Keith is a solo practitioner and has been practicing 30 years.  If you have a question or concern, you will talk to Keith and no one else. He does the work on your case, not an inexperienced associate attorney or paralegal.  Many attorneys, after being hired, have their inexperienced associate attorneys or paralegals do substantial work on your claim.  Why not have Keith, an experienced and battle-tested attorney, do the work?

 

Keith has never had an ethical complaint made by a client against him, nor has he ever been sued by a client for legal malpractice.  Keith is very proud of this.  A few ethical complaints have been filed against him by the opposing parties, all of which were dismissed, and Keith is proud of this as well.

 

Keith has been certified as a Civil Trial Specialist by the Minnesota State Bar Association since 1993.  To earn this distinction, a lawyer must have handled numerous trials, court hearings and depositions, must pass a stringent test, and must continue to do so to become re-certified.  Less than 3% of the lawyers in Minnesota have earned this distinction.

 

Keith also was named to Minnesota “Super Lawyers” under their "Star Search" process described as follows:

Our attorney-led research staff searches for lawyers who have attained certain honors, results or credentials, which indicate a high degree of peer recognition or professional competence—what we term "Star Search Credentials." For example, certification as a specialist in a particular area of practice, or admission to prestigious colleges or academies, e.g., The American College of Trial Lawyers. The staff identifies these Star Search Credentials by reviewing a proprietary listing of more than 150 database and online sources, as well as national and local legal trade publications.  

Most of the lawyers we identify in the Star Search process have also been nominated by their peers. Occasionally, however, we find outstanding lawyers who have been overlooked in the nomination process. These "overlooked" attorneys fall into predictable categories. These include: lawyers with national litigation practices who rarely appear in the courts of their home jurisdiction; lawyers in smaller firms or from smaller communities; and lawyers practicing in less visible or highly specialized practice areas.

 

Keith never sought a nomination to Super Lawyers, but is proud they just “picked him up.”

Keith has been AV rated by Martindale Hubbel, its highest rating, for over ten years.  

 

Keith has been married 20+ years and has three children

 

Keith has been a long time active Community Volunteer:

 

1995-2004  Youth basketball, soccer, baseball and fast-pitch softball coach

 

1999-2003   Commissioner of St. Anthony Community Basketball (St. Anthony  Sports Boosters)

 

2003-2007  Vice President of St. Anthony High School Basketball Parents Association (Huskies Court Club)

 

2003-2007  Referee at St. Anthony Villagefest “3 on 3” Basketball Tourney

 

2008-2009  Member of St. Anthony High School Fast-pitch Softball Parents Association (Huskies Diamond Club).  Board member of Scoreboard Committee (which successfully fund raised, purchased and placed a beautiful scoreboard for the girls this year.)

 

Many of the cases Keith handles are personal injury or malpractice cases.  Usually the opponent is an insurance company (assisting their insured - the “at-fault” person or entity which injured or damaged you) and the insurance company’s lawyers.  Keith has never represented insurance companies, banks or large corporations, and never will.  He takes special pride in representing regular people… individuals…the “common man,” just like himself.  Insurance companies love to collect money (premiums), but hate to pay money (claims). The people insurance companies hire, such as adjusters and insurance company attorneys, are forced to think this way (how do they sleep at night?!)  You need an attorney to help you, and your recovery usually will be better with an attorney than without.

 

Keith does assist business owners in business or business dissolution claims, and also handles probate and trust litigation matters, including undue influence claims.

 

Keith also handles legal malpractice cases against lawyers, and is one of the few attorneys willing to do so.  Numerous attorneys do not handle such cases, some apparently believing that it is wrong to sue a fellow lawyer.  However, lawyers make mistakes just like everybody else, and Keith is willing to assist victims and aggressively pursue claims of lawyer wrongdoing.

 

Keith also handles tough and unique cases.  For instance:

 

Keith sued the Kirby Company for a rape committed by one of their door-to-door salesmen.  Keith recovered against the local Kirby distributor by settlement, and then proceeded to trial against the national Kirby Company (Scott and Fetzer, Inc.).  Keith obtained a six figure verdict at trial for his client, establishing that the national Kirby Company was also responsible for the terrible wrongdoing which occurred, not just the local distributor.

 

Keith represented a woman assaulted by a professional NBA basketball player, who was represented by one of the larger law firms in the Twin Cities.  A lawsuit was started and aggressively pursued, and his client was pleased with the confidential settlement which resulted.

 

Keith represented a person accused of wrongfully recruiting computer engineers to change companies, which resulted in a multi-million dollar claim by the company which lost the engineers against Keith’s client and the company which hired the engineers.  The case was dismissed against his client after years of battle.

 

If an attorney fails to timely communicate with you or ignores your phone calls, it is fair to recognize this as a real bad problem.  As a client, you always have the right to be advised of the status of your claim, and Keith will promptly respond to any contact and makes every effort to return phone calls and emails in a timely manner.

 

Keith recognizes that you, as the client, are the person who ultimately controls and make decisions on your claim.  Keith gives advice and makes recommendations, but you are “the boss” in deciding whether to settle a claim or push it forward toward trial, not the attorney. 

 

Indeed, many people understandably do not want to go through a trial.  But pushing the case toward trial and getting on the “courthouse steps” is often the only way to obtain a fair recovery, particularly from an insurance company.  Long ago, in his first personal injury trial, Keith recommended the client settle for an offer of $45,000 before trial, the client refused, and unfortunately the result after trial was less than the offer.  In his second personal injury trial, Keith convinced his client to refuse a $15,000 offer from an insurance company, proceeded to trial, and obtained a $134,000 verdict.  Since then, Keith has recognized that going to trial against an insurance company is often the only way to obtain fair compensation for his client, but also recognized that greed is never good.

 

It would be Keith’s honor and privilege to represent you.