Robins Kaplan LLP Partner Elizabeth Burnett serves as deputy chair of the national business litigation group and member of the executive board. Burnett represents plaintiffs and defendants nationwide in products liability, commercial and disaster litigation, including toxic tort and class action cases. Much of her practice involves fires and explosions caused by combustible dust or natural gas, with clients ranging from product manufacturers and plant owners to subrogated property insurers.

Her results include a $15.4 million settlement for a burn victim from an industrial accident, a $3.4 million settlement for a victim of a dust explosion at a manufacturing facility, and dismissal with prejudice for a product manufacturer following an explosion and fire at a natural gas refinery that killed more than 30 people.

A former claims adjuster, Burnett also brings practical experience to property and commercial insurance coverage disputes for industry leaders. She earned her law degree cum laude from the University of St. Thomas School of Law and her undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Creighton University.

Michael Ciresi, a founding partner at Ciresi Conlin LLP, has represented individuals, corporations, and governmental entities, obtaining nearly $12 billion in verdicts, awards, and settlements. His practice focuses on product liability, intellectual property, and business and commercial litigation.
Before co-founding Ciresi Conlin in 2015, Ciresi spent 43 years at Robins Kaplan LLP, where he served as a name partner and chairman of the executive board. He served as lead counsel in the Minnesota tobacco litigation and as chief counsel to the Government of India in litigation arising from the Bhopal gas leak disaster. Other significant representations include Pitney Bowes Inc. v. Hewlett Packard, Honeywell v. Minolta, and the Kraft Foods v. Starbucks arbitration, which produced a $2.7 billion award.
Ciresi is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. In 1999, he founded the Ciresi Walburn Foundation for Children, which has distributed more than $23 million to support Minnesota children and education initiatives.

Michael F. Cockson is a partner at Faegre Drinker where he focuses on complex corporate and chancery litigation, class actions, and commercial disputes.

With more than 20 years of experience as a trial attorney, Cockson has practiced in state and federal courts across 15 states, representing financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies, private companies, banks, hedge funds, shareholders, insurance companies, manufacturers, and technology companies. He handles complex M&A disputes, shareholder litigation, and corporate disputes for private equity clients, and also litigates landlord/tenant class actions on both the plaintiff and defendant sides.

In a notable pro bono matter, Cockson led a trial team on behalf of a nonprofit tenant advocacy organization against one of Minneapolis’ largest private landlords, winning a record-breaking Rent Abatement Order and a record-breaking sanction for bad-faith litigation conduct.

Earlier in his career, Cockson clerked for Hon. Gerald W. Heaney of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit from 1997 to 1999.

Michael Collyard recently joined Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder. He was formerly a partner at Robins Kaplan LLP, where he chaired the banking and financial fraud litigation group and the eDiscovery group. Collyard represents receivers, bankruptcy trustees, litigation trusts, banks, hedge funds and companies of all sizes in commercial litigation, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and antitrust matters.

Collyard is known for having secured the largest jury verdict in Minnesota history — a $564 million verdict against BMO Harris Bank for its role in the Petters Ponzi scheme, one of the largest in U.S. history, which grew to a total award of more than $1.1 billion after a federal judge added pre- and post-judgment interest.

On the defense side, he served as lead counsel for U.S. Bank in a multibillion-dollar case brought by the People of the State of California, which settled with U.S. Bank paying $0. He also first-chaired a $2 billion evidentiary hearing in New York federal court on behalf of U.S. Bank as securitization trustee, successfully defeating a request for terminating sanctions.

Jan M. Conlin is a founding partner at Ciresi Conlin LLP where she focuses on high-stakes intellectual property and complex commercial litigation. Over her career, she has obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in verdicts, awards, and settlements, including multiple nine-figure outcomes.

Among her landmark results, Conlin served as trial counsel in a patent infringement case that produced a $520.6 million jury verdict against Microsoft in 2004, secured a $400 million settlement for Pitney Bowes against Hewlett-Packard in a patent dispute, and obtained a $96.3 million verdict for Honeywell against Minolta. She also served as lead trial counsel in a $375 million settlement in a REIT governance dispute.

Conlin is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. She has served on the board of trustees of The Minneapolis Foundation, the board of governors of the University of St. Thomas Law School, and as board chair of Ascension Catholic Academy.

Aimée D. Dayhoff, shareholder at Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A., focuses on business, employment and commercial litigation. She represents companies ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to closely held businesses, guiding them through complex disputes and high-stakes employment matters in state and federal courts nationwide. She also serves as outside general counsel to a number of business clients.

Dayhoff is recognized for balancing courtroom advocacy with practical counsel in employment matters and dispute resolution. Her practice includes advising clients on best practices in employment counseling alongside her litigation work.

She has held leadership roles in national and local legal organizations and has been recognized for her efforts to advance women in business and law. She is known within the profession as an active mentor and sponsor of younger lawyers, creating opportunities for emerging attorneys and advocating for their development. Her work has earned consistent recognition from Minnesota Lawyer, Benchmark Litigation, Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America.