Research Institute (DRI) to support our service members and their families. During the 2017 Toxic Torts & Environmental Law Seminar in New Orleans, Louisiana, seminar attendees joined forces with Operation Gratitude to assemble “Battalion Buddies” teddy bears to be sent to children of deployed service members. In just a few hours’ time, the group assembled nearly 300 bears to be included in care packages sent by Operation Gratitude.
LJSP was one of several firms that contributed funds to purchase and ship the Battalion Buddies. Together, LJSP employees contributed over $350 to the program.
The service project was spearheaded by LJSP shareholder Elizabeth Sorenson Brotten, who is a member of the DRI Toxic Torts national steering committee.
For more information on the project, see: http://portal.criticalimpact.com/newsletter/newslettershow5.cfm?contentonly=1&content=117551&id=8791.
Timothy Jung has been nominated to serve as Chair of the Workers’ Compensation and Employers’ Liability Law Committee of the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association, and to serve in that capacity for 2017-2018.
Shareholder Elizabeth Sorenson Brotten will moderate a panel at the Defense Research Institute’s Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Seminar on March 23-24, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The panel, titled “Science as a Second Language: How to Teach the Jury About Uncertainty and Science,” will include Robert Bettler, Ph.D., of DecisionQuest and Christina Marinakis, J.D., Psy.D., of Litigation Insights. The panel will compare the responses of actual mock jurors to those of the audience regarding believes and comprehension of research principles, explore the different ways we evaluate scientific evidence, and examine how trial counsel and experts can explain causation, exposure, and toxicology to jurors.
Brotten focuses her practice on defending clients in high-risk product liability and toxic tort cases. She serves on national steering committees for the Defense Research Institute’s Toxic Tort and Environmental Law and Women in the Law communities.
Tom Jensen addressed chiropractic educators in a webinar on the subject of chiropractic risk management sponsored by NCMIC Insurance Company that aired on February 15 and will continue on April 12.
Tom Jensen analyzed optometric malpractice claims in the current issue of Professional Liability Defense Quarterly, published by Professional Liability Defense Federation.
On February 1, 2017, Thomas J. Evenson, a Shareholder at Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson, PA, was selected to serve as a Chair on a Lawyers Board Panel for the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board.
Judge Swenson will be continuing his ADR practice in his Of Counsel role, and we look forward to using his many years of practical experience on the bench to assist us in continuing to provide our clients with the highest quality litigation services. Judge Swenson’s ADR practice includes adjudicative work as an arbitrator and consensual special magistrate, evaluative mediation and moderated settlement conferences, and service as a special master. Although his recent focus has centered on family law, Swenson is excited to return to his pre-bench focus on construction and other commercial matters. Please feel free to call him and join us in welcoming him to our firm.
Elizabeth Brotten was recently featured in Bench & Bar of Minnesota, the official publication of the Minnesota State Bar Association. Brotten, who recently spoke at a CLE on what new lawyers can do to set themselves up for success early in their career, provided advice geared toward newer lawyers in the November 2016 edition of the publication. In her article, Brotten advises new attorneys to take ownership over career trajectory, build a solid reputation, and make and maintain connections with others. The entire article is available here: http://mnbenchbar.com/2016/11/elizabeth-brotten/.
Elizabeth Brotten recently published an article addressing talcum powder litigation, in which a growing number of women nationwide have alleged that their use of talcum powder has caused them to develop ovarian cancer. Brotten’s article was published in Minnesota Defense, the publication of the Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association (MDLA). While ovarian cancer talcum powder claims are relatively new in Minnesota, plaintiffs in St. Louis, Missouri courts have won verdicts of $72 million, $55 million, and over $70 million. In her article, Brotten examines the basis of talcum powder litigation, the science behind the claims, and predicts what the future holds for the litigation. The entire article is available here: mdla-nl-fall-2016. In September 2016, Brotten presented on talcum powder litigation at the National Forum for Environmental & Toxic Tort Issues (FETTI) annual conference in Chicago.
Brotten is a litigator who focuses her practice on the defense of product liability, toxic tort, and personal injury claims. She is Vice Chair of the MDLA’s Products Liability Committee and serves among the leadership for the Defense Research Institute’s Toxic Tort and Environmental and Women in the Law national steering committees.
Lauren received three favorable orders today for her pro bono clients. She represented a Laotian woman in seeking unpaid wages from her former employer in Hennepin County Conciliation Court. The referee awarded Lauren’s client $5,700. She also represented a homeless man seeking expungement of two criminal convictions. These convictions were preventing the client from finding work or housing. Lauren was able to obtain expungements of both convictions in separate orders, in Hennepin County District Court. Both clients were VLN clients. A job very well done, Lauren.
Kudos to the Lind Jensen Sullivan & Peterson P. A. Attorneys who are featured in the most recent edition of the Federal Bar Association Bar Talk Newsletter MN Chapter. Lead by Pro Bono Chairperson Jack Moore, LJSP attorneys have handled over 90 Pro Bono matters in the last six years. See attached article below. fba-bar-talk-article-september-2016
Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson, P.A. is very pleased to announce that Amber Garry has been elected as a firm shareholder.
