Role in Minnesota Lawsuit Against Big Tobacco
Most famously, he was counsel to the State of Minnesota and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota against the American tobacco industry, suing in 1994 as the second of eventually 46 states to join in the tobacco litigation. Ciresi's Minneapolis law firm, Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, of which he is the chairman, settled with the tobacco companies in 1998 with an agreement for the tobacco defendants to pay the state of Minnesota $6 billion. The law firm donated $30 million to the Minneapolis Foundation in 1998, a contribution made possible by the settlement fee; at the time, the gift was thought to be the largest contribution from a law firm to a community foundation. Mike serves on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, the University of St. Thomas, as the Board of Governors of the University of St. Thomas School of Law. He currently serves on the board of Regions Hospital Foundation and Minnesota Early Learning Foundation.
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