Ann B. Oldfather
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Education
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Mount Holyoke College, A,B. (1971)
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University of Louisville, J.D., magna cum laude (1975)
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Admitted to the Bar: 1976, Kentucky
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Memberships:
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Kentucky Bar Association
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Louisville Bar Association
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Kentucky Association for Justice
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Inner Circle of Advocates
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American Association for Justice
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American Board of Trial Advocates
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International Academy of Trial Lawyers
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Board Certified Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy
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Awards:
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Kentucky Justice Association "Peter Perlman Trial Lawyer of the Year", 2001
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BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA, listed in seven categories
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Top Ten Kentucky Attorneys in Kentucky SuperLawyers for all years of publication
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University of Louisville Distinguished Alumni, 1988
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Outstanding Law Alumni Service, 1990
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Brandeis School of Law of the University of Louisville, Alumni Fellow, 1997
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In 2017, Ann became a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, a trial lawyer organization by invitation-only, limited to only 100 lawyers in the United States, and described by the Washington Post as "a select group of 100 of the nations most celebrated trial lawyers." The Inner Circle of Advocates are considered to be among the best plaintiff attorneys in the United States and also to be "lawyers of excellent character and integrity."
Sole trial counsel in a number of hotly disputed and significant cases, including the sexual abuse strip-search litigation against McDonald's Corporation, resulting in a record verdict in Bullitt County of $6.1 million, commercial litigation between Carrier Vibrating Equipment Company and Rexnord International dealing with the loss of corporate goodwill and resulting in a plaintiff's verdict of $12.5 million, and medical malpractice litigation for a young man from Somerset, KY, with a missed diagnosis of a metabolic disorder, where a rural Kentucky jury returned a verdict of $5.5 million. Lead counsel in medical malpractice litigation representing a woman who suffered from a severe abdominal infection following bariatric surgery resulting in a jury returning a verdict of $10.6 million. Represented a paraplegic in a products liability case involving a hunting tree stand resulting in a jury verdict of $18.5 million.
One of the lead plaintiffs' counsel in the Carrolton, Kentucky bus crash disaster in which 27 children and adults burned to death in a school bus designed and manufactured by the Ford Motor Company.
One of the Class Counsel for the settlement class of 243 victims of sexual abuse in their recovery against the Archdiocese of Louisville in excess of $25 million.
Ann has tried many complex, multi-party cases as lead or sole trial counsel. She was appointed as the head of only six trial counsel committee approved by the Federal District Court in the Ford/Firestone multi district litigation.
Ann has been listed in the BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA since 1994 and is currently listed in seven categories in that elite publication, including Personal Injury Litigation, Medical Malpractice, Legal Malpractice, Commercial Litigation, and Products Liability Litigation. Ann has frequently been listed in the Top Ten attorneys in Kentucky by SuperLawyers and she has received "Lawyer of the Year" honors several times from that publication. She has received the prestigious "A-V" listing from Martindale-Hubbell continuously since the mid-1980s, including that ranking from the judiciary, and is featured in their BAR REGISTER of PREEMINENT ATTORNEYS. She is a Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Ann has served as a Special Justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court, authoring both majority and dissenting opinions. Ann has lectured as a speaker at numerous programs, including presentations at the annual convention of the American Association for Justice and at Kentucky's Annual Judicial College. Ann has served as an advocacy instructor at the University of Louisville, and she is the author of the "Juries" chapter of the KENTUCKY CIVIL PRACTICE HANDBOOK.
Ann is married and she has two children, Michael Oldfather and Eleanor Hasken, and three step-children.