Phillip A. Cole / Retired
Former Areas of Practice: Legal Malpractice, Professional Liability, Medical Malpractice, Commercial Litigation, Business Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation, Shareholder/Owner Disputes, Wrongful Death
Phillip A. Cole / Biography
Before his retirement, Phil Cole used his extensive litigation experience in handling personal injury cases, commercial disputes, business torts, class actions, medical malpractice claims, and the defense of all types of claims brought against lawyers. Mr. Cole has been a frequent lecturer and a published author in the areas of trial strategies and professional liability subjects. Mr. Cole was a board certified civil trial advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy before retiring.
He has been a qualified neutral under Rule 114 of the Minnesota General Rules of Practice and included on the civil neutrals rosters for both facilitative/hybrid and adjudicative/evaluative panels. Mr. Cole was selected as the Minneapolis Best Lawyers Legal Malpractice Lawyer of the Year for 2011 and as the Minneapolis Best Lawyers Legal Malpractice Lawyer-Defendants of the Year for 2014 and again in 2019. Cole, a member of the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys until his retirement, was certified as a specialist in the litigation of both legal and medical professional liability claims (this national organization is not accredited by the Minnesota Board of Legal Certification).
Mr. Cole has also been recognized in the International Who’s Who, Who’s Who in American Law, the National Registry of Who’s Who, and as one of The Best Lawyers in America© by U.S. World & News Report. He has been repeatedly listed as a Minnesota Super Lawyer and has been listed as a Top 100 Minnesota Super Lawyer for over a dozen years. Before his retirement he was rated AV Preeminent® for the highest level of professional excellence by Martindale-Hubbell.
Education
- University of Maryland, B.A., 1961
- Georgetown University, J.D., 1964
News + Articles
The Rare Remedy of Writs
The appellate rules specifically list the types of trial court decisions that can be appealed. Usually this requires a final judgment, which occurs at the very end of the litigation in the trial court. But on rare occasions, a trial court may make a decision that is...
How to Proceed When Dying Doesn’t Kill Your Case
One of the important but often overlooked Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is Rule 25, which allows for substitution when a party has died. This Rule was recently addressed by the Eighth Circuit in Benacquisto v. Am. Express Fin. Corp., 2022 WL 3133437 (8th Cir. Aug....
Lommen Abdo News – September 2022
The next edition of our newsletter is ready for review and includes these articles: Ramifications for insurance providers in policy wording Deciding whether and when to appeal The continuation of Josh Feneis’s blog on standing up for a father and his daughter. New...
Lommen Abdo Packs at the Park
Lommen Abdo team members recently got out in the community and participated in the Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) Pack at the Park event. This is the first year Lommen Abdo employees have packed food but they look forward to making this an annual event! Feed My...
Get to Know Heidi Torvik
The needs of our clients are varied and extensive, and with that in mind, we are continually cultivating the best team of attorneys to serve our client base. Heidi Torvik has recently joined us, focusing on medical malpractice, motor vehicle accidents, products...
The Long Road to Reversal (or Affirmance)
One consideration in deciding whether to appeal is how long it will take to obtain a decision from the appellate court. Luckily, most appeals in Minnesota follow a fairly predictable timeline, so it is possible to plan ahead. Ordering Transcripts The first step after...