Practice Areas: Employment Litigation, Medical Malpractice, Civil Rights; view more
Licensed in Minnesota since: 2002
Education: New York University School of Law
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2019 - 2023 
Selected to Rising Stars: 2015 - 2018 Details
Ashwin Madia is a trial lawyer. He fights for justice on behalf of people going through hard times against some of the most powerful forces in the country.
Madia focuses his trial practice representing individuals in employment cases, police misconduct, medical malpractice, and catastrophic injuries. Other lawyers routinely bring Madia in as co-counsel shortly before trial to first-chair cases being tried to jury.
Madia started practicing law by fighting tough cases on behalf of some very desperate people. As a law student at New York University School of Law, he advocated on behalf of battered women trying to find protection, unemployed workers trying to make ends meet, and immigrants seeking asylum from torture.
After he graduated law school, Madia joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served as judge advocate. There is no better training ground for a trial lawyer – he tried over one-hundred felony and misdemeanor cases. Madia spent most of his time defending young Marines who had made bad mistakes and were facing many years in prison. He tried a lot of contested jury trials, and he is proud of the exceptional results he got for those Marines and Sailors, including one of the first successful defenses of a Marine who was discriminated against based on sexual orientation.
In 2005, Ashwin deployed to Iraq and worked with the State Department, Justice Department, United Nations, European Union, and Iraqi judges and attorneys to help establish the rule of law in Iraq. He served as a prosecutor when he got back from deployment in 2006 and obtained even more trial experience.
After running for Congress in 2008, Madia started his own firm because he believes in the rights of individuals to have a tough advocate in their corner against powerful interests. Since then, he has been humbled and honored to represent and win fights on behalf of some of the most decent people he’s ever met.
Practice areas
Employment Litigation: Plaintiff, Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff, Civil RightsFocus areas
Americans with Disabilities Act, Disability, Discrimination, Employment Discrimination, Police Misconduct, Race Discrimination, Retaliation, Wrongful Termination
- 40% Employment Litigation: Plaintiff
- 40% Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff
- 20% Civil Rights
First Admitted: 2002, Minnesota
Professional Webpage: https://madianewville.com/about/attorney-profile/ashwin-madi...
- United States Court of Appeals – 8th Circuit
- National Employment Lawyers Association, Minnesota Chapter
- United States District Court – District of Minnesota
- Minnesota State Bar Association
- Minnesota Supreme Court
- Minnesota Student Association, President
- University of Minnesota Alumni Association
- Osseo Senior High School, High School Diploma, 1995
- University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Honor: President, Minnesota Student Association, 1999
- $3.5 million settlement on behalf of family whose loved one died in jail due to alcohol withdrawals. “Tom” was a good and decent man. He worked hard his whole life, and had good values. He raised 2 beautiful, strong, and kind children. He then adopted another child to give him a better life. Tom also struggled with alcoholism for much of his life. He actually went sober for about 10 years, but then relapsed. One morning, a police officer pulled Tom over for driving under the influence. Tom blew a .37 BAC. The officer brought Tom to the county jail. Tom was too intoxicated for the jailers to even book into jail. So they just left him in a cell for 11 hours. He underwent delerium tremens (DTs) while in the cell and even had a seizure according to jail records. The jailers called the medical provider contracted to the jail, but the nurse and physician assistant on duty told the jailers to do nothing. Tom died the next day in jail of alcohol withdrawals. Alcohol withdrawals are common to alcoholics who abruptly cease consumption. An alcohol withdrawal jail death is a known risk to both jailers and medical providers. The medical provider knew that, but still chose to not offer any treatment when called by the jail. And the jailers knew better than to let someone into their jail who was too intoxicated for them to even safely book into jail. We represented Tom’s kids and brought suit against the jail and the medical provider for deliberate indifference to Tom’s medical needs under 42 U.S.C. 1983, negligence, and medical malpractice. After 2 1/2 years of litigation, the parties settled for $3.5 million about a month out from trial. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to represent Tom’s kids – their strength and decency is a testament to their father., 2022
- $2.1 million recovery for whistleblower. Dr. Robert Roswick worked as a family practice physician at Mid Dakota Clinic in Bismarck, North Dakota. He felt that Mid Dakota’s CEO and Board of Directors were racially discriminating against an Indian-American colleague of his by pushing forward with termination without allowing the colleague the same due process rights afforded to other shareholders at the Clinic. So Dr. Roswick took action. He emailed his fellow shareholders, gave them the factual basis as to why he believed the bylaws weren’t being followed, and told them he believed that their colleague was a victim of racism. Mid Dakota’s CEO and Board promptly retaliated: they suspended Dr. Roswick’s employment and moved for his termination. At his termination meeting, Board members openly told shareholders that “The reason we are here today is that Dr. Roswick raised this complaint of discrimination and made that known.” The shareholders approved Dr. Roswick’s termination from Mid Dakota. Dr. Roswick retained Madia Law in early 2017 and filed suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act for retaliation. It is unlawful for an employer to retaliate against an employee who makes a good faith report of discrimination. Mid Dakota defended the lawsuit by arguing that Dr. Roswick made a “false” complaint of discrimination that wasn’t in good faith. The case went through 2 years of discovery and motions and finally went to trial before a Bismarck federal jury on August 5, 2019. At trial, key Mid Dakota witnesses admitted that there was nothing “false” in Dr. Roswick’s email and, in fact, several key elements were true. A jury deliberated for just over 4 hours before returning a $1.2 million verdict for Dr. Roswick. The Bismarck Tribune covered the verdict. The Court later added front pay damages and attorney fees to the result, bringing the total recovery to $2.1 million. We were honored to represent Dr. Roswick, as he stood up and did the right thing, even when it was hard. We’re humbled to be one of the few employment firms in the country that routinely take cases all the way to trial. And we’re of course grateful at the hard, thoughtful, and brave work of the jury that decided the case., 2019
- $2.4 million settlement in wrongful termination case. We represented a physician named “Mark” in a wrongful termination case brought under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act. The case settled before trial for $2.4 million. Administrators at Mark’s clinic told him that they wanted to hire a female physician to work alongside him, in the same practice area. But they wanted to pay her less than him. Mark objected and said, “You can’t do that. That’s gender discrimination. It’s wrong, and it’s illegal.” The administrators responded, “Don’t tell anyone.” Mark’s conscience wouldn’t allow him to obey that directive. He told the prospective female recruit the truth. The clinic’s administrators found out. They decided to fire Mark. But they had no reason to do so, so they tried to make some up. They asked the clinic’s general counsel to approach a rank and file employee and direct her to send an email complaining about Mark’s conduct. Fearing for her own job, the employee did so. The clinic then used that email to justify terminating Mark. Mark found another firm first to litigate his case. They refused to do it on a contingency basis, and took a lot of his money very early on. Thankfully, Mark found us. We brought a claim on his behalf against the clinic under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act, which prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for raising concerns about suspected violations of the law. This was hard fought litigation over 3 years. The clinic fought everything that they could and admitted nothing. They asserted counterclaims against Mark. But it all fell apart when we took the “complaining” employee’s deposition. She started to admit what happened, and defense counsel immediately called for a break and moved the Court to stop the deposition. The Court rightfully refused to do so. The employee then bravely told the truth, exposing the clinic’s scheme. The case settled shortly thereafter for $2.4 million. Employers will generally pay large sums to avoid trial. It was an honor to represent Mark, who had the guts to stand up and do the right thing when most wouldn’t., 2022
Office location for J. Ashwin Madia
80 S 8th St
1850 IDS Center
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Phone: 612-349-2729
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2019 - 2023
- Rising Stars: 2015 - 2018
