Episode Summary

 

Anyone familiar with the popular television series, Yellowstone, will recognize the peculiar challenges of trying plaintiffs’ cases in Montana.  Yet, Montana trial lawyer, Zander Blewett, has been doing it successfully his entire career.  Join Ben (www.gideonasen.com) for his in-depth discussion with Zander, describing the unique circumstances that brought him to the practice of plaintiff law, his many landmark cases and verdicts, and his approach to success as a trial lawyer, family man and leader in the community.

 

About Zander Blewett

 

Founding Partner

The University of Montana Law School has been renamed the "Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana." Alexander (Zander) Blewett III has earned an AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating by Martindale-Hubbell™, the highest recognition possible in the legal industry, for his professionalism and ethics.

 

Prac​tice Areas

• Personal Injury
• Trucking & Auto Accidents
• Brain Injury
• Wrongful Death
• Product Liability
• Insurance Bad Faith
• Workplace Injuries
• Railroad Law
• Class Actions
• Bicycle Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents

 

Admitted

• Montana, 1971
• U.S. District Court, District of Montana
• U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th and 9th Circuits
• U.S. Supreme Court

 

Education

• University of Montana, J.D., 1971
• Montana State University, B.S., 1967

 

Associations and memberships

• The Inner Circle of Advocates (Only Montana Member in National Organization limited to top 100 trial lawyers in the United States)
• State Bar of Montana; Montana Trial Lawyers Association
• The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (Member, President’s Club)
• American College of Trial Lawyers
• American Board of Trial Advocates (Advocate)
• International Society of Barristers

 

Notable Cases

• $27 million settlement in a brain injury case (Vangsnes vs. North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Inc. et. al.)
• $21.3 million verdict in a Great Falls malicious prosecution case (Seltzer v. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher)
• $7 million verdict in a Billings railroad crossing accident (Dorn v. BNSF)
• $5 million verdict against the US government after a fire destroyed a ranch (Hughes v. USA)
• $3.9 million verdict in a Missoula brain injury claim (Ginn v. Smurfit Stone Container)
• $3.2 million verdict in a Great Falls auto accident (Bumgarner v. Farmers Union Mutual Insurance)

 

Biographical details

• Montana Trial Lawyers Association, Montana Trial Lawyer of the Year, 1993 – 1994 and 2006 – 2007
• Only Montana lawyer named in Lawdragon Hall of Fame (national publication).
• Only Montana lawyer named in Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, 2018 & 2019
• Only Montana lawyer named in Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, 2019 – 2021
• Only Montana personal injury lawyer named to the Top 100 Mountain States Super Lawyers® for 2012
• Listed in Top 100 Mountain States Super Lawyers® in 2007 – 2012, 2014 – 2016, 2019 – 2021
• Selected, Best Lawyers in America since 2005.
• Delegate, 9th Circuit Judicial Conference, 1990 – 1993
• Montana State Coordinator, National Board of Trial Advocacy
• Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers (Montana State Chair)
• Certified, Civil Trial Advocacy Specialist, National Board of Trial Advocacy, 1983