Seven Attorneys Join National Litigation Firm Foley & Mansfield

        Minneapolis, MN (February 22. 2006)—The national litigation firm of Foley & Mansfield has hired seven new attorneys. Peter J. Fetterly has joined the firm as Of Counsel; Carrie Gallagher, Darren Hepper, Lucas Laakso, Joshua Lens, Jacob Sawyer, and David J. Szerlag have joined as attorneys. Fetterly, Hepper, Laakso and Szerlag are located in the Minneapolis offices; Gallagher, Lens, and Sawyer are located in the St. Louis offices.

        Fetterly has extensive experience in asbestos litigation, commercial litigation, construction litigation, and has a special emphasis in catmn-web1phic loss/fire litigation. He brings 13 years of experience in private practice, most recently as Of Counsel to McCollum, Crowley, Moschet & Miller, Ltd. He graduated cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law, earning his Juris Doctorate in 1988. Fetterly is admitted to practice in Minnesota and Colorado courts as well as the U.S. District Courts for Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming. He has served on the School Board of Cornerstone Christian Academy, a private, non-denominational Christian school, since 1998.

        Gallagher practices toxic tort and mass litigation, with an emphasis on asbestos cases, civil litigation and insurance litigation. She is admitted to practice in Missouri and is a member of the Defense Research Institute, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, and the Lawyers Association of St. Louis. Gallagher graduated from California Western School of Law with her Juris Doctorate in 2004.

                Laakso focuses his practice in construction law, general liability and civil litigation, insurance coverage and litigation, as well as Foley & Mansfield’s Pro Bono services. Before joining Foley & Mansfield he spent six years participating in mock trial and served as a law clerk at the Hennepin County Juvenile Court. Laakso is admitted to practice in Minnesota and is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association. He graduated in 2005 from the Hamline University School of Law, where he was honored as a Dean’s Scholar, was included on the Dean’s Honor Roll, and also received the CALI Excellence for the Future award in No-Fault Insurance.

        Lens focuses his practice in probate and trust litigation; his experience also extends into civil litigation, insurance coverage and litigation, and commercial litigation. He is admitted to practice in Missouri as well as the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri and is a member of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and the St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers Program. Lens received his Juris Doctorate from University of Iowa College of Law in 2005.
Sawyer practices in the areas of construction law, toxic tort and mass litigation, and probate and trust litigation. Before joining Foley & Mansfield, Sawyer worked for a firm specializing in insurance defense and litigation. He is admitted to practice in Illinois, Missouri, and the Southern District of Illinois and is a member of the Defense Research Institute. Sawyer graduated from Washington University School of Law in 2003.

        Szerlag focuses his practice in the Catmn-web1phic Loss Practice Group, including medical negligence and catmn-web1phic bodily injury; his experience extends into admiralty, general liability and civil litigation. Before joining Foley & Mansfield, he was a senior partner of the Rhode Island law firm Baluch, Gianfrancesco, Mathieu & Szerlag. He is admitted to practice in Minnesota and Rhode Island and is a member of the Rhode Island and Minnesota Bar Associations, Superior Bench Bar Committee, Medical Legal Committee; and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Szerlag graduated cum laude from Suffolk University School of Law in 1990, earning his Juris Doctorate.

        Founded in 1989, Foley & Mansfield is fast becoming one of the nation’s leading litigation law firms. Its attorneys serve clients ranging in size from multi-million dollar corporations to small businesses and their owners in a wide range of civil litigation matters, including commercial litigation, construction law, employment litigation, environmental and pollution claims, insurance coverage matters, intellectual property, probate and trust, and product liability litigation, as well as commercial transactions and bankruptcy. The firm is headquartered in Minneapolis and has additional offices in Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, St. Louis and San Francisco.