Lakeville attorney recognized for excellence in practice

His opponents and peers in and out of the courtroom respect him, but those footing the bill for his winning verdicts fear him.

Lakeville-based attorney Art Kosieradzki has been selected by "Super Lawyers" magazine for recognition in 2011. Only 5 percent of lawyers in the state of Minnesota are named to this list each year. Kosieradzki is a partner at Sieben, Grose, Von Holtum & Carey in Lakeville, where he manages the location.

"Super Lawyers" is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. It is published as a special supplement in several publications including Super Lawyers.

He sits on the Million Dollar Roundtable, a recognition given only to lawyers who have won million-dollar-plus verdicts, and the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a national merit organization consisting of about 700 of the nation's most accomplished attorneys.

Given his record of winning large-figured verdicts might cause some to believe his work is all about money, but hearing him talk about his involvement in the lives of those he is helping legally could leave one with an entirely different impression.

"In today's day an age, I think specializing helps," he said. "And I specialize in helping injury victims."

Kosieradzki has been serving as a barrister for the past 25 years, and in Lakeville at his firm's office that opened in 1998.

"Now that I have this office down here, it tends to be local," he said, referring to the business generated. "We have people who walk in off the street, and I welcome that. Not only are we here to help with legal issues, we are here to be your friend."

Recalling one of his most intriguing cases, Kosieradzki commented on a case that was adjudicated years ago from an incident in Lakeville.

An individual was proceeding through a drive-through of a fast-food restaurant when the vehicle accelerated and crashed, killing the driver. According to Kosieradzki, the official ruling by the insurance company was suicide.

"You go out to the scene, and sometimes you have to put the puzzle together. We had the resources and knew how to do it," he said. "We were able to actually figure out what happened and get all of the benefits."

He continued by saying that the effort involved flying out experts in accident reconstruction from Detroit to help determine the exact cause of death.

"I had some of the top experts in the world working on this one," he said. "Through a lot of different forensic work, we were able to prove an accident."

The end result was a change in the cause of death from undetermined to accidental, one piece of information that literally changes the outcome, and to whom large financial benefits are distributed.

"Our whole team put this together to help this family," Kosieradzki said.

It was at this moment that the longtime litigator chose to put the process into perspective for this one Lakeville family, at least from his side of the aisle.

"If you can take some of the financial stresses out of someone's life, they can focus on other issues," he said. "Is money going to get his life back? No, but it will make life easier."

"Super Lawyers" selects attorneys using a rigorous, multiphase process.

"The selection process is multi-phased and is designed to find indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement," said Cindy Larson, research and editorial director for "Super Lawyers" magazine. "The three primary phases of the selection process are the creation of the candidate pool, independent research, and the Blue Ribbon Panel."

Larson continued, saying that officials with the magazine invite a select number of attorneys to participate on the BRP.

"As part of this process, the BRP provides us with additional peer evaluations of the attorneys in the candidate pool by primary area of practice," Larson said. "Super Lawyers conducts additional fact checking by confirming that the attorneys are in good standing. Finally the candidate pool is divided into tiers so there is representation on the list from all firm sizes."

The most rewarding part of his job, according to Kosieradzki, is seeing the benefits of many months of successful work.

"[It is] helping see people get their lives back on track. Injury happens," he said. "You have to accept it. You have to move on. You have a life to live."

Kosieradzki is an attorney with Sieben, Grose, Von Holtum & Carey and Lakeville resident.