Timothy Nelson | Sartell Personal Injury Lawyer

Born in 1953, Timothy W. Nelson was raised on a farm near Redwood Falls, Minnesota. He attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in physical education and health in 1975. He also started on the 1974 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion football team.

Following college, Tim taught physical education and health in a small South Dakota town before returning to Minnesota where he was Assistant Principal at New London-Spicer High School for five years. While at New London-Spicer, he coached football, wrestling, and track, and obtained a master’s degree from St. Cloud State University in 1981.

He received his law degree from the University of South Dakota in 1984, where he was a sterling honor graduate. Tim was admitted to the Minnesota bar in 1984 and the South Dakota bar in 1985. His first job as an attorney was with the firm of Gislason, Dosland, Hunter & Milecki in New Ulm. There, he not only represented personal injury victims, and also gained experience in the areas of insurance defense, criminal defense and the general practice of law.

In 1986, Tim moved to St. Cloud to work for three years as an associate with Donohue, Rajkowski, Hansmeier, Grunke and Jovanovich. While continuing to gain experience in the field of personal injury, he also did criminal prosecution for the cities of Waite Park, St. Joseph and St. Stephen, and legal work for their corporate client, the Monsanto Chemical Company.

In 1989, Tim joined a solo-practitioner, Geoff Gempeler, and helped him build his firm into a successful personal injury practice. In 1991, Tim and Geoff tried a defective products claim against a swimming pool manufacturer, obtaining a $983,000 verdict for a woman injured while diving into a pool. The verdict was believed to be one of the largest in Sherburne County history at the time.

In 1992, Tim earned his certification by the Minnesota State Bar Association as a “Civil Trial Specialist”. This honor is reserved only for those attorneys who have been able to meet the rigorous requirements of certification, including demonstrated knowledge and substantial experience as a civil trial lawyer.

In 1993, Tim became a partner in Nelson Hanson Personal Injury Attorneys and in 1995, the firm became known as NELSON PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEYS. Since then, he has committed his practice to helping victims obtain fair compensation for their injures. In October of 2016, Tim was designated Senior Certified Specialist in Civil Trial Law by the Minnesota State Bar Association.

He is a member of the American Trial Lawyer’s Association, the Minnesota Trial Lawyer’s Association and the Minnesota State Bar Association. He is also a former member of the Board of Governors of the Minnesota Trial Lawyer’s Association. He has taught continuing legal education classes to other attorneys and is an adjunct professor of Trial Practice at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.