Elizabeth M. Fors

Education

• Hamline University School of Law, J.D., summa cum laude (2015), Mitchell Hamline Alumni Board Scholarship
• Inver Hills Community College, Paralegal Certificate (2008)
• University of Minnesota, B.A. in Speech Communications (1996)

Representative Matters

$20.6 Million Jury Verdict in Wrongful Death of New Mother with Postpartum Sepsis
Obtained a jury verdict for the family of a 30-year-old woman who went to an emergency room with a fever and nausea three days after giving birth to her first child. The nurse practitioner defendant ignored lab tests showing that the woman had sepsis (a severe systemic infection) and sent her home. Twelve hours later, the woman was rushed back to the same emergency room, where she died. A jury returned a verdict in the amount of $20.6 million, which is the largest medical malpractice wrongful death verdict in state history.

$2.5 Million Jury Verdict for Failure to Diagnose Blood Clots
Represented the widower of a 42-year-old mother of three, Anna, who went to her primary care provider of fifteen years to determine the cause of recent onset shortness of breath and fatigue. These are common symptoms of blood clots, especially in combination with Anna’s current physical status and medications. Her doctor did not recognize those risk factors and failed to order a D-liner blood test that would have ruled out the possibility of a clot. Anna died four days later in the emergency room. The trial took place in Lincoln County (Sioux Falls, SD).

$1.6 Million Settlement in Wrongful Death Due to Construction Negligence
Secured settlement for the family of a 24-year-old single mother to her son, age four. She was on her way to work one icy morning, when her vehicle was struck by another car on I-94 in the northern Twin Cities suburbs. Her car was sent careening into a construction crane that was parked too close to the freeway. The crane decapitated her. Liz and her team sued the construction project’s general contractor as well as the company responsible for leaving the crane in a dangerous position.

$1.2 Million Settlement in Wrongful Death Due to Vehicle Collision
Obtained settlement for a 24-year-old woman killed by a driver who ran a stop sign.

$1 Million Settlement in Infant Brain Injury
Represented the family of a 2-week-old baby girl in a medical malpractice case. Baby M had an upper respiratory infection and cough. Her mom brought her to the hospital. There, residents and attending doctors proceeded to curl Baby M into a ball and attempt a spinal tap. On each attempt, Baby M’s breathing was labored, she turned grey, and her oxygen saturations dropped dramatically. The residents and attending then attempted multiple times to intubate Baby M, using non-standard tools for such a small baby. The resident punctured Baby M’s trachea, allowing air to seep into her abdomen and not into her lungs. Baby M suffered a hypoxic brain injury. She is totally dependent.

$1 Million Settlement in Wrongful Death Due to Medication Overdose
Obtained settlement for the family of a 30-year-old mother of two young children who went to a Minnesota Hospital for uncontrolled back pain and dehydration. Doctors ordered, and nurses administered, multiple opioid medications to control the pain. However, on her third day in the hospital, a hospitalist chose to increase the opioid dose by 97% without any increased monitoring – like continuous pulse oximetry. The doctor ordered a new fentanyl patch and doubled her oxycodone dose. Hours later nurses found her unresponsive in bed. She never regained consciousness and died a few days later.

$780,000 Settlement in Wrongful Death of a Mother
Secured settlement in a medical malpractice wrongful death case of a 65-year-old wife and mother of two.

$700,000 Settlement in Failure to Diagnose Bleeding in the Brain
Obtained settlement for the family of a 65-year-old mother of three on blood thinners for A-Fib. She fell and hit her head. At the hospital, a radiologist read her CT scan as normal. Providers sent her home. About 6 hours later, a CT scan overread found bleeding in the brain.

$600,000 Medical Malpractice Settlement
Secured settlement in a medical malpractice case of a 75-year-old husband, father, and grandfather.

$599,000 Settlement in Failure to Diagnose Skin Cancer
Secured settlement in medical malpractice case of a 34-month delay in diagnosing melanoma.

$522,500 Settlement in Wrongful Death Due to Alleged Treatment Failure
Obtained settlement for the wrongful death of a 63-year-old mother and grandmother due to the alleged failure to treat bacterial pneumonia.

$200,000 Settlement in Dog Bite Case
Secured settlement in a dog bite case. A neighbor’s dog bit our 3-year-old client’s face.

$325,000 Settlement in Orthopedic Misdiagnosis and Delay in Diagnosis
Secured settlement for an active grandmother who fell off a chair and broke her heel bone – a complex calcaneus fracture. An orthopedic physician assistant at an orthopedic clinic in Minnesota determined our client did not need surgery. The PA felt he could treat it conservatively. Instead of receiving a referral to an ankle specialist right away, our client underwent nearly 30 physical therapy sessions and walked for months on a broken heel. Six months later the PA finally ordered an MRI, which showed the fractures did not heal correctly. At that point our client required an ankle fusion surgery.

