Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Partners Named to Minnesota Lawyer’s Power 30 List

Robins Kaplan LLP is pleased to announce that partners Robert Bennett, Chris Messerly, and Teresa Fariss McClain have been selected to Minnesota Lawyer’s inaugural POWER 30 list, honoring the state’s top medical malpractice and personal injury attorneys.

Minnesota Lawyer selected the POWER 30 based on interviews with Minnesota attorneys, a review of significant matters, and Minnesota Lawyer’s own coverage of top practitioners and impactful cases. According to Minnesota Lawyer, the POWER 30 profiles attorneys “whose mere presence on a case signifies the stakes, who have influenced the direction of the law, whose leadership in the community is pervasive and whose respect within the bar is undeniable.”

Over the past four decades, Robert Bennett has spearheaded many of the state’s most important police misconduct, civil rights law, jail suicide, and wrongful death matters, including the Abbey Taylor pool case. In May of 2019, Robert and his team negotiated the $20 million "transformational" settlement in the wrongful death case involving the murder of Justine Ruszczyk by Minneapolis Police officer Mohamed Noor.

Teresa Fariss McClain has devoted her career to advocating for individuals, first as a registered nurse and now as a partner seeking justice for those who have been harmed by medical errors or medical negligence. A leader in the legal community, Teresa serves as secretary of the Minnesota ABOTA Chapter, is past president of Minnesota Women Lawyers and Minnesota Women Lawyers Foundation, and is a member of numerous boards and professional organizations.

Chris Messerly has spent more than 35 years representing families and individuals who have been injured in cases involving medical malpractice, personal injury, and products liability. In 2017, he helped secure the largest wrongful death verdict in Minnesota history: a $20.6 million jury verdict in the death of a 30-year old woman who went to an emergency room with a fever and nausea three days after giving birth, but was sent home, only to pass away less than a day later. Chris also provided free legal services to the survivors of the I-35 bridge collapse and to those who lost loved ones.