Lynn Lincoln Sarko

Seattle

1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3400
Seattle, WA 98101

206.623.1900 [email protected] 206.623.3384

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Managing Partner Lynn Sarko uses thoughtful innovation to solve complex issues.

Having led Keller Rohrback L.L.P.’s Complex Litigation Group since its inception over 30 years ago, Lynn’s work has led to new developments in case law and significant, impactful settlements for his clients.

A dynamic leader with a tenacious dedication to justice, Lynn has been selected by courts across the nation to serve in key leadership roles in a wide variety of cutting-edge cases. Namely, he was appointed Co-Lead counsel for In re EpiPen (Epinephrine Injection, USP) Mktg., Sales Practices & Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2785 (D. Kan.), the nationwide class action against pharmaceutical company Mylan and others for anticompetitive and unfair business practices in its sale and marketing of the EpiPen Auto-Injector device. He was also selected to serve in a leadership position on behalf of governmental entities and other plaintiffs in the vast litigation regarding the nationwide prescription opioid epidemic, In re National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No. 2804 (N.D. Ohio). The National Law Journal referred to this leadership team as a “‘Who’s Who’ in mass torts.”

Some of Lynn’s other remarkable successes include consumer protection cases aimed at holding automotive companies accountable for wrongdoing. One such case was In re Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2672 (N.D. Cal.), for which Lynn was appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee—a group referred to as a “class action dream team.” The case settled for over $17 billion. Lynn was also appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for In re Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep EcoDiesel Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2777 (N.D. Cal.), which settled for $307.5 million, including required emissions modifications for 100,000 eligible vehicles. In addition to consumer protection cases, Lynn has also served in leadership positions for cases involving financial fraud and breaches of fiduciary duty. He was selected to lead teams of attorneys representing plaintiffs in the litigations against Enron, Worldcom, and Madoff—three of the biggest financial frauds of our time.

Lynn is widely renowned within the legal community and beyond for his diplomacy and fearless devotion to justice. He was a member of the legal team nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for seeking enforcement of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on behalf of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. He was also honored to receive the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year Award for his work on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill trial team, and he was one of four Washington lawyers recognized as one of the 500 “Leading Lawyers in America” by Lawdragon. He is also AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been consecutively named to the Washington Super Lawyers list for 21 years.

Lynn holds a BBA and an MBA in accounting and finance from the University of Wisconsin, where he also served as an accounting instructor. He graduated with his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law school, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Wisconsin Law Review and received the faculty award given to the most outstanding member of the graduating class.

Prior to joining Keller Rohrback, Lynn was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, Criminal Division, an associate at the Washington D.C office of Arnold & Porter, and law clerk to the Honorable Jerome Farris, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in Seattle.

Lynn has been recognized by Law360 as a “Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar,” read the interview here.

You can also read more about Lynn and Keller Rohrback's complex litigation team in the Lawdragon.com feature article: A Team Taking Corporations to Task: Complex Litigation at Keller Rohrback.

Speaking Engagements

Emory Roundtable Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, hosted by Institute for Complex Litigation & Mass Claims, Emory University School of Law

HarrisMartin's MDL Conference: Volkswagen Clean Diesels – Update from Plaintiffs’ PSC Chair and Steering Committee Members on the Environmental Issues

HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: Volkswagen Update

Enforcement of ERISA Rights and Responsibilities: An ERISA @40 Event, Washington, D.C.

ACI 9th ERISA Litigation Conference, Chicago

Global Justice Network Presentation re Volkswagen, San Francisco

AAJ panel - Plaintiff Only Hot Topics and Trends in Litigation Seminar, New Orleans

Case Perspectives Lecture: Plains Oil Spill Litigation, UCLA Law School

AAJ Education Trends in Litigation Seminar: "Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Fraud- Potential Classes, Causes of Action, Remedies, and Defenses"

14th Annual Pension Law, Governance and Solvency Conference

24th Annual ERISA Litigation Conference

4th National Advanced Forum on Defending & Managing ERISA Litigation, American Conference Institute

24th Annual Producer Conference on Executive Liability

ERISA Litigation 2010, Practising Law Institute

23rd Annual ERISA Litigation Conference

Real Estate Mortgage Market Litigation

ABA Winter Meeting Employee Benefits Committee

22nd Annual ERISA Litigation Conference

ERISA Class Actions – Up Close and Personal: An In Depth Look at the Myriad of Complex and Ever-Evolving Issues

401(k) Plan Litigation: Employer Stock Suits Continue

21st annual ERISA Litigation Conference

Western Benefits Conference

Los Angeles Benefits Conference

20th Annual ERISA Litigation Conference

Follow the Money: DOL Initiatives and New Litigation on Service Provider Revenue Sharing

Employee Benefits Committee MidWinter Meeting

19th Annual ERISA Litigation Conference

ERISA Litigation Developments DOL Speaks: Employee Benefits Conference

Fiduciary Litigation including Employer Securities, 15th Annual National Institute on ERISA Litigation

18th Annual ERISA Litigation Conference

Ethics & Privilege Issues Under ERISA, 18th Annual ERISA Litigation Conference

ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Company Stock Litigation, 18th Annual ERISA Litigation Conference - West

New Frontiers in Fiduciary Liability Employers Stock/Cash Balance Conversions Plus D&O West Symposium

ERISA Preemption and Effect on other Laws ABA Employee Benefits Committee Meeting

Newest Plaintiffs' Liability Theories & Trends In Defense Pleadings/Motions Advanced Forum on Complex Litigation

The Joint Opening Session in Mediation Advanced Mediation & Advocacy Skills Training

Officer & Director Liability Corporate Directors Series

More Enron/Worldcom Fallout: Corporate Officers On the Fiduciary Hook Section of Business Law Annual Meeting

17th Annual ERISA Litigation Conference

Mutual Fund Litigation 4th Annual ERISA Fiduciary Program

Pension Fund/Institutional Fiduciary Program

The Essentials of Civil Settlement Strategies Seminar

33rd Annual Educational Conference

Practice Emphasis

Education

University of Wisconsin B.B.A., 1977

University of Wisconsin M.B.A., 1978, Beta Alpha Psi

University of Wisconsin J.D., 1981, Editor-in-Chief, Wisconsin Law Review, Order of the Coif, Salmon Dalberg Award (outstanding graduate)

Bar and Court Admissions

1981, Wisconsin

1981, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

1983, District of Columbia Court of Appeals

1984, District of Columbia

1984, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

1984, United States Supreme Court

1984, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

1984, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

1984, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

1984, U.S. Tax Court

1986, Washington

1986, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

1988, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

1989, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

1996, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

1997, U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

2001, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

2002, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

2003, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

2003, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

2004, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

2008, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

2009, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

2010, U.S. District Court for North Dakota

2013, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

2016, U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois

2016, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

2018, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

2019, Arizona