Fred Bremseth
Fred Bremseth is among the nation’s elite trial lawyers. Fred began his remarkable career in 1978 and has continuously represented injury and death claims for over thirty years. Fred has consistently won unparalleled jury verdicts and settlements for his clients in a career devoted to representing injured railroad employees under the FELA and other seriously injured individuals. Fred has successfully handled catastrophic injury cases in state and federal courts around the country including: quadriplegia, paraplegia, amputations, brain damage, severe spinal injury, disfigurement, chemical exposure, asbestos claims, and wrongful death cases. In addition to his successful FELA practice, Fred has achieved significant verdicts and settlements in other types of cases involving auto collisions, medical negligence, and product liability involving birth defects due to defective drugs including:
- $8.9 million in an auto collision case;
- $3.7 million for a locomotive engineer with a lung injury;
- $2.99 million in a defamation case;
- $2.8 million in an amputation case;
- $1.9 million for a locomotive engineer with WBV spine injuries;
- $1.76 million for a locomotive engineer in a back injury case;
- $1.5 million for an locomotive engineer in a knee injury case;
- $1.2 million for a locomotive engineer in a back injury case;
- $1.14 million for a trainman in a back and hip injury case;
- $1.0 million for a locomotive engineer in a PTSD case;
- $850,000 for a conductor in a neck and shoulder injury case;
- $850,000 for a trainman in a neck injury case;
- $815,000 for a locomotive engineer with WBV spine injuries:
Fred has been honored for the number and amounts of his million dollar and multimillion dollar verdicts by membership in the Multimillion Dollar Advocates Forum, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Minnesota Million Dollar Round Table. These organizations provide special recognition to the select few lawyers who have achieved significant jury verdicts and awards for their clients.
Fred has appeared on National Public Television for his precedent-setting practice in the area of drug product liability issues. Earlier in his distinguished career, Fred was appointed by the United States Trustee to represent world-wide victims of the Dalkon Shield, and was elected by his fellow lawyers to serve as vice chairman of the claimants’ committee. The Dalkon Shield case ultimately resulted in a settlement exceeding $3 billion, one of the largest mass tort settlements in history.
Fred is regularly called upon by lawyers from across the country seeking his advice and assistance on their cases, and Fred is often asked to associate as lead trial counsel by other lawyers due to his courtroom expertise and outstanding results. Fred has often been asked by other BLET, UTU and BMWE designated legal counsel to handle cases for them and with them.
Fred has achieved special recognition by his trial colleagues by attaining the status of Senior Counsel by the American College of Barristers, and Fred was elected by his fellow FELA lawyers as Chairman of the Railroad Law Section of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the largest national association of trial lawyers.
Fred is a member of the Montana and Minnesota Bar Associations and has been admitted in United States District Courts in Montana, Minnesota, Colorado, North Dakota and California, and the United States Courts of Appeals for 8th, 7th, 4th, 9th Districts, as well as the U.S. Court of Claims. Fred is regularly admitted Pro Hac Vice (by special appearance), in Courts throughout the country. Fred is a member of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys (ARLA), the American Association for Justice (AAJ), the American Bar Association and the Minnesota Association for Justice. Fred is a founding member of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, and is also a life-time member of the Roscoe Pound Foundation and a Sustaining Sponsor of the Civil Justice Foundation.
Over the past many years Fred has become a national leader in representing Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen for spinal injuries involving whole body vibration (WBV). He is one of the few lawyers in the entire country to develop and prosecute these difficult, yet meritorious cases. He has aggressively pursued the railroads in discovery and trials for their failures to provide properly maintained locomotives and quality, vibration damping seats to prevent serious spinal injuries. Fred has taken the depositions of top railroad management on this issue and has reviewed thousands of internal corporate documents. Fred has developed a team of highly qualified scientific experts in ergonomics, locomotive mechanics, occupational medicine, biomechanical engineering, and seating technology to present these cases. Fred has won substantial verdicts and settlement for these whole body vibration injuries and currently continues his aggressive representation on behalf of Engineers and Trainmen for these injuries in cases pending in multiple jurisdictions, including Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota, Washington State, Texas, and California.
Fred is honored and proud to be a union designated attorney.
Thomas W. Geng
Born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Tom attended Saint Mary’s College of California where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1981 with a history degree. Tom then moved to Washington, D.C. where he joined the staff of Congressman James H. Scheuer (D-NY), a senior Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives. During seven years in Washington, Tom served as a legislative assistant, speech writer, and Chief of Staff to Rep. Scheuer. In 1996, House Speaker Tip O’Neill appointed Tom as a member of the first Congressional delegation to visit the People’s Republic of China as guests of the National People’s Congress.
Tom left Washington in 1988 to return to Minnesota where he entered law school at the University of Minnesota. In his second year, Tom began focusing on civil litigation as a student attorney in the Civil Practice Clinic, where he was also a Student Director during his third year. Tom graduated from law school in 1991, receiving the Kent Wennerstrom Memorial Award as the University of Minnesota Law School’s outstanding Clinical Student Director.
