Rich Ruohonen

“The only way that a lawyer can do a good job of representing a client in the courtroom is to truly know them and understand what they have gone through.”

Rich is consistently named as a Super Lawyer by Minnesota Law & Politics magazine. Rich focuses his practice on cases involving car accidents, traumatic brain injury (TBI), food poisoning, premises liability, daycare liability, and product liability. He has represented hundreds of victims of various personal injury accidents. Rich has tried numerous cases to a jury with excellent results.

• Minnesota Super Lawyers – 2003 – 2018

Rich was first selected as one of the 2011 Minnesota Lawyer Attorneys of the Year. This award is given to just a few attorneys across the State of Minnesota each year and is a great honor. A link to the story can be found by clicking here.

Rich then received the award a second time in 2014 after he and his partner, Chuck Slane, secured a $2.2 million verdict against American Family when it refused to tender a minimal policy for an elderly woman who was seriously injured in a motor vehicle collision. A link to the story can be found by click here. Very few lawyers have won the award more than once and he is now honored to be in Minnesota Lawyer’s Circle of Excellence for multiple time Attorney of the Year award winners.

Rich was also the featured lawyer in the Attorney at Law magazine in July 2013. A link to the story can be found by by clicking here.

Rich and his Partner Chuck Slane again were selected Minnesota Attorneys of the Year in 2016 for their work on day care abuse case where they received an approximately $13,000.000 verdict; later a judge took it away and granted a new trial on the case. They tried it a second time and received a verdict of just over $6,000,000 which was later resolved after including interest and cost for a total of approximately $7,500,000. This was the third time in six years that Rich received the Minnesota Attorney of the Year top honors.

Rich is a sought-after speaker on matters related to personal injury litigation, especially on issues of traumatic brain injury and trying personal injury cases. Rich has also written several articles and given numerous speeches on matters related to personal injury. Rich authored and published an article on “Debunking the Top 10 Myths of Traumatic Brain Injury: Effective Cross Examination of the Defense Neuropsychologist.” His article was first published by the Minnesota Association for Justice magazine.

In August 2018, Rich became the President of the Minnesota Association for Justice (MNAJ) and will be President of the organization until August 2019. This is a highly regarded, top position for Minnesota trial lawyers. The organization’s goal is to protect and advocate for consumers, strengthen the civil justice system and make sure wrongdoers are held accountable. He previously received the Member of the Year Award in the 2011 and the Excellence Award in 2009 from this organization. He is a member of several committees for MNAJ and sits on its Board of Governors. He is also a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

Rich is married to Sherry and has two children, Hannah and Nicholas. Both children are active in sports including softball, football, baseball and hockey. He is an avid participant in the sport of curling. Rich has been to several national championships and two world championships as a curler. Rich’s team recently won the National Championship in 2018 and took fifth place in the World Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada in April 2018. He also enjoys fishing and water sports in the summer.