Keller Rohrback Managing Partner, Lynn Lincoln Sarko, was recently named as one of Law360 “Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar” for 2023. The “Titans” award seeks to recognize influential members of the plaintiffs’ bar who have had significant wins over the past year. Lynn is one of only 12 attorneys recognized for this honor this year. 

In a recently published article, excerpted below, Law360 profiles Lynn and his work at his more than 30 years at the helm of Keller Rohrback including the victories over the past year that earned him the honor of being named Titan.

Although one of the most influential plaintiffs attorneys at the moment, Lynn Lincoln Sarko, the managing partner of Seattle-based Keller Rohrback LLP, came from humble origins, growing up in Marengo, Illinois, a once 2,000-person farm town that Sarko joked didn't nab its first stoplight until after he left.

Despite its size, however, the Illinois city spit out two legal behemoths: David Boies of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and Sarko. Sarko said the attorneys discovered their shared origin while working together on the sprawling Volkswagen AG multidistrict litigation, which saw the company accused of overstating the fuel economy of certain vehicles and culminated with a $14.7 billion settlement that nabbed final approval in October 2016.

"We were talking about where we were from, and low and behold, we had both grown up in the same no-stoplight town," Sarko said.

Sarko told Law360 that growing up in his small Illinois town had a major impact on his legal approach and aims today. Sarko compared large legal cases to trying to get a 2,000-pound bull to move where you want him to, saying you can either figure out how to understand it or try to persuade it.

"In a lot of these large legal cases, it's the same thing," Sarko said.

Having been at the helm of Keller Rohrback for more than 30 years, Sarko said, practically speaking, many of the big cases he takes on against large corporations really are "David versus Goliath," rendering it impossible to match the other side "soldier-by-soldier."

"We either have to get to the finish line and win the case, or we have to — and this is sort of a specialty of mine — try to explore if there is a path for resolution," Sarko said.

The full article can be read and downloaded here.