SCHMIDT-SALITA LAW FIRM - Key Persons
Aaron joins Schmidt & Salita Law Team as an attorney with a strong dedication to helping individuals in their workers' compensation and personal injury cases. Aaron handles workers' compensation disputes, whether that is helping an injured employee get wage loss benefits for missed time at work or fighting against an insurer to pay for medical treatment they need. Additionally, Aaron handles personal injury matters, such motor vehicle collisions.
Aaron earned his law degree from Mitchell Hamline School of Law. During law school, Aaron focused his academic studies on Minnesota Workers' Compensation Law, No-Fault Insurance, and civil litigation against negligent parties and insurance companies while gaining practical legal experience at Schmidt & Salita after joining the Firm as a law clerk. In his first week with Schmidt & Salita Law Firm as a law clerk, Aaron assisted senior partner Doug Schmidt in a highly contested personal injury trial in Hennepin County District Court. Following this trial by fire, Aaron's dedication and enthusiasm for seeking justice for injured workers and individuals has only grown.
Aaron is a proud Minnesotan who enjoys playing in an adult hockey league in the winter and backpacking and camping in the summer. He earned his undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn.
Aaron is a member of the following organizations:
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Chairman of the Minnesota Association for Justice Workers' Compensation
Dean Salita brings over 24 years of experience as a Personal Injury lawyer, handling many workplace injury cases in the Workers Compensation system and non-workplace injury cases in the civil law court system.
He handles many occupation exposure cases included work related, cancer asbestos disease such as asbestos and mesothelioma.
Dean is chair of the Minnesota Association for Justice Workers' Compensation section. He is a frequent lecturer at Continuing Legal Education. He has been a Super Lawyer and maintains the highest rating of AV rated by Martindale Hubble.
Dean is an experienced Personal Injury trial lawyer, having represented his clients in District Court jury trials, arbitrations, and Workers Compensation trials. He is especially proud of the fact that he cares deeply about his clients and provides personal attention to help guide them through the legal process.
Schmidt has over 40 years of experience, in over 6,000 cases, in bringing justice to the victims of Personal Injury and Wrongful Death.
He has lectured at the University of Minnesota Law School and the Hamline-Mitchell Law School, as well as Gustavus Adolphus College and Northwestern Health Sciences University. He is a frequent lecturer at Continued Education seminars for both lawyers and chiropractors.
He is the recipient of the Award of Merit of the American Bar Association and has received the Distinguished Service Award of the Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association.
He has been AV rated by Martindale Hubbell for 35 years. He has been certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a Civil Trial Advocate and by the Minnesota Bar as a Civil Trial Specialist.
He has successfully tried over 500 cases to a jury, judge or arbitrator in Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Iowa.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Member of the Hennepin County Bar Association
Josh was raised in northwestern Minnesota. He is a graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota and of Hamline University School of Law (now, Mitchell Hamline School of Law). Josh handles cases primarily in the areas of workers' compensation and personal injury. Joshua was admitted to the Minnesota State Bar in 2012 and the federal U.S. District Court of Minnesota in 2015.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Member of the Minnesota Bar
Mary Beth dedicates her practice fighting for those injured due to the negligence of others, particularly first responders injured in the line of duty, including police officers, firefighters, corrections officers, and paramedics. She has a particular focus advocating for first responders suffering from PTSD and firefighters who have developed cancer as a result of their work duties.
Mary Beth graduated from Creighton University and from University of St. Thomas Law School. Mary Beth became a member of the Minnesota Bar in 2013. She is a Member of the Minnesota Association for Justice, Minnesota State Bar Association, Hennepin County Bar Association, and Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group.
As an aggressive advocate, Mary Beth has argued before the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals, Minnesota Court of Appeals, and Minnesota Supreme Court on behalf of her clients. She has successfully litigated jury trials, workers' compensation hearings, and PERA/MSRS and Healthcare Continuation administrative law hearings.
She has been a speaker at HealthPartners Occupational Medicine Residency Program, legal continuing education seminars, and law enforcement and firefighter groups. Mary Beth also worked on legislation for first responders who contract COVID to receive additional legal protection under the Minnesota Workers' Compensation Act
Mary Beth lives in Woodbury with her husband, stepdaughter, son, and their two dogs.
Stephanie J. Schommer has 25 years experience with the Schmidt Salita Law Team, both as a legal assistant and, in that last 12 years, as a lawyer. She is a graduate of Gustavus Adophus College and the William Mitchell College of Law.
She has been recognized as a "Top 40 Under 40" lawyer. She is a member of the Minnesota Association of Justice (formerly Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association), Minnesota State Bar Association and the American Association for Justice (formerly American Trial Lawyers Association).
Stephanie has been actively involved as part of the team that has produced successful results in many wrongful death cases, including one that recently produced a recovery of $3 million. She recently was asked to speak at a Continuing Legal Education seminar sponsored by the Minnesota Association of Justice on the subject of wrongful death claims.
Stephanie has also been an valuable part of the legal team that produced a $3.2 million jury verdict in a medical malpractice case that was on the winning side of successful proceedings in the Hennepin County District Court, Minnesota Court of Appeals, and Minnesota Supreme Court.
Stephanie has been appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court as an Arbitrator for Minnesota No-Fault Arbitrations. She has been actively involved in representing clients in hundreds of Minnesota No-Fault Arbitrations.
Stephanie has extensive experience and training in the representation of the victims of traumatic brain injuries and concussion injuries resulting from car accidents and other traumatic events.
Stephanie lives in the Twin Cities metro area with her husband, Chris, and her step-daughter. She loves cooking, traveling and Gopher hockey.
Stephanie's strongest and best attribute is that of being an empathetic listener. One of her clients had this to say:
Stephanie listens-and she understands. She understands what I have been going through-the pain, the disability, and the frustration of not being able to work and take care of my family, and the medical bills piling up. She is a great lawyer, exactly because of those skills. She has been a blessing to me.