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Blake Shepard is the chair of Leonard, Street and Deinard’s Product Liability and Tort Litigation practice group. A partner at the firm since 1993, Blake has represented product manufacturers and other corporate clients in a wide variety of litigated matters in state and federal courts throughout the United States. Blake has extensive experience representing corporate clients in product liability, wrongful death and personal injury litigation; agricultural claims for feed damage and economic loss; product recall disputes; fraud, false advertising, consumer protection and federal racketeering claims; class action and mass tort claims; commercial warranty and breach of contract cases; workplace and construction accident cases; mold and toxic exposure claims; and a wide variety of commercial litigation matters.
Blake’s practice is national in scope. In recent years, he has represented Fortune 500 clients in cases in Texas, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio, California and Minnesota. Blake has also successfully appeared in state and federal appellate courts in Minnesota and around the country and participated in a case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1997.
Consistent with the firm’s commitment to pro bono and community service, Blake has devoted significant time and resources to the representation of clients through the Leonard, Street and Deinard Legal Clinic in south Minneapolis. Blake has successfully represented numerous clients seeking Social Security disability benefits and served as supervising attorney for other firm attorneys handling eligibility claims through the firm’s legal clinic. In 2007, Blake received the Hennepin County Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico Award for Excellence in the Private Sector for his work representing disabled clients.
Blake is former chair of the firm’s Recruiting Committee. Before joining the firm, Blake served as Special Assistant to the Attorney General.
PROFESSIONAL AND CIVIC ACTIVITIES
Member, American Bar Association
Member, Minnesota State Bar Association
Member, Hennepin County Bar Association
Former member, Board of Directors, Minnesota Justice Foundation
EDUCATION
J.D., cum laude, Boston College Law School, 1984
Executive editor, Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review, 1983-1984
B.A., cum laude, Dartmouth College, 1980
ADMISSIONS
State of Minnesota
U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
Eighth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals
U.S. Supreme Court
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