Admissions
State of Minnesota

State of Colorado

U.S. District Court,
District of Minnesota

Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

U.S. District Court,
District of Colorado

Education:

John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois, Juris Doctor, 1975.

Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, Bachelor of Arts, 1971.

St. Mary’s University (Minnesota), M.A. (Masters in Human Development), 2005.

Licensure:
Licensed to practice law in Colorado

Mr. Dorigan is Of Counsel to the Yates Law Firm. Mr. Dorigan has practiced nationally for over 31 years, handling complex civil litigation in a wide range of subject areas, including product liability, intellectual property, construction, environmental litigation, business and commercial disputes, and personal injury.

After graduating from Hammond (Indiana) High School in 1966, Mr. Dorigan attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, graduating in 1971. While at Augustana, Mr. Dorigan played varsity football and was a starting offensive lineman, playing center for future Cincinnati Bengals all-pro quarterback, Ken Anderson. After graduating from Augustana, Mr. Dorigan attended the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Mr. Dorigan was Research Editor for the Law Review and graduated with honors in 1975. An antitrust article written by Mr. Dorigan appeared as a lead article in the John Marshall Journal of Practice and Procedure immediately following Mr. Dorigan's graduation.

After graduating from law school, Mr. Dorigan moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he practiced for over twenty years in civil litigation. After representing the State of Minnesota's Environmental Quality Board as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Minnesota, Mr. Dorigan moved into private practice. Mr. Dorigan became a partner in the national law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi and practiced with that firm until August, 1997, at which time he moved to Colorado. While at the Robins firm, Mr. Dorigan practiced primarily in the areas of personal injury, construction, product liability, and intellectual property litigation. For over a decade Mr. Dorigan represented various private and governmental bodies across the country in construction litigation against the Dow Chemical Company concerning the use by those clients of a Dow mortar additive alleged to cause corrosion of steel embedded in masonry. Representative clients included hospitals, nursing homes, high-rise homes for the elderly, colleges, commercial offices, and other masonry buildings. As part of that effort Mr. Dorigan was hired by the State of Colorado's Office of Attorney General to represent the Colorado Department of Highways in litigation involving use of the Dow additive in the Eisenhower Tunnel. That representation led to a very favorable settlement on behalf of the State with the Dow Chemical Company.

While at the Robins firm, Mr. Dorigan developed an expertise in the Federal Racketeering statute, "RICO," and authored a lead article regarding the use of RICO against habitual corporate offenders that was published in the William Mitchell College of Law's Law Review.  

Mr. Dorigan moved to Colorado in late 1997 and was retained once again by the State of Colorado's Office of Attorney General, this time to help represent the State in its lawsuit against the tobacco industry. (Mr. Dorigan had worked on the tobacco team representing the State of Minnesota and Blue Cross-Blue Shield while with the Robins firm). While working on behalf of the State of Colorado on its tobacco lawsuit, Mr. Dorigan was a team leader in charge of Colorado's racketeering claims and was also responsible for developing the State's tobacco-related damages model. Mr. Dorigan was designated by the Colorado Attorney General to serve as one of the trial counsel for that lawsuit.

Following the State of Colorado $1.7 billion settlement with the tobacco industry, Mr. Dorigan joined Denver's Vanatta, Sullan, Sandgrund & Sullan, P.C. on December 1, 1998. At the Vanatta firm Mr. Dorigan focused exclusively on residential and commercial construction litigation. In the spring of 2005, following very successful settlements on behalf of homeowners of a number of   multi-million dollar lawsuits, Mr. Dorigan took a sabbatical from his law practice to travel and complete a Master's Degree in Human Development from St. Mary's University in Minnesota (M.A. in Human Development awarded in December, 2005).   Mr. Dorigan
currently practices law in Fraser, Colorado and serves as "Of Counsel"
to the Yates Law Firm.

Mr. Dorigan also has three black belts in martial arts and is a Certified Anusara Yoga instructor.

Selected Activities

Author:

Dorigan, W., Black, D., and Allely, C.: The Proposed Restatement on Products Liability: Implications for Suppliers of Raw Materials and Component Parts, Product Safety and Liability Reporter, Vol. 26, n.16 (April 17, 1998)

William E. Dorigan and Alfred H. Edwall, Jr., A Proposed RICO Pattern Requirement For the Habitual Commercial Offender, 15 William Mitchell L. Rev. 1 (1989)

Comment: The Potential Competition Doctrine: The Justice Department's Antitrust Weapon Under Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 8 J. Marshall J. Prac. & Proc. 415 (1974-1975)

Leo F. Feeney, William E. Dorigan and Corey Gordon, Admissibility of Similar Occurrence Evidence, Minnesota Trial Lawyer, p. 20 (Winter 1990)

Examples of Reported Cases:

Lawrence G. Brown v. Shimano Industrial Company, Ltd. , 960 F.2d 152 (9 th Cir. 1992), unpublished (obtained reversal by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of summary judgment based on statute of limitations for intellectual property claims, leading to multimillion dollar settlement in favor of client inventor of bicycle chain ring)

Blaine B. Chase, et al. v. Dow Chemical Company , 875 F.2d 278 (10 th Cir. 1989)(obtained reversal from Tenth Circuit Court of summary judgment in product liability case on issue of whether product manufacturer procured a release through fraudulent inducement, resulting in subsequent settlement of several million dollars in favor of client commercial real estate owner)

Floodwood-Fine Lakes Citizens Group, et al. v. Minnesota Environmental Quality Counsel, et al. , 287 N.W.3d 390 (Minn. 1979)(obtained reversal by Minnesota Supreme Court of summary judgment in environmental case involving client state agency's selection of power plant site, resulting in citing of plant at location selected by client)

No Power Line, Inc. (NPL), et al. v. Minnesota Environmental Quality Counsel, et al. , 262 N.W.2d 312 (Minn. 1977)(obtained ruling from Minnesota Supreme Court affirming client state agency's decision on location of power line corridor through eight Minnesota counties)

State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Grain Belt Breweries, Inc. , 245 N.W.2d 186 (Minn. 1976)(obtained reversal by Minnesota Supreme Court of trial court's JNOV, reinstating verdict in favor of client insurer in subrogation action)

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