Robins Kaplan Recognized in The National Law Journal's Top 100 Verdicts List for 2022

Robins Kaplan LLP is pleased to announce that a $564 million verdict secured on behalf of client Douglas A. Kelley in one of the largest Ponzi scheme cases in U.S. history has been ranked among The National Law Journal’s Top 100 Verdicts for 2022.

The case involved former Wayzata fraudster Tom Petters, who was convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison for fraud using accounts held at M&I Bank, which was acquired in 2011 by BMO Harris Bank. In November 2022, a Minnesota jury found that BMO aided and abetted breaches of fiduciary duty by Petters and his cohorts in using an M&I checking account to launder nearly $74 billion in Ponzi scheme proceeds between 2002 and 2008. The jury awarded approximately $564 million in damages to Kelley in his capacity as trustee for the BMO Litigation Trust.

In June 2023, a federal judge in St. Paul ordered BMO Harris Bank to pay pre- and post-judgment interest on the verdict, bringing the award and BMO’s total liability to over $1 billion. 

The Robins Kaplan trial team was led by Michael Collyard and included David Marder, Peter Ihrig, Steve Safranski, Randy Tietjen, Michael Reif, and Morgia Holmes.