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.
Professional and Civic Involvement
Practice Emphasis
Appeals
Class Action & Consumer Litigation
Institutional Investors
International Law
Personal Injury Litigation
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, 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