Patrick William Michenfelder

Pat is a highly experienced trial attorney who has been successfully representing clients in state and federal courts for more almost three decades. During the course of his career, he has represented businesses ranging from start-ups to over a billion dollars in revenue, has recovered millions of dollars for people injured as a result of the negligence of others, has held large polluters accountable for their actions, and has effectuated sweeping change in the area of disability rights. His present practice is limited to disability rights, serious personal injury, environmental law, and class actions. Pat has tried in excess of 35 matters to conclusion including jury trials, bench trials and arbitrations. His victories in court, to name a few, include a multi-million dollar verdict in a personal injury matter, the complete defense (no recovery for the opposing party) of an $850,000.00 mechanics lien, a six-figure verdict in a business dispute where the Defendant made no offer of settlement prior to trial, the complete defense of a $300,000.00 real estate claim (no recovery for the opposing party), obtaining a verdict for less than one-third of the two-million dollar damage claim advanced against a corporate client, a six-figure verdict against a company and its owners in a case where no pre-trial offer of settlement was made, and many others. He has also earned scores of victories for his clients at the negotiating table including the recovery of millions for his personal injury clients, countless successful resolutions of cases for people with disabilities, and numerous settlements with polluters. Pat has also had significant success in with appeals, including a victory before the Minnesota Supreme Court in Miller v. Lankow, 801 N. W.2d 120 (2011), now considered the leading Minnesota case on the issue of spoilation of evidence. Pat was also an integral part of the team of attorneys who obtained the landmark decision from the Minnesota Supreme Court in Hall v. Minnesota, 908 N. W.2d 345 (Minn. 2018), a case that required Minnesota to pay interest to the owners of certain unclaimed property held by the state; and Justice v. Marvel, LLC, 979 N. W.2d 894 (2022), a case that invalidated a waiver signed by the parents of a child who sustained a traumatic brain injury when he fell from an inflatable childrens attraction. Pat received his B. A. from the University of Minnesota in 1988, where he was a Mayo Medical Center four-year academic scholarship recipient and earned repeated Deans list honors. He went on to earn his J. D. from Lewis and Clark Law School in 1992, a school he chose to attend because of its consistent rank as the nations best environmental law school. While in law school, Pat worked for the Northwest Environmental Defense Center and was also chosen to serve as a summer clerk for a United States District Court Judge. Some of the awards Pat has received include: National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyer (two-time recipient) American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys 10 Best Client Satisfaction Award Ten Best Personal Injury Attorneys, American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys Best of the Best Attorneys, Top Ten Personal Injury Attorney National Trial Lawyers Top 25 Brain Injury Trial Lawyer National Trial Lawyers Top 25 Class Action Trial Lawyer Minnesota Lawyer, Attorneys of the Year 2022