Education: University of Wisconsin Law School
Degree: JD
Year: 1982
Honors: cum laude

Key Practice Experience

• National Counsel for a Fortune 100 manufacturer in benzene litigation
• Product liability
• Mass tort
• Government contract bid protest litigation
• Tort claims/personal injury/transportation litigation
• Environmental litigation
• Commercial litigation
• Consultation with clients on litigation avoidance, recalls and warnings issues
• Law Clerk, Justice William G. Callow, Wisconsin Supreme Court

Key Industry Experience

• Chemicals
• Industrial equipment/machinery
• Construction equipment
• Transportation
• Consumer products
• Paints and coatings
• Adhesives
• Scaffold equipment/aerial devices
• Motor vehicles
• Recreational products
• Computer software
• Financial Services
• Insurance

Representative Cases

• Experience includes trials, appeals, arbitrations, administrative proceedings
  • Rosholt v. Blaw Knox Construction Equipment Corporation, summary judgment – construction equipment product liability claim
  • Stengrim v. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, summary judgment – insurance coverage claim
  • Steinhagen v. Wachholz Masonry, Inc., jury trial – fire property damage claim
  • Miller v. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, 392 F.3d 973 (8th Cir. 2004), summary judgment affirmed by Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals – insurance coverage claim
  • Eick v. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, summary judgment – insurance coverage claim
  • Budzak v. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, court trial – insurance coverage claim
  • Transit Team, Inc. v. Metropolitan Council and Laidlaw Transit Services, Inc., court trial – government contract bid protest case
  • Bright Wood Corporation v. Bankers Standard Insurance Company, summary judgment – product liability claim
  • Dahlin, et al. v. Wagener, property dispute
  • Highland Manufacturing Co.  v. Carlson Systems Corporation et al., jury trial – product liability claim
  • Mason Bros. Co. v. Mchugh Software International, Inc., arbitration – product liability claim regarding computer software
  • Matteson v. Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership, et al., court trial – product liability claim
  • Smuck v. Scaffold Service, Inc., jury trial – breach of contract claim
  • Fraser Shipyards, Inc. v. Simon Aerials, Inc., jury trial – wrongful death product liability claim
  • Wagener v. Western National Mutual Insurance Company, et al., jury trial – motor vehicle wrongful death claim
  • McCarthy v. Target and Ingersoll Rand Company, summary judgment affirmed by the Minnesota Court of Appeals – product liability claim
  • Comfort Lake Association, Inc. v. Dressel Contracting, Inc., and Fain Company, summary judgment affirmed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals — Clean Water Act Claim
  • Kraft v. Ingersoll Rand Company, Inc., et al., summary judgment – product liability personal injury claim
  • Roensch v. Properties by Velasco, jury trial – personal injury claim
  • McKean v. LaCroix, jury trial – motor vehicle accident claim
  • Anderson v. State of Minnesota, et al., jury trial – motor vehicle accident claim
  • Nelson v. United Products Corporation of America, Inc., summary judgment – personal injury claim
  • Martin v. Yates American Machine Company, et al., summary judgment – personal injury product liability claim
  • Sunrise Specialty v. S.A. Comet, et al., summary judgment – personal injury product liability claim
  • Koronis Parts v. Productivity, Inc., et al., jury trial – product liability claim
  • Suiter v. CocaCola Bottling Midwest, Inc., summary judgment – motor vehicle accident personal injury claim
  • GeLet Corp. et al. v. Maryland Casualty Company, et al., court trial – fire property damage claim
  • White v. Travelers Insurance Company, et al., summary judgment – motor vehicle accident personal injury claim
  • Deters v. Columbia Heights Motors, et al., summary judgment – breach of contract claim
  • Bureau of Engraving, Inc. v. Federal Insurance Company, 5 F.3d 1175 (8th Cir. 1993),– insurance coverage claim
  • O’Byrne v. Holland Ladder & Manufacturing, Inc., jury trial – personal injury product liability claim
  • Goetze v. Lachinski, et al., jury trial – motor vehicle accident claim
  • Haliday, et al. v. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, jury trial – insurance coverage claim

Professional Recognitions/Honors

• Board Certified Civil Trial Specialist, Minnesota State Bar Association
• Elected to the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
• Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America, Trial Lawyer Honorary Society
• Selected by peers for recognition in Minnesota Super Lawyers (products liability defense)
• Selected for recognition in National Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition (products liability defense)

Selected Publications/Presentations

• Formaldehyde: The Next Litigation Wheat Field?, Toxics Law Reporter, December 9, 2010.
• In addition to serving as a faculty member for continuing legal education seminars, Erik has spoken to various groups on litigation-related topics.
• Co-Editor for the Minnesota Chapter of Tort Handbook: A Fifty-State Compendium (Aspen Law & Business, 2002-2006)

Professional Associations

• Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA)
• State Bar of Wisconsin
• International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
• Defense Research Institute (DRI)
• American Bar Association (ABA)
• Academy of Certified Trial Lawyers of Minnesota
• Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association (MDLA)
• Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America (LCA), Trial Lawyer Honorary Society

Community Involvement

• · Past President, Vice President and Church Council, Mount Calvary Lutheran Church

Bar Admissions

• Minnesota State Courts
• Wisconsin State Courts
• U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
• U.S. District Court for the District of Wisconsin
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
• U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit

Other Education

• B.A., Concordia College, magna cum laude