Suite 1400
Dean P. Laing is an attorney with the law firm of O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing S.C., a 30-attorney firm headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he heads the firm’s litigation practice. He has been with the firm for 27 years, since graduating cum laude from Marquette University Law School in 1983.
Throughout his legal career, Mr. Laing has been recognized by members of the Wisconsin bar and judiciary as one of the top trial attorneys in Wisconsin:
- He was selected for three straight years as one of the “Top 50 Lawyers” in Wisconsin by Milwaukee Magazine/Law & Politics (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009). The honor is given to the 50 Wisconsin attorneys receiving the highest point totals in the state-wide balloting, research, and blue-ribbon peer review process, regardless of area of practice.
- He has been given an AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5.0 rating by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating possible and “a testament to the fact that a lawyer’s peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence. “
- He has been given a rating of 10.0 out of a possible 10.0 by Avvo, a national attorney rating service which uses a mathematical model to rate attorneys based on experience, professional achievements, industry recognition and professional conduct.
- He was selected as a recipient of the 2005 “Leader in the Law Award” presented by the Wisconsin Law Journal, the statewide weekly newspaper for Wisconsin attorneys and judges. The award is given annually to approximately 10 Wisconsin attorneys and judges “whose efforts represent some of the best from our legal community.”
- He was described by Judge Kitty K. Brennan, currently a Judge with the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, as an attorney “of the highest standing in [his] profession” and his team as one of the “best sets of lawyers I’ve ever seen” in a Decision issued on April 15, 2005 in Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District v. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc., et al., Case No. 02-CV-60.
- He was described by Judge Rudolph T. Randa, the former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, as “an aggressive and indisputable qualified independent counsel” in a Decision issued on September 27, 2001 in Marshall & Ilsley Trust Co. v. Leslie, Case No. 97-C-427.
- He was selected as one of “Milwaukee’s Best Lawyers” by Milwaukee Magazine (June 1990), after being in practice for only seven years. The magazine called Mr. Laing “a brilliant, hard-working attorney who has an impressive record and is a guaranteed star in the immediate future. He’s streetwise and he’s bright and that’s tough to get both.”
- He was selected as one of “Milwaukee’s Best Lawyers” by Milwaukee Magazine (February 1995). The magazine stated that Mr. Laing is “very bright, hardworking and intense—no one will outwork him.”
- He was selected as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” in Wisconsin by The American Trial Lawyers Association (2007 and 2008) for his “superior qualifications, trial results, leadership, influence, reputation, stature, and profile in the trial attorney community.”
- He was selected as one of Lawdragon 3000 Leading Plaintiffs’ Lawyers in America (2007). The publication lists the “best lawyers nationwide … who are noted for getting the best results and their leadership of the plaintiffs’ bar.” A total of 11 Wisconsin attorneys made the list.
- He was selected as one of Wisconsin’s “Super Lawyers” by Milwaukee Magazine/Law & Politics (2005). The award is presented to the top 5% of Wisconsin attorneys.
- He was selected in two separate categories for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2009, 2010) based on a “peer-review survey comprising more than 2.5 million confidential evaluations by the top attorneys in the country.”
Mr. Laing was the lead trial attorney for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc. in the lawsuit relating to the construction of the retractable roof of Miller Park (the home of the Milwaukee Brewers), which Judge Brennan called “the biggest case [Milwaukee] County has ever seen.” The case, filed by the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District in 2002, sought $50 million in damages from Mitsubishi for alleged defects in the retractable roof, which Mitsubishi constructed. Mitsubishi denied liability to the Baseball Park District and filed a counterclaim seeking additional costs incurred in constructing the roof due to material changes made to the roof’s design after Mitsubishi bid the job. The case involved claims of $140 million, and generated the taking of 162 depositions in three countries, the production of 2.9 million pages of documents, the filing of 96 substantive motions, and several trips to the appellate court. After three days of mediation involving 22 attorneys from seven states, a settlement was reached in 2005, one week before the scheduled trial, resulting in Mitsubishi paying nothing on the Baseball Park District’s claims and receiving $18 million on its counterclaim.
In addition to the Miller Park settlement, Mr. Laing has obtained the following million dollar settlements and verdicts for his clients:
- $24.7 million (medical malpractice case) (co-counsel).
- $5.4 million (corporate fraud case).
- $3.1 million (medical malpractice case).
- $2.6 million (insurance case).
- $2.1 million (breach of contract case).
- $2.0 million (Americans with Disabilities Act case).
- $1.7 million (products liability case).
- $1.6 million (breach of Asset Purchase Agreement case).
- $1.5 million (medical malpractice case).
- $1.4 million (medical malpractice case) (co-counsel).
- $1.3 million (insurance coverage case).
- $1.2 million (wrongful death case).
- $1.2 million (auto accident case).
- $1.1 million (breach of contract case).
Mr. Laing is board certified as a Civil Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and is a frequent author and speaker on legal issues involving evidence, torts, insurance and trial tactics. He has authored 34 journal articles and book chapters, including the Evidence Chapter of the Wisconsin State Bar’s annual book entitled Annual Survey of Wisconsin Law each year (but one) since 1987; has been an invited speaker at 23 legal seminars/workshops; and has been counsel in 31 published decisions, some of which made new law.
Mr. Laing’s personality and trial skills have allowed him to be one of a select few attorneys who have been able to successfully practice both business litigation and personal injury litigation. In addition to representing Fortune 500 companies and other variously sized companies in their business litigation needs, Mr. Laing represents severely injured persons in prosecuting their personal injury claims. His passion for those cases is derived from his having two brothers with cerebral palsy. As a result of growing up in that environment, Mr. Laing understands what families go through in caring for loved ones with special needs, and is able to communicate that to insurance companies, defense counsel, judges and juries.