After law school, Tom initially worked as a law clerk for Judge Ann D. Montgomery and Judge Gary Larson in Hennepin County (Minneapolis) District Court before joining Doshan & Bremseth in 1993. Tom is an experienced and effective advocate for injured railroad employees, their families, and other victims of negligence, specializing in pre-trial discovery and motions, post-trial motions, and appeals. Tom has successfully briefed and argued a number of appeals in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Washington Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and the Minnesota Supreme Court, the most significant of which include:
- Joseph Wiggs v. BNSF Railway Co., 106 Wash.App. 1013 (Wash. Ct. App. 2001) – reversing the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the railroad on statute of limitations grounds in an FELA case in which the railroad removed a conductor from service due to the severe hearing loss he suffered over the course of his course of 36-year railroad career
- Dawn Wynkoop v. Ida Carpenter, 558 N.W.2d 527 (Minn. Ct. App. 1997) – winning a new trial in a wrongful death lawsuit after the trial court erroneously precluded a surviving brother from recovering damages. The Minnesota Supreme Court, 574 N.W.2d 422 (Minn. 1988), affirmed the grant of a new trial and clarified Minnesota law in regard to beneficiaries under the wrongful death statute.
- William Moore v. Union Pacific Railroad, 920 P.2d 616 (Wash. Ct. App. 1996) – reversing the trial court’s grant of summary judgment and dismissal of an FELA case in which a locomotive engineer suffered injuries in an auto collision while being deadheaded in a van.
- William Pelozzie v. Burlington Northern Railroad, 34 F.3d 1073 (9th Cir. 1994) – reversing the trial court’s grant of summary judgment and dismissal of a case in which an off-duty Assets Protection Officer was assaulted after attempting to remove trespassers from a BNRR mainline because of the impending arrival of an Amtrak train.
Admitted to practice law in the State and Federal Courts of Minnesota and the Colorado Federal Courts, Tom has also been admitted proc hac vice in scores of FELA cases around the country. Tom is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Minnesota Federal Bar Association, the Hennepin County Bar Association, and the Minnesota Association for Justice.
Tom has been a volunteer motorman for the Minnesota Transportation Museum, operating its historic 1893 trolley car in Excelsior, Minnesota, and is a 20-year member and past president of the St. Paul Bouncing Team. Tom is a member of the Planning Commission in Shorewood, Minnesota, where he and his wife Nancy reside, and where they enjoy boating on Lake Minnetonka.
Keith E. Ekstrom
Keith E. Ekstrom is a graduate of Northwestern University and University of Illinois College of Law, and is admitted to the state bars of Illinois, Montana and Minnesota, and also to federal courts in Minnesota, Colorado, Montana, Illinois and South Dakota.
Mr. Ekstrom specializes in representing injured workers suing large corporations for serious injuries, both at the trial level and on appeal. He has particular expertise in complex medical cases and litigation involving corporate misconduct. Through analysis of thousands of internal company documents and depositions of company executives, Mr. Ekstrom has exposed corporate misconduct at the highest levels, including the following cases:
- Railroad Engineers and Trainmen vs. Class One Railroads: sifting through tens of thousands of internal company documents and dozens of depositions of company officials, developed compelling evidence that railroads knowingly and negligently exposed train crews to harmful levels of whole body vibration, shocks and jolts, resulting in serious and disabling back and neck injuries. (Confidential settlements.)
- Represented union member fired after making an injury claim in Colley v. Swift & Co., 473 N.E.2d 364, a precedent setting appeal giving Illinois union workers the right to sue their employers for retaliatory discharge.
- Workers exposed to toxic gases in plutonium plant explosion v. multinational government contractors – investigated and exposed cover up and falsification of radioactive exposure data and test results, report of investigation presented to Congress. (Confidential settlement.)
- Terminated psychologist v. one of the largest health care corporations in America: developed evidence that psychologist was fired as a sacrifice to cover up corporate Medicare billing fraud. After hearing results of investigation, judge authorized punitive damages, and company quickly settled. (Confidential settlement.)
- Family of child born with birth defects v. world’s largest drug company: discovered internal documents showing that company disregarded evidence that their drug caused mental retardation in children of mothers taking the drug during pregnancy. Uncovered evidence that company concealed this data from the FDA and doctors, and located retired FDA official identified in company documents who agreed act as expert witness. (Confidential settlement.)
Paula Jossart
Paula Jossart is an experienced personal injury attorney who has won national recognition for her record of success in actions against railroads and insurance companies. She was named Minnesota Attorney of the Year and was able to obtain one of Minnesota’s larger personal injury verdicts totaling over $12.5 million for a man burned by a boiler on which he was working. She has been recognized as a Rising Star by Minnesota Law & Politics for many years and was named one of the Top Young Lawyers in Minnesota in 2009. Jossart practices in the area of personal injury, including motor vehicle accident claims, wrongful death, slips and falls, and Federal Employer’s Liability Act (FELA) claims on behalf of injured railroad workers. She also represents individuals injured by toxic exposures.