• Named to "Top Lawyers List," Minnesota Monthly (2023-2024)
• Named to POWER 30 List, Minnesota Lawyer (2024)
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch (2023, 2025 editions)
• Named a “Minnesota Rising Star,” Super Lawyers (2018-2024)
• Named a “Member of the Year,” Minnesota Association for Justice (2018, 2023)
• Named a “North Star Lawyer” by the Minnesota State Bar Association for providing at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services (2022)
• Named an “Up & Coming Attorney,” Minnesota Lawyer (2020)
• Named one of "America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigators" by America's Top 100 Attorneys (2018-2019)
• Listed in “The Top 100 Verdicts of 2017,” The National Law Journal
• Named "Attorney of the Year," Minnesota Lawyer (2017)

Civic

• Dakota County Library Foundation, Board of Directors (2016-2019)
• Election Protection, Voter Helpline (866-OUR-VOTE), Volunteer (2022-Present)
• Jeremiah Program, Volunteer
• Mitchell Hamline School of Law Alumni Board, Member (2016-2019)
• MN LRAP Board of Directors (2019-Present)
• St. Stephen's & First Covenant Homeless Shelter, Meal Volunteer
• St. Thomas Law School, Mentor (2017-2020)

Professional

• American Association for Justice
• American Bar Association
• Hennepin County Bar Association
• Minnesota Association for Justice; Secretary (2024-Present), Membership Committee Chair (2024-25), Legislative Committee Co-Chair (2021-2024), Education Committee Chair (2019-2021), Women for Justice Co-Chair (2016-2017), Board of Governors (2017-Present)
• Minnesota Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure (2020-Present)
• Minnesota Women Lawyers
• Minnesota State Bar Association, Civil Litigation Council (2017-Present), Secretary (2024-Present)
• Ramsey County Bar Association
• Twin Cities Diversity in Practice
• Women Trial Lawyers Conference, Inaugural Planning Committee (2016-Present)

Speeches

• The Business of Law: Working Up to Trial
  Women Trial Lawyers Conference, Nisswa, Minnesota (November 7, 2024)
• Reaching Your Jury Through the New Expert
  Robins Kaplan LLP 2023 Trial Advocacy Seminar, Minneapolis, Minnesota (November 16, 2023)
• Legislative Updates Impacting Medical Malpractice Litigation
  Minnesota Association For Justice, Minneapolis, Minnesota (April 13th, 2023)
• Breaking News – Interacting with the Media
  Moderator, Robins Kaplan LLP 2022 Trial Advocacy Seminar, Minneapolis, Minnesota (December 15, 2022)
• Litigation: Trial by Fire – Practical Tips for the New Trial Lawyer
  Webinar, Minnesota CLE (August 8, 2019)
• Medical Malpractice The Anatomy of a Case
  Minnesota CLE, Minneapolis, Minnesota (May 29, 2019)
• Inspiring Books and the Concrete Ways They are Used in Practice
  Minnesota Association for Justice, Duluth, Minnesota (February 22, 2019)
• The Right Emotions in a Wrongful Death Case
  Minnesota Association for Justice, Minneapolis, Minnesota (January 24, 2019)
• Advanced Medical Malpractice
  National Business Institute, Webinar (October 1, 2018)
• Enhancing Damages in Wrongful Death Case
  Minnesota Association for Justice, Minneapolis, Minnesota (September 18, 2018)
• Litigating a Malpractice Claim From The New Lawyers Perspective
  Minnesota State Bar Association, St. Paul, Minnesota (March 29, 2018)
• Litigating a Malpractice Claim From The New Lawyers Perspective
  Minnesota State Bar Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota (March 27, 2018)
• Litigating a Malpractice Claim From The New Lawyers Perspective
  Minnesota State Bar Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota (March 22, 2018)
• Top 10 to Know about Medical Malpractice and Wrongful Death
  Minnesota Association for Justice, Minneapolis, Minnesota (March 12, 2018)
• Enhancing Damages in Wrongful Death Cases
  Minnesota Association for Justice, Duluth, Minnesota (February 23, 2018)
• Boosting the Bottom Line: An Evidence Based Argument for Women in Leadership
  Minnesota Women Lawyers, Minneapolis, Minnesota (April 21, 2017)

Media Mentions

• "The Power 30: Teresa Fariss McClain and Elizabeth M. Fors, Robins Kaplan LLP," Minnesota Lawyer (July 22, 2024)
• "Breaking the Ice: Advocate Lauds Recently Passed ‘Survivorship’ Bill," Minnesota Lawyer (July 6, 2023)
• “2020 Up & Coming Attorneys: Elizabeth Fors,” Minnesota Lawyer (September 12, 2020)
• "Landlord Faces Lawsuit After UND Student Rape Case," Valley News Live (December 14, 2017)