Amber focuses her practice on representing businesses and individuals against professional liability and malpractice claims, and advises hospitals and clinics on compliance with federal and state privacy laws. She also represents healthcare providers in their dealings with professional licensing boards. Amber has successful pre-trial dispositive motion practice experience and jury trial experience.
Amber graduated summa cum laude from Hamline University School of Law, where she received the M. Arnold Lyons award for the highest academic achievement in the graduating class.
Jack Moore recently obtained an emergency temporary restraining order blocking a landlord’s attempt to evict Jack’s client, a single mother of two young children, from her house. The landlord wrongly claimed the client hadn’t paid rent, and served the eviction notice just before Christmas. Jack produced evidence the rent has in fact been paid. The court ordered the eviction be suspended until further notice.
Ryan Myers co-authored and article which appeared in the latest edition of the DRI’s Newsletter of the Young Lawyers Committee, The Whisper. The article is titled Hamstrung Health Care Providers: The Dangers of Overlooking the Medical Privacy Minefield in the Defense of Agency Investigations of Employment Discrimination.
Lind Jensen Sullivan & Peterson P.A. was named as the Top Mid-Sized Litigation Firm in Minnesota for 2015. This will appear in the 2015 Super Lawyers Business Edition which is coming out in November.
Connie Armstrong, a shareholder at Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson, P.A., has been elected to the office of President-Elect for Minnesota Women Lawyers 2015-2016. Minnesota Women Lawyers (MWL) is an association of over 1300 attorneys, judges, and legal employers who are committed to advancing the success of women attorneys. Press Release – MWL Elects New Officers
Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson, P.A. is pleased to announce that 11 lawyers have been named Super Lawyers™ and an additional 4 lawyers have been named Rising Stars™ by Minnesota Super Lawyers.
2015 Minnesota Super Lawyers
William L. Davidson
Appellate
Mark A. Fredrickson
PI General: Defense
Thomas D. Jensen
Civil Lit: Defense
Patrick J. Larkin
Construction Litigation
Richard A. Lind
Business Litigation
Jack D. Moore
PI General: Defense
Timothy J. O’Connor
Civil Lit: Defense
Paul C. Peterson
Prof. Liability: Defense
Matthew D. Sloneker
Civil Lit: Defense
Eric J. Steinhoff
Civil Lit: Defense
Brian A. Wood
PI General: Defense
2015 Minnesota Rising Stars
Connie I. Armstrong
Construction Litigation
Thomas J. Evenson
General Lit
Amber N. Garry
Prof. Liability: Defense
Elizabeth M. Sorenson Brotten
PI-Products: Defense
In addition to being named a Super Lawyer, Paul C. Peterson was named one of the Top 100 Minnesota Super Lawyers.
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The select process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nomination and peer evaluations. Within the state of Minnesota, 5% of attorneys are selected to Super Lawyers and 2.5% of attorneys are selected to Rising Stars.
Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson, P.A. is pleased to announce that Katie Storms has joined the firm as an Associate attorney. Katie is a graduate of the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s and The University of St Thomas School of law. Her primary areas are insurance defense litigation and workers’ compensation.
Thomas J. Evenson, a Shareholder at Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson, PA, was reappointed as an HCBA representative to the MSBA Assembly for the 2015-16 term.
Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson, P.A. is pleased to announce that Connie Armstrong, a shareholder with the firm, has been elected to serve a one-year term as President-Elect on the Minnesota Women Lawyers (MWL) 2015-2016 Board of Directors. Her board term will begin July 1, 2015.
Established in 1972, MWL is made up of more than 1,300 attorneys, judges, law students, legal employers and legal professionals who are all dedicated to advancing women attorneys and striving for a just society.
Brian Wood, Bill Davidson, and Peter Stiteler successfully won a declaratory judgment action brought on behalf of their insurer client in which the insurer argued that its policy did not provide UM/UIM coverage for an accident arising between the insured semi-tractor trailer and a snowmobile. The United States District Court, District of Minnesota, agreed, reasoning that a snowmobile was not an “auto” as defined by the policy and was not required to be insured under Minnesota’s No-Fault Act. The Court therefore concluded that there was no UM/UIM coverage under the policy and granted the insurer’s motion for summary judgment. The opinion is United Financial Casualty Company v. Bradley Nelson, and can be found at MemoOpinion&Order
Tim O’Connor, Bill Davidson, and Peter Stiteler successfully defended Forest Lake Area Schools and two of its teachers against a claim from a student who was injured during a physical education class. The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s decision to not dismiss the negligent supervision lawsuit, holding that the teachers were entitled to official immunity and the school was entitled to vicarious official immunity. The Court reasoned that the “active and dynamic nature of physical-education classes requires teachers to constantly exercise independent judgment regarding how best to supervise students.” The opinion, Lisa Miller, et. al., v. Forest Lake Area High School, A14-1448 (Minn. App. May 18, 2015), is available at Lisa Miller, et. al., v. Forest Lake Area High School
On March 27, 2014, Tim Jung and Matt Sloneker spoke at the Minnesota Trucking Association’s Trucking Law Conference. Tim and Matt discussed the “reptilian approach” now being utilized by personal injury plaintiffs in increasing numbers, and offered insight into how to combat such tactics. They also discussed the preparation of safety managers and drivers for depositions in this new environment.
