Ben McAninch joined Blethen, Gage and Krause in 2010 after practicing for more than seven years at a litigation firm 
in Birmingham, Alabama. Ben’s practice was devoted primarily to the defense of physicians, hospitals and other health care providers in medical malpractice cases.
He gained significant trial experience while in Alabama and was named a partner at that firm in February of 2009. Since his return to Minnesota, Ben’s practice has been focused on general civil litigation, insurance defense, agricultural litigation and probate litigation.
Ben has proven his great litigation skills as indicated below for some of his most notable cases:
- Obtained a favorable opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit while representing two landowners against Grinnell Mutual Insurance Company in an insurance coverage dispute. Grinnell declined to provide coverage pursuant to its farm liability policy when an ATV injury occurred on their property. The Federal District Court Judge and Eighth Circuit agreed with our interpretation of the relevant policy language and ordered Grinnell to provide coverage.
- Defended insured driver and owner of vehicle to jury verdict in Brown County, Minnesota. The jury awarded damages near our previous offer but significantly lower than plaintiff’s demand.
- Defended insured driver to jury verdict in Martin County, Minnesota. The jury assessed damages against our client in an amount less than our previous offer.
- Defended underinsured motorist claim on behalf of a national insurance company before a jury in Olmsted County. The jury returned a verdict which reflected that there was no claim for underinsured motorist benefits.
- Successful representation of a sanitary district in a three-day contested case hearing which resulted in the Administrative Law Judge and MPCA finding in favor of the district.
- Successful representation of farming heirs in a trial involving a probate dispute/will contest which resulted in nearly all claims being denied. The Court returned a verdict far below our clients’ previous offer of settlement.
- Defended a bus company and its driver from injury claims following an accident in McLeod County. The jury returned a verdict below the offer of settlement made by the defense.
If you’d like to contact Ben, give him a call at 507-345-1166.
