Peter W. Zuger

Peter Zuger is a trial lawyer and has extensive trial experience.  He is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers.  Fellowship in the College is by invitation only and cannot exceed one percent of the total lawyer population in any state.  Peter is also a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only honorary society of trial lawyers that is limited to less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers.

Peter is a 2008 graduate of the University of North Dakota School of Law, where he graduated with distinction. While in law school, Peter was a member of the Board of Editors for the North Dakota Law Review, won UND’s Moot Court and Mock Trial competitions, and was a semi-finalist in a regional trial competition hosted by the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Since law school, Peter has tried numerous cases before judges, juries, the lawyer disciplinary hearing panel, and private arbitrators. He has successfully defended multiple multi-million dollar claims at trial. Peter has also represented numerous seriously injured Plaintiffs.  For example, in Lodholtz v. Continental Resources, Inc., Civil No. 4:15-CV-116, Peter helped his clients obtain an $8,496,000 jury verdict.

Peter has also argued cases before the North Dakota Supreme Court, the Eighth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, and Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. In In re Juve, 761 F.3d 847 (8th Cir. 2014), after multiple appeals, Peter successfully argued for a reinstatement of the trial court’s $350,000 damages award.

Peter is a past chair of the North Dakota Pattern Jury Instruction Commission.  In total, he served as a member of the North Dakota Pattern Jury Instruction Commission for nine years, where he served alongside other trial judges and trial attorneys in drafting pattern jury instructions for attorneys to use in North Dakota jury trials.  He has also been invited by the State Bar Association of North Dakota and North Dakota Defense Lawyers Association to lecture on lawyer discipline and malpractice issues.  He has also served on multiple panels at the University of North Dakota School of Law regarding being a trial lawyer.   Peter’s practice areas include medical malpractice defense, legal malpractice defense, general professional malpractice defense, plaintiff’s personal injury litigation, insurance defense litigation, commercial litigation, corporate litigation, products liability litigation, employment litigation, construction litigation, and a variety of other litigation areas.

• University of North Dakota School of Law, JD, 2008, with Distinction 
• University of Mary, B.S. in Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2003, Cum Laude

• North Dakota
• Minnesota
• South Dakota
• United States District Court for the District of North Dakota
• United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
• United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

• Medical Malpractice Defense
• Legal Malpractice Defense 
• General Professional Malpractice Defense
• Professional Disciplinary Action Defense
• Plaintiff and Defense Personal Injury
• Commercial Litigation
• Construction Litigation
• Corporate Litigation
• Products Liability Defense Litigation
• Insurance Defense Litigation
• Employment Litigation

• Smith v. Piechowski, 2023 Minn. App. Unpub. LEXIS 926
• Feltman v. Gaustad, 2020 ND 89, 942 N.W.2d 844
• Plains Trucking, LLC v. Cresap, 2019 ND 226, 932 N.W.2d 541
• Dockter v. Dockter, 2018 ND 219, 918 N.W.2d 35
• Olin v. Dakota Access, LLC, 910 F.3d 1072 (8^th Cir. 2018)
• Yahna v. Altru Health System, 2015 ND 275, 871 N.W.2d 580
• In re Juve, 761 F.3d 847 (8th Cir. 2014)
• In re Juve, 490 B.R. 359 (B.A.P. 8th Cir. 2013)
• In re Juve, 455 B.R. 890 (B.A.P. 8th Cir. 2011)
• F/S Mfg. v. Kensmoe, 798 N.W.2d 853 (N.D. 2011)
• Quality Bank v. Cavett, 2010 ND 183, 788 N.W.2d 679

• American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
• Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
• Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants, 2021-2024
• Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation