Fred Morris is the former chair of Leonard, Street and Deinard’s Product Liability and Tort Litigation practice group. While a significant portion of his practice has concerned tort and commercial litigation involving manufactured products, he also has been lead counsel in employment, patent licensing, contract, ERISA, medical malpractice, franchise, and civil rights litigation. Because of his extensive jury trial experience, Fred has been retained to assist with the trial of patent and trademark infringement cases tried to juries. In addition, Fred has been the lead counsel in several complex class action cases. He has appeared before state or federal courts in more than 35 states, several state or federal appellate courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Fred has been asked to participate as a faculty member in regional NITA programs and in trial practice courses given at law schools in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. He is a contributor to Dr. Donald E. Vinson’s book Jury Persuasion: Psychological Strategies and Trial Techniques (Prentice Hall Law & Business, 1993). In recognition of his jury trial experience and regard among his peers, Fred has been admitted into the American Board of Trial Advocates and the International Society of Barristers. He has been named among The Best Lawyers in America in both commercial litigation and product liability litigation, and has been selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers®.

Professional and Civic Activities

• American Bar Association
• Minnesota State Bar Association
• Hennepin County Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute
• International Society of Barristers 
• American Board of Trial Advocates
• Past chair, Leonard, Street and Deinard’s Products Liability and Tort Litigation department
• Frequent faculty member, National Institute of Trial Advocacy programs

Fred’s representative cases include:

• Ball v. A.O. Smith Corp., 451 F.3d 66, 2006 WL 1579545, 46 Bankr.Ct.Dec. 178, Bankr. L. Rep. P 80,632, , C.A.2 (N.Y.), June 09, 2006 (Docket No. 05-1152-bk.)
• FinishMaster, Inc. v. Wausau Benefits, Inc., 425 F.Supp.2d 933, 2006 WL 889737, , S.D.Ind., March 24, 2006 (No. 1:04-CV-1766-LJM-WTL.)
• Jack H. Winslow Farms, Inc. v. Dedmon, 360 N.C. 64, 621 S.E.2d 625, 2005 WL 3025203, , N.C., October 06, 2005 (No. 466P05.)
• Minnesota Specialty Crops, Inc. v. Minnesota Wild Hockey Club, L.P., 210 F.R.D. 673, 2002 WL 31387726, , D.Minn., August 09, 2002 (Civ. No. 00-2317 (JRT/RLE).)
• McCaleb v. A.O. Smith Corp., 200 F.3d 747, 2000 WL 18674, RICO Bus.Disp.Guide 9816, 13 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 344, , C.A.11 (Ala.), January 12, 2000 (No. 99-12901Non-Argument Calendar.)
• Klehr v. A.O. Smith Corp., 521 U.S. 179, 181 (1997)
• Ilhardt v. A.O. Smith Corp., 168 F.R.D. 613, 1996 WL 479122, 36 Fed.R.Serv.3d 986, , S.D.Ohio, August 16, 1996 (No. C-1-92-635.)
• Frank v. Winter, 528 N.W.2d 910, 1995 WL 90162, , Minn.App., March 07, 1995 (No. C9-94-1755.)
• Buller v. A.O. Smith Harvestore Products, Inc., 518 N.W.2d 537, 1994 WL 278173, , Minn., June 24, 1994 (No. C5-93-138.)
• Veldhuizen v. A.O. Smith Corp., 839 F.Supp. 669, 1993 WL 521736, , D.Minn., December 14, 1993 (Civ. No. 4-92-1131.)
• Insurance Co. of State of Pennsylvania v. Hoffman, 814 F.Supp. 782, 1993 WL 48222, , D.Minn., February 22, 1993 (Civ. No. 4-91-297.)
• Parker v. MVBA Harvestore Systems, 491 N.W.2d 904, 1992 WL 314518, , Minn.App., November 03, 1992 (Nos. C4-92-704, C8-92-706 and C7-92-731.)
• Filippi v. Inter-City Products Corp., Not Reported in N.W.2d, 1992 WL 89536, , Minn.App., May 05, 1992 (No. C7-91-1786.)
• VERTA Corp. v. Cooper Industries, Inc., Not Reported in N.W.2d, 1990 WL 84665, , Minn.App., June 26, 1990 (No. C2-89-1811.)
• Dubbe v. A.O. Smith Harvestore Products, Inc., 399 N.W.2d 644, 2 UCC Rep.Serv.2d 1532, , Minn.App., January 27, 1987 (No. C0-86-1016.)
• Maas v. Allstate Insurance Co., 365 N.W.2d 256 (Minn. 1985)
• Westland Capital Corp. v. Lucht Engineering Inc., 308 N.W.2d 709, , Minn., July 24, 1981 (No. 51462.)
• Levienn v. Metropolitan Transit Commission, 297 N.W.2d 272, , Minn., August 22, 1980 (No. 50239.)
• Mead v. U. S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 442 F.Supp. 109, 18 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 136, , D.Minn., August 15, 1977 (Civ. Nos. 4-77-16, 4-77-42.)

Education

• J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1975
• B.A., Yale University, 1969

Admissions

• State of Minnesota, 1975
• U.S. District Courts for the District of Columbia, District of Minnesota, Western District of Missouri, Eastern District of Wisconsin and Western District of Wisconsin
• U.S. Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Second, Fifth, Seventh, Eighth and Eleventh Circuits
• U.S. Supreme Court