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Sanford
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James T. Ronan (1931-1995)
Michael W.
Kessler
George L.
Sarachan
Bruce A.
Sutphin
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Michael W. Kessler, partner
Since 1991 Michael W. Kessler has been a partner of the Albany
law firm Rosenblum, Ronan, Kessler & Sarachan. His practice focuses
exclusively on representing catastrophically injured plaintiffs.
Mike grew up in Albany and went to Washington, D.C., to earn his bachelor's degree from American University in 1969. He received his law degree from Albany Law School in 1972. After serving as counsel to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in Milwaukee, he became a partner in the Troy firm of Wager, Taylor, Howd, Brearton & Kessler, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in personal injury cases.
In 1999 Mike won a record $19.1 million verdict for a brain-injured victim of a highway accident. According to the New York Law Journal, this recovery was “at least $7 million larger” than any other personal injury verdict ever rendered against the State of New York. On appeal, the verdict was not only sustained, but increased. This was just one of many record-setting recoveries Mike has obtained. The Albany Times Union described another of his cases as “the largest award to come from either a settlement or verdict in a medical malpractice suit in [Albany] county's history.” And, in 1995 after a month of trial, Mike settled a case in Pennsylvania for an amount reported to be the largest medical-malpractice settlement ever paid in that state. Since 1990 Mike has tried nine cases with verdicts or settlements of over $2 million, six of which involved recoveries of over $5 million.
Mike has lectured widely and has written several articles for publication. He has spoken frequently at the Albany Law School as well as for the New York State Bar Association, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the New York State Brain Injury Association, and New York State Trial Lawyers Association, among others. He has also given Grand Rounds for the Obstetrics/Gynecology department at Albany Medical Center Hospital. Mike has twice appeared as a guest commentator on personal injury law on Court TV and has been published in Trial magazine, Trial Lawyers Quarterly, and the Albany Law Review.
Mike is admitted to practice law in New York and Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), the New York State Trial Lawyers, the Brain Injury Association, and the New York State Brain Injury Association. He has served as an elected member of the House of Delegates of the New York State Bar Association and as a director and treasurer of the Capital Region affiliate of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. He was also recently honored by election to the executive board of ATLA's Birth Trauma Litigation Group, an organization devoted to representing children and families of children who have suffered birth injuries. He is also a member of ATLA's Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group.
