Kibort, Jesse H.

Mike Kessler was a member of the Law Review and graduated from Albany Law School in 1972. He is a partner in the firm of Rosenblum, Ronan, Kessler and Sarachan in Albany, New York and formerly served Counsel to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Mr. Kessler is Board Certified in Medical Malpractice Law by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys and has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® and Superlawyers.® Mike is listed as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America” by the National Trial Lawyers Association . He limits his practice to representing individuals who have suffered catastrophic injuries.

In Auer v. State of New York, Mr. Kessler won a $19.1 million verdict. The New York Law Journal noted that this result was "at least $7 million" larger than any verdict ever rendered in the Court of Claims.” In 2001 the Appellate Division upheld and increased the judgment to $19.85 million, making it by far the largest personal injury judgment ever upheld by the Third Department, and one of the largest ever upheld in New York State.

Since 1991, Mr. Kessler has had twelve cases in which the recoveries were over $5 million, six of which were over $8.5 million. He has had fourteen other cases with over $2 million recoveries. The Albany Times Union described Holt v. AMCH as "the largest award…in a medical malpractice suit in [Albany] county's history..." The New York Law Journal called Cole v. State of New York "the largest malpractice judgment ever awarded against the State in the Court of Claims." In 1995, Mr. Kessler tried a medical case in Pennsylvania for a month before it was settled for an amount reported to be the largest malpractice settlement ever paid in that jurisdiction.

Mr. Kessler has given Grand Rounds for the Ob/Gyn Department at Albany Medical Center Hospital, He has been invited to lecture at the Albany Law School, and for American Association for Justice (AAJ), North American Brain Injury Society (NABIS), New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYTSLA), Brain Injury Association (BIA), Brain Injury Society of New York State (BIANYS) and Capital District Trial Lawyers.

Mr. Kessler has also appeared as a guest commentator on personal injury law on Court TV, and his articles have been published in Trial Magazine and Trial Lawyers Quarterly. He is a recognized authority on Article 50-A and 50-B of the CPLR and his 1990 monograph on this subject correctly predicted the eventual Court of Appeals decisions on the effect of inflation on plaintiff’s recoveries. Mr. Kessler’s 1997 post graduate article on the use of scientific literature at trial was published in the Albany Law Review. He presented a paper on life expectancy of catastrophically injured children both at NYU Hospital and at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He has spoken on the life expectancy defense before the Australian Lawyers Alliance, the Queensland Australia Law Society, The Pan European Organization of European Lawyers (PEOPLE) Joint Conference, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, BIA, AAJ, NABIS, and BIANYS, and the Birth Trauma Litigation Group of AAJ. His chapter on this subject appears in the textbook “Pediatric Life Care Planning and Case Management.” He has presented to Emergency Medicine physicians nationwide on avoiding malpractice claims in the ER.

Mike has also been invited to speak to the New York State Office of Court Administration and the Association of Supreme Court Justices of New York State on structured settlements. His book, Protecting the Catastrophically Injured Personal Injury Plaintiff’s Recovery: The Benefits and Risks of Structured Settlements and Their Alternatives in a Changing Economy, was published in 2010 by the New York State Bar Association

Mr. Kessler is admitted to practice in New York and Pennsylvania. He is a Diplomate of the National College of Advocacy and is a member of AAJ and NYTSLA. He is a Charter Member of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers and currently serves as Vice President. Mike was elected to the House of Delegates of NYBSA and was a Director of the Capital Region Affiliate of NYTSLA. He is a member of BIA, NABIS, and served on the Board of Directors of BIANYS. He is also a member of AAJ’s Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group and currently is Chairman Elect. Mr. Kessler was also was elected to serve on the Executive Board of AAJ’s Birth Trauma Litigation Group.

He is also a proud member of the Association of Surfing Lawyers.