Kelly Sofio

Richard C. Scattergood

Kelly Sofio

612-520-8614 (Direct)
ksofio@tstlaw.com

Anna Warnemunde

Legal Assistant
612-520-8616 (Direct)
awarnemunde@tstlaw.com

Experience

With over 25 years of experience in her defense practice, Kelly Sofio is regarded by her peers and her clients as an authority on first-party automobile insurance law. She has tried numerous jury and court trials, as well as binding arbitrations. She has experience defending personal injury claims, uninsured and underinsured motorist claims, dealing with allegations of bad faith (both first-party and third-party) and resolving cases with multiple claimants and limited liability coverage.

Kelly has adjudicated over 3,000 AAA and District Court no-fault and bodily injury cases and appeals, and appeared in front of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals, and the Minnesota Supreme Court in the successful case Western Nat’l Ins. Co. v. Nguyen, 902 N.W.2d 645 (Minn. App. 2017), aff’d mem. (Minn. Sup. Ct. March 23, 2018).

She is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association, and is currently involved in the Women in the Law, Motor Vehicle Accident and Diversity committees.

Kelly is an AAA certified no-fault arbitrator. Her articles on winning strategies in no-fault cases have been published in the Minnesota Defense and Minnesota Claims magazines. She continues to conduct no-fault seminars for the Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association, the Twin Cities Claims Association and insurance company clients. Kelly routinely is the first call her colleagues and clients make when they have questions about Minnesota auto insurance law.

She is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America© for her work in the practice area of Transportation Law and is listed as a 2023 Super Lawyer for her work in personal injury defense.

Education

  • Hamline University School of Law, J.D., 1998
  • University of Minnesota, B.A., 1993

Bar Admissions

  • Minnesota, 1998

Practice Areas

Personal Injury Litigation

  • Boating and Recreational Vehicle Accidents
  • Motor Vehicle Accident
  • No Fault Arbitration
  • Premises Liability
  • Wrongful Death and Catastrophic Injury

Other Civil Litigation

  • Bad Faith
  • Defamation

Insurance Coverage 

Professional Associations

  • Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association, Past Board Member
  • American Arbitration Association No-Fault Arbitrator Panel

Presentations

  • “What’s Covered, What’s Not Covered – Analyzing Advanced Coverage Issues in 2024,” 2024 Uninsured Motorist, Underinsured Motorist, No-Fault Insurance, and Bodily Injury Update, Minnesota CLE, March 2024
  • “No-Fault Case Law and Arbitration Update,” Insurance Law for the Non-Specialist, Minnesota CLE, August 2023
  • “Minnesota No-Fault Update,” Twin Cities Claims Association Annual Meeting, February 2023
  • “No-Fault Trends,” Twin Cities Claims Association Annual Meeting, 2018
  • “Statute 62Q Defense and the Supreme Court,” MDLA Motor Vehicle Committee, 2017
  • “No-Fault Here and Now and What Is on the Horizon,” Twin Cities Claims Association Annual Meeting, 2017
  • “Current No-Fault Issues for Adjusters,” Twin Cities Claims Association Annual Meeting, 2016
  • “Adjusting Minnesota No-Fault Claims for Success in the AAA,” Metropolitan Council, 2015
  • “Emergency Accident Response,” Metropolitan Council, 2014
  • “A Defense Arbitrator’s Perspective of AAA No-Fault,” Twin Cities Claims Association, 2013
  • “Women in the Law,” Hamline Women’s Legal Caucus, 2013
  • “Securing an Unbiased Arbitrator,” Twin Cities Claims Association, 2012

Articles

  • “No-Fault Claims Handling & Arbitration,” Chapter 24 Author, Sixth Edition of the Motor Vehicle Accident Deskbook, Minnesota CLE, 2023 to 2024
  • “The District Court No-Fault Trial: The Adjuster is the Key,” Minnesota Claims magazine
  • “No-Fault or Our Fault? Ideas on How We Can Solve Many of Our Own No-Fault Problems,” Minnesota Defense magazine, 2006