Earlier this year Jossart obtained a verdict together with costs totaling nearly $400,000 for a Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad worker who was injured as a result of cumulative trauma injuries to his knees. The worker was 60 years old at the time of trial. Ms. Jossart has had successful jury verdicts both against insurance companies and the nation’s railroads in many states across the United States including Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri.
No matter the value of the case, Jossart prepares each one with vigor, passion and the caring required to obtain successful outcomes. She was one of the lead attorneys in the litigation involving the world’s largest anhydrous ammonia spill representing hundreds of injured victims against the Canadian Pacific Railroad for physical and mental injuries resulting from the massive exposure. Clients she has represented speak of her work ethic, her understanding, her empathy and her results.
A native of North Dakota, Jossart graduated from the University of North Dakota with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992 and received her Juris Doctorate degree from the William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, in 1999. Jossart is a member of the Minnesota Association of Justice, American Bar Association and the Minnesota State Bar Association. She was recently honored as a “true leader” alumnus by the William Mitchell College of Law Magazine.
The Bremseth Law firm is proud to announce the addition of Paula Jossart.
Christopher J. Moreland
Chris is an experienced attorney who has been representing injured plaintiffs in Federal Employers’ Liability Act, personal injury, wrongful death, mass tort (toxic exposure), and products liability (defective medical devices and pharmaceutical products) since 1997. He is admitted to practice in Minnesota and several federal courts.
Along with fellow Bremseth Law Firm attorney Paula Jossart, Chris was a central figure in representing numerous clients who suffered injuries in a massive anhydrous ammonia spill that occurred when a Canadian Pacific train derailed near Minot, North Dakota in January 2002. Chris’s efforts focused primarily on the complex motion and appellate practice necessary to defeat the railroad’s attempts to avoid liability under the doctrine of federal preemption. In re Soo Line R. Co. Derailment of January 18, 2002, 2006 WL 1153359 (Henn. Cty. Minn. Dist. Ct. 2006). Chris was also one of the attorneys of record in Kissoondath v. United States Fire Ins. Co., 620 N.W.2d 909 (Minn. Ct. App. 2001), an important case which served to define and delineate the duty of good faith that insurance companies owe to their insureds.
In addition to the foregoing, Chris has also briefed and argued a number of other significant appellate cases, including:
- Holsapple v. Union Pac. R. Co., 776 N.W.2d 11 (Neb. 2009) – reversing summary judgment granted to the UP in a case where an employee was injured while walking through a UP parking to report for work. The district court dismissed the plaintiff’s claim, finding that he was not acting within the course and scope of his employment under the FELA at the time of his injury. The Nebraska Supreme Court reversed and reinstated the case, holding that the plaintiff was indeed acting in the course and scope of his employment, thus reaffirming the broad scope of the FELA and the important protections it affords to injured railroad workers.
- Haeg v. Geiger, 2007 WL 2472545 (Minn. Ct. App. 2007) – reversing summary judgment granted to a defendant who negligently parked his golf cart in front of a tee box, causing the plaintiff (his passenger) to be struck in the face by another golfer’s tee shot. The district court dismissed the plaintiff’s claim, finding that the driver did not owe a duty to protect the plaintiff from the negligence of other golfers. The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed and reinstated the case, holding that the driver did indeed owe the plaintiff a duty of reasonable care not to operate this golf cart in a negligent manner, and not to place her in harm’s way by parking in front of the tee box.
- Granville v. Minneapolis Pub. Schools, 668 N.W.2d 227 (Minn. Ct. App. 2003) – reversing summary judgment granted to the Minneapolis Public Schools in a case where two young girls were injured while playing a dangerous game in gym class. The district court dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims, finding that the school was immune from liability under Minnesota statute. The plaintiffs challenged the statute on constitutional grounds, and the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s decision and reinstated the injured plaintiffs’ case.
Chris was born and raised in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he attended the University of North Dakota, graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1994. He then attended the Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was a member of the Law Review and graduated cum laude with membership in the Silver Gavel Honor Society in 1997. Chris is a member of the American Association for Justice, the Minnesota Association for Justice (where he serves on the Board of Governors and as a member of the Amicus Committee), the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Hennepin County Bar Association, and the Public Justice Foundation. He has been named a Minnesota Rising Star on several occasions (2007, 2008, 2011), and has lectured at continuing legal education seminars on the FELA and other subjects. Chris has also authored several articles for publication, including:
- A Preemptive Strike Against Preemption, Minnesota Trial Lawyer Magazine (Winter 2005)
- The Minnesota Public School District is No Longer “The King That Can Do No Wrong,” Minnesota Trial Lawyer Magazine (Summer 2005)
- Unknown and Underutilized Statutes, Minnesota Trial Lawyer Magazine (Winter 1999)
- Traumatic Brain Injury, A Review, Minnesota Trial Lawyer Magazine (Fall 1999)
