Top Rated Personal Injury Attorney in Bloomington, MN

Honors/Awards:

• Minnesota Lawyer’s Circle of Excellence
• Minnesota Attorney of the Year
• Rich was selected Member of the Year by the Minnesota Association of Justice in recognition of exceptional leadership and devoted service on behalf of the Minnesota Association for Justice. Rich served on the Board of Governors and worked tirelessly on numerous committees including the Continuing Legal Education and Legislative committees. Rich is currently on the officer track and is serving as the Vice President of MAJ.  Rich will be president of MAJ in 2018., Member of the Year, Minnesota Association for Justice, 2010
• Minnesota Super Lawyers, 2003 – 2018
• Rich currently serves as the President of the Minnesota Association  for Justice.  This is one of the highest honors and positions for personal injury lawyers in the State of Minnesota as this organization oversee most plaintiff lawyers in the state and advocates for consumer issues., Minnesota Association for Justice President, MAJ
• Rich was selected as Minnesota Lawyers Attorneys of the Year in 2011 and in 2014 and was inducted into the Circle of Excellence as a multiple time winner of this award.  He was again selected just recently in 2016 and is one of the few attorneys ever to be selected for this honor on three or more occasions., Minnesota Lawyer, 2011
• Rich was selected the Excellence Award Winner by the Minnesota Association of Justice for his outstanding contributions and tireless effort for the Minnesota Association for Justice., Minnesota Association of Justice Excellence Award Winner, 2008

Bar/Professional Activity:

• American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Member
• Minnesota Association for Justice, Board of Governors
• Minnesota Association for Justice (MNAJ), President, 2018-2019

Pro bono/Community Service:

• Rich is an active member of the St. Paul Curling Club and Four Seasons Curling Club. Rich helps out with youth coaching and general teaching of the sport of curling among children and adults and other sports involving his children including baseball and softball. He won the National Championship in curling in 2008 and 2018 and was second in 2017 and 2019. He was also runner-up in the United States Olympic Trials in curling in 2017.

Scholarly Lectures/Writings:

• Rich has written a ground-breaking article on traumatic brain injury entitled "Debunking the Top 10 Myths of Traumatic Brain Injury: Effective Cross Examination of the Defense Neuropsychologist." The article was published in the Minnesota Association for Justice magazine, and Rich has rewritten the article for publication in the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association magazine. Read Attorney Rich Ruohonen's traumatic brain injury article.  Rich has authored  other articles as well and is frequent speaker for the Minnesota Association for Justice.

Verdicts/Settlements:

•  J.K. v. New Horizons - This case involved a little boy who was sexually and physically abused while at a New Horizons Kid's Quest facility in Mille Lacs, Minnesota.  Rich and his partner Chuck Slane tried this case to a jury in January 2015 and resulted in a $13.5 Million verdict.  The verdict was subsequently thrown out by a Hennepin County District Court Judge vy Bernhardson due to claimed passion and prejudice of the jury.  The case was tried again in November 2015 and this time resulted in a verdict of over $6 Million., 2015
• Stulberg - Rich and partner Chuck Slane tried this case, which involved a 91-year old woman who lost her leg in a crash when she rear ended a car in front of her after a mattress had fallen off of a car in traffic causing everyone to swerve. Ms. Stulberg hit her brakes but ended up on the box spring of the mattress and slid into the car in front of her. This verdict was for approximately $2.4 Million and there was only a $50,000. The case continues in current litigation against American Family Insurance to collect the balance of the verdict., 2014

Other Outstanding Achievements:

• Rich is an avid curler and won the 2008 and 2018 U.S. National Curling Championships. He competed against curling teams from around the world in the World Curling Championships taking 5th place in 2018.  Rich has competed in several different Olympic Trials for curling and recently took second place in the 2018 Olympic trials, narrowly missing the Olympics.  Rich has competed in many U.S. National Championships.  Rich has traveled the world curling in places like China, Japan and Germany and has competed all over the United States and Canada.

Educational Background:

• Rich graduated from Spring Lake Park High School in 1989. He then received his Bachelors of Arts degree from Hamline University in 1993. Rich then went on to the Hamline University School of Law and received his law degree in 1996. Rich is also a sought after speaker in his profession as a personal injury lawyer and gives numerous presentations in continuing legal education courses for many different organizations, including the Minnesota Association for Justice.