Joseph Sayler

Practices: Personal Injury and Wrongful Death, Railroad and Train Accidents

Attorney Joseph Sayler is known for his passionate, tireless representation of seriously injured individuals and their families. Focusing his work in North Dakota and Minnesota, Joe represents people with serious injury claims, including those related to traumatic brain injuries, amputations, and severe burns.

Both clients and attorneys from other states enlist Joe’s legal expertise and drive for highly specialized cases involving harm caused by railroads, liquor establishments, medical providers, and exposure to toxic products like asbestos. Joe has represented numerous railroad workers, protected under the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA), who have been injured on the job, and has achieved several record settlements.

While he primarily represents individuals in Minnesota and North Dakota (where he is from), Joe has litigated cases in twenty-six states with a great deal of success, including several record settlements. He has been named a “Rising Star” for personal injury litigation and is licensed in North Dakota and Minnesota.

Joe also teaches torts (including personal injury) to law students at William Mitchell College of Law. He has been asked to author several professional articles on important legal issues by law reviews and other prestigious publications.

In a landmark railroad case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Joe authored an amicus curiae brief that was twice cited by Justice Ginsburg, in her majority opinion.

Joe has also volunteered with the Pet Project Rescue, Volunteer Lawyers Network, the Minnesota State Bar Association — Civic Education Committee, the American Red Cross, and in New Orleans on behalf of Hurricane Katrina victims.

Education

William Mitchell College of Law — St. Paul, Minnesota,
J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence, cum laude

University of North Dakota — Grand Forks, North Dakota,
B.S., Criminal Justice, magna cum laude

Bar Admissions

• Minnesota
• North Dakota

Associations and Licenses

• Minnesota Association for Justice
• Warren Burger Inns of Court
• Minnesota State Bar Association
• American Association for Justice (on publication committee as a contributor and editor)
• North Dakota Bar Association

Published Articles and Presentations

• Hamline Law Review, 2012
• Mischief Makers Beware: Minnesota Courts’ Broad Power To Sanction Misconduct In The Wake of Frazier v. BNSF
• Minnesota Trial Journal, Spring 2011
• Who Sanctioned This?!: The Inherent Power of Minnesota’s Courts to Sanction
• William Mitchell Law Review, 2009
• The Legacy of the 9/11 Fund and the Minnesota I-35W Bridge-Collapse Fund: Creating a Template for Compensating Victims of Future Mass-Tort Catastrophes
• Collateral Consequences Team, 2009
• Forthcoming White Paper to be presented to the Minnesota Legislature concerning collateral consequences for individuals introduced to the criminal justice system
• William Mitchell College of Law, November 2010
• Creating Connections: Getting a Job, Getting a Client, or Just Getting Noticed
• Contributing author of The Minnesota Evidence Desk Book

Representative Cases

1. Deibert V. DMVW Railroad (Believed to be a record settlement against the DMVW. Accident occurred when DMVW’s tracks washed out and the locomotive crashed into the hole created by the washout. Primary injury was PTSD).
2. Grover v. Sidekicks Lounge, et al. (North Dakota dram shop cases involving three bars and a drunk driver and an innocent client who ultimately had her leg amputated. Despite one of the four bars having insurance, settlements exceeded one million dollars).
3. Shinkle v. BNSF Railway (Railroad worker in Spokane, WA, sustained a traumatic brain injury while working for BNSF. Railroad insisted on accusing Mr. Shinkle of faking this career ending injury. BNSF was caught destroying evidence and the court determined they were completely liable for the injury. BNSF faced sanctions after trial. Halfway through trial, a favorable settlement was reached).

Appellate Work

1. McBride v. CSX (Amicus Curiae brief cited twice in majority opinion at the United States Supreme Court)
2. Weissman v. AIG (8th Circuit Court of Appeals)