Phil Cole

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

Preference Prosecution and Defense Boot Camp

Deb Swenson presented a six hour seminar to Freeborn & Peters in Chicago, Illinois, on Preference Prosecution and Defense Boot Camp on September 23, 2011. Her topics included Statutory Defenses and Advance Preference Defenses.

Advanced Preference Defenses

Deb Swenson spoke at the 2011 Bankruptcy Institute on September 13, 2011 and presented by Minnesota CLE.  Deb spoke with a panel on “Advanced Preference Defenses.” Panel description: This session will focus on several lesser used preference defenses and also discuss...

Net Winners in Madoff Ponzi Scheme Lose

SECOND CIRCUIT UPHOLDS MADOFF BANKRUPTCY COURT RULING THAT INVESTORS NOT ENTITLED TO DETERMINE LOSSES BASED ON LAST STATEMENT. On August 16, 2011, "net winners" in the massive Madoff Ponzi scheme were delivered a blow by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The...