Alaska Injury Law Blog

Alaska Personal Injury Law Group member, Richard E. Vollertsen, has been selected for inclusion in the 2008 edition of America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys. Those selected are identified by Benchmark’s research team, which conducts extensive face-to-face and telephone interviews with the nation's leading private practice lawyers and in-house counsel in the preceding 12 month period. The purpose of the ranking is to identify those firms and attorneys best able to handle complex litigation matters. The rankings include identification of "local litigation stars" for each state, reflecting only those individuals who were recommended consistently as incontrovertible stars by clients and peers. Mr. Vollertsen was identified in this ranking as a “local litigation star”.

The research results for law firms were also broken down into “highly recommended” and “recommended” categories. All listed firms were consistently mentioned by peers and clients, but the "highly recommended" firms received the most mentions, and were held up as being definitively dominant in their particular jurisdiction. Atkinson, Conway & Gagnon, Inc., of which the Alaska Personal Injury Law Group is a division, was identified as “highly recommended” in this ranking, as well. Atkinson, Conway & Gagnon, Inc. was one of only 3 firms in Alaska selected as "highly recommended."

Source: Benchmark: Litigation, America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys, 2008, >www.benchmarklitigation.com

Two attorneys with the Alaska Personal Injury Law Group, W. Michael Moody and Richard E. Vollertsen, were recently selected to be listed in Alaska Super Lawyers 2007, a publication of Washington Law & Politics magazine.

Mr. Moody received his law degree from the University of Arizona in 1972 where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review and received the academic award of Order of the Coif. He served as a law clerk to Judges Thomas Stewart and Victor Carlson in Juneau before moving to Anchorage. Mr. Moody has practiced law in Alaska since 1975 specializing in representing those injured by negligence or defective products, and claims against insurance companies for fraud and bad faith conduct against their policyholders.

Mr. Vollertsen was also selected as an Alaska Super Lawyer. Mr. Vollertsen has been a member of the Atkinson, Conway & Gagnon law firm since 1982. His practice includes complex litigation matters primarily involving products liability, wrongful death, and personal injury. He served as Law Clerk to Chief Justice Edmund Burke of the Alaska Supreme Court. Mr. Vollertsen was also editor-in-chief of University of San Francisco Law Review, 1980-81, and contributing editor to Alaska Court Review, 1983-2000.

The rigorous merit-based selection process began early in the year, with invitations to participate in the nominations process going out to over 1,400 attorneys in Alaska. In addition, Law & Politics’ research department conducted independent candidate searches through professional databases, legal trade journals, and meetings with law firms. The candidates were then evaluated by the Law & Politics research department. This evaluation process included examination of candidates’ background and experience, followed by a peer evaluation from other Alaskan attorneys in the practice area. The final candidates selected were those with the highest point totals from each category, and included only five (5) percent of all attorneys in Alaska.

Mr. Moody and Mr. Vollertsen are also all AV rated by Martindale Hubbell, the highest national rating for legal ability and ethics, and have been listed in the Best Lawyers in America for over 10 years.

Bruce E. Gagnon, Robert J. Dickson, and Jerome H. Juday, also with the Atkinson, Conway & Gagnon law firm, were also selected as Alaska Super Lawyers in their respective specialties.

While cargo barges may be "unmanned" while under tow, longshoremen and seamen often go aboard "unmanned" barges for loading, unloading and other purposes. Federal regulation 46 C.R.F. § 92.25-5 requires that cargo barges have a three-course perimeter safety railing. The Coast Guard, however, has failed to enforce that regulation, stating without explanation in its Marine Safety Manual that such barges are totally exempt from the railing requirement. In a lawsuit I am handling, a longshoreman working on a cargo barge equipped with only a two-course safety railing fell between the two courses (exactly where the third course should have been) and was crushed and badly injured when the barge surged back against the dock. In an important recent decision, the Ninth Circuit agreed with us that the Coast Guard's manual is inconsistent with the regulation; that the express terms of the regulation controls; and that the barge was in violation of the regulation. Abruska v. Northland Vessel Leasing Co., 2007 WL 4328834. This is an important ruling, not only for my client, but for everyone who has to work aboard cargo barges, often in dark, rough or inclement conditions.