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
Do Companies Sue Competitors to Learn the Competitors’ Trade Secrets?
In the new millennium, employee mobility is the norm. Gone are the halcyon days when employees worked for one company for their entire career. One consequence of greater employee mobility is the proliferation of trade secret claims. When an employee leaves one company...
Why Courts Should Not Admit CSA Scores as Evidence
John Crawford co-authored an article in the December 2012 For the Defense magazine. "It is well known that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) launched its newest program to track the performance of commercial motor vehicles in 2010. The program,...
Lommen Abdo Ranked Among Nation’s Top 2,446 Firms
Lommen Abdo is among only 2,446 law firms nationwide recognized by Martindale-Hubbell® as one of the 2013 Top Ranked Law Firms in the U.S. for having one of every three of its attorneys achieve an AV Preeminent® rating. Twenty-five of Lommen Abdo’s 45 attorneys are...
Life Insurance Owed Family of Motorcycle Driver
Around noon on October 27, 2007, Anthony McClelland was involved in a tragic motorcycle crash on Highway 169 near Baldwin, Minnesota. At the time of the accident, Mr. McClelland was not wearing a helmet and witnesses estimated that he was traveling at approximately 90...
Farm Tractor Not an Insured Vehicle Under Auto Policy
If you decide to drive a farm tractor to town to pick up groceries, will your no-fault vehicle insurance cover someone injured in a collision with the tractor? No, according to the decision of the Minnesota Court of Appeals in Kastning v. State Farm Insurance...
How to Get Damaging Evidence From Litigants’ Social Media Sites: Practice Tips in Dealing With the Stored Communications Act
John Crawford co-authored an article in the October 2012 edition of The Transportation Lawyer magazine. “'Social media' is a relatively new term and covers a wide range of websites that allow users to create an on-line profile to share pictures, comments, messages,...