Jenny Olson and Rich Ruohonen, TSR Injury Law

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It takes a good case, a good client and Power 30 lawyers to win a $1.18 million verdict in the face of preexisting conditions and treatment care, including chiropractic care. But that was the recent verdict in Hennepin County District Court, in the case of a driver who hit a car that turned left in front of her. The defense offered $150,000 as the trial was about to begin. The woman suffered neck injuries that resulted in a neck fusion. The defense argued that the crash did not damage her.

It was tried by TSR Injury Law attorneys Jenny Olson and Rich Ruohonen who observed that injury verdicts are increasing. Ruohonen sees that as one result of the pandemic.

“People have started to understand what it means to miss out on life’s pleasures [as they did during the COVID shutdown],” he said. Olson agreed that people appreciate more of the value of life outside of work and home. “They are getting a better understanding of what it feels like [to lose that].”

In the cases of fatalities, the recently passed survivorship statute, Minn. Stat. 573.01, also has made those cases more valuable, the attorneys said. The law provides that pain and suffering damages can survive a victim’s death. It holds defendants accountable and stops defendants who may try to stall an elderly plaintiff’s cases. Ruohonen welcomed the law, saying that for too long the insurance industry controlled the Legislature.

Olson has received accolades in Minnesota Lawyer for other legal successes as well. She was involved in a suit filed by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights against a McDonald’s franchisee for fostering a culture of sexual harassment that led to a manager sexually assaulting a minor employee. The MDHR and the plaintiffs were able to achieve significant policy changes.

Olson was named an Attorney of the Year in 2023 in recognition of that case. She was also named a Top Women in Law honoree because of her contribution to the Minnesota Association of Justice as chair of the amicus committee.