Roberta B. Walburn
Outside Experience
Adjunct Professor at University of St. Thomas Law School, teaching course in complex litigation (2005-2006)
Senior Fellow, World Health Organization (1999-2000), Geneva, Switzerland
Legislative Assistant, U.S. Senator Paul D. Wellstone (1991)
- Law Clerk to the Honorable Miles W. Lord, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, Minnesota (1983-84)
- Staff Reporter, Minneapolis Star Tribune (1977-1983)
- Financial Reporter, Buffalo (N.Y.) Evening News (1974-1977)
Selected Results*
Served as plaintiffs’ liaison counsel, State of Minnesota and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota in a groundbreaking lawsuit against the tobacco industry. After four years of litigation -- including discovery of more than 30 million pages of internal documents, litigation of crime - fraud privilege issues, more than a dozen interlocutory appeals (including two to the U.S. Supreme Court), and four months of trial -- the case settled on May 8, 1998, on the eve of jury deliberations. The settlement provides for more than $6.6 billion in payments to the State and Blue Cross, and unprecedented injunctive relief against the tobacco industry. Received Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from Trial Lawyers for Public Justice for work on the litigation.
Represented families of Senator Paul Wellstone, his wife, daughter and three staff members who died in a crash of a chartered plane near Eveleth, MN. The case settled against the affiliated air charter companies for the insurance limits of $25 million.
Represented the Union of India, and through the government, all victims of the Bhopal disaster in federal court in New York and the courts of India.
Represented women injured by the Cu-7 intrauterine device against G.D. Searle Co.
Represented (now Justice) Alan Page in constitutional challenge in Minnesota Supreme court to vacate the governor’s executive order extending of the term of an incumbent justice.
Represented Honeywell Inc. in a series of patent infringement cases involving automatic camera technology against the camera industry.
Recognition
- Listed in "Minnesota's Legal Hall of Fame: The 100 Most Influential Attorneys in State History," Minnesota Law & Politics (2007)**
Memberships
- The Council on Crime and Justice, Board of Directors, 2007
- The Advocates for Human Rights, Board of Directors, 2001-present.
Foundation for Education, Public Health and Social Justice, Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P., 2002-present.
University of Minnesota Law School, Board of Visitors, 1999-2004.
- Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California-San Francisco, Advisory Board, 2000-2004.
- Long-time member of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), a national public interest law firm; served on board and as state coordinator for Minnesota.
Bar Admissions
- Minnesota
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Minnesota
- U.S. Supreme Court
Education
- University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., cum laude (1983), Member of the University of Minnesota Law Review
- University of Michigan, B.A., with high distinction
Articles
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The Prospects for Globalizing Tobacco Litigation
The World Health Organization (January 2000)
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Decades of Deceit: Document Discovery in the Minnesota Tobacco Litigation
25 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 477 (1999) (with Michael V. Ciresi and Tara D. Sutton)
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Union Carbide Corporation's Liability for the Bhopal Disaster: Multinational Enterprise Liability
Business, Ethics and the Environment, Quorum Books (ed. W. Hoffman et al. 1990) (with Bruce A. Finzen)
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Pre-Trial Procedures in U.S. Products Liability Actions
Pre-Trial and Pre-Hearing Procedures Worldwide, International Bar Association (ed. C. Platto 1990) (with Michael V. Ciresi)
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Post-Injury Evidence
TRIAL Magazine (November 1989) (with Michael V. Ciresi)
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Preemption in Pharmaceutical Cases
TRIAL Magazine (March 1988) (with Michael V. Ciresi)