Top best Litigation Lawyers Near me in ZIP 55391

William Kvas, a partner in the firm, is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who has devoted his legal career to assisting injured individuals, appearing as counsel in 22 states. Many attorneys throughout the country have referred cases to him because of his experience and reputation.. Over 2,000 railroaders have asked him for assistance with injury claims. He pioneered occupational disease litigation for railroad workers, trying several of the first cases for noise induced hearing loss in the 1980s.. In 1998, Kvas obtained the then largest verdict for carpal tunnel syndrome to be upheld on appeal for a railroad worker. In 2002, he obtained verdict of over one million dollars for an Amtrak engineer. The verdict followed a hard fought battle where he proved that Amtrak had falsified documents to cover up the cause of the accident. In 2005, Kvas obtained a verdict of $700,000 for a CSX engineer who suffered smoke inhalation while operating a locomotive and a verdict in Denver for a fireman and oiler whose case set precedent on the railroad’s liability for off property injuries. More recently, he was victorious in back to back trials against CSX – a verdict of $628,000 in Syracuse for a maintenance of way mechanic and $750,000 in Huntington, West Virginia for an engineer who was exposed to a chemical leaking from a tank car. He also represented over 30 Amtrak passengers who were injured in the derailment and crash of Amtrak’s auto train in Florida.. Kvas has taught trial strategy and courtroom skills to other lawyers as a lecturer for continuing legal education classes. He graduated from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. He is member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys and the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Kvas possesses an A/V rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest possible ranking for both legal ability and ethics. In 2003, he was elected by fellow attorneys to the list of “Best Lawyers in America.”. In 2012, Kvas was inducted as a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers, an honor society limited to the world’s outstanding trial lawyers.

Jeff was raised in Bloomington, Burnsville, and Rochester.  He was a political science major and a 1983 graduate of the University of Minnesota.  Jeff also attended the University of Minnesota's law school where he was a cum laude graduate in 1986.  Jeff moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan after law school and was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1986.  In 1989 he returned home to Minnesota and was admitted to the Minnesota bar and the U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota. After partnering with Bob Cragg in the Hopkins office of Cragg & Thone, Jeff merged his practice into Sanford, Pierson, Thone & Strean in 2007.  Jeff is the firm's senior litigator.  He is also chair of the firm's estate planning and probate practice group, and has twice been recognized as a Five Star Wealth Manager.  Jeff also works with many business clients to help them with the wide range of legal issues they face.. Jeff and his wife Jacqui have two children and currently live in Hanover.  Jacqui is the pastor at Alleluia Lutheran Church in St. Michael.

Experienced Litigation attorney serving clients in Wayzata and surrounding areas.