Michael V. Ciresi is a founding partner of Ciresi Conlin LLP, a firm specializing in complex litigation in the business and personal injury arenas. Prior to founding Ciresi Conlin in 2015, Mr. Ciresi was a named partner and Chairman of the Executive Board of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. During his 43 years with the firm, he drove the firm’s litigation practice. Mr. Ciresi’s trial practice and consulting is focused in the areas of product liability, intellectual property, business and commercial litigation. He has represented individuals, corporations, and governmental entities throughout his career. Some of his more visible cases include Kraft Foods Global, Inc./Mondelēz International, Inc. v. Starbucks, WCRA, et al. v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., et al., Charbonneau v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Pfizer, Inc., Zwayer v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Pfizer, Inc., State of Minnesota and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota v. Phillip Morris Incorporated, et al., Paul Wellstone, et al. v. Aviation Charters, et al., Honeywell v. Minolta, Unocal Corporation v. Atlantic Richfield Company, et al., Pitney Bowes Inc. v. HP, Ecolab v. Ford, et al., the Dalkon Shield litigation, Copper-7 litigation and the Government of India v. Union Carbide in which Mr. Ciresi was chief counsel to the Government of India. He has obtained nearly $12 billion in verdicts, awards and settlements on behalf of clients during his career.
Mr. Ciresi is one of the few number of lawyers who has been recognized on two occasions in the National Law Journal’s annual list of “Ten of the Nation’s Top Trial Lawyers,” and in 1997, 2000 and 2006 was named by the Journal as one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America.” In 2015, Benchmark Litigation named him one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in the United States. Best Lawyers named him “Minneapolis Bet-the-Company Litigation Law” Lawyer of the Year in 2012 and 2014 and Minneapolis Mass Tort Litigation/Class Action – Plaintiff’s Lawyer of the Year in 2014 and 2015.
In 1997, he was also named “Lawyer of the Year” by Minnesota Law & Politics. In 1998, he was awarded the “Trial Lawyer of the Year Award” by Public Justice Foundation (formerly The Trial Lawyers for Public Justice Foundation). He has also been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 1989 and was honored by the Australian National Consumer Law Association as “Product Liability Lawyer of the Year” in 1989 and in 1998 was given a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Minnesota Association for Justice (formerly Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association). Mr. Ciresi was named a runner-up for “Lawyer of the Year” in 1998 by The National Law Journal. In 2001, Mr. Ciresi was named best product liability attorney in America by Corporate Board Member magazine. Also, in 2001, an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon Mr. Ciresi by Southwestern University School of Law. In 2002, Mr. Ciresi was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations Foundation, Inc. Mr. Ciresi is one of 289 lawyers listed in The International Who’s Who of Patent Lawyers 2005 and is named in The Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America. He is also a member, among other professional organizations, of the American Board of Trial Advocates, American College of Trial Lawyers, Inner Circle of Advocates and International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Mr. Ciresi devotes a substantial amount of time to philanthropic activities. In 1999, he founded and serves as the Chairman and President of the Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Foundation for Children. The Foundation has made grants in excess of $18 million with primary emphasis in pre-K – 12 education. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the University of St. Thomas, the Board of Governors of the University of St. Thomas School of Law, Board of Trustees of St. Thomas Academy, the Advisory Board for the Centre of Advanced Litigation at Nottingham Law School, Nottingham, England (term expired), the Board of Directors for Equal Justice Works (term expired), The Guthrie Theater (term completed 2005) and Ordway Center for the Performing Arts (term completed 2005), Regions Hospital Foundation (term completed 2009), Minnesota Early Learning Foundation, MinnCAN, Saint Paul Public Schools Foundation (term completed 2014), Parent Aware for School Readiness, and Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota (term completed 2015) and Children’s Hospital and Clinics Foundation Board (Chair 2013 and 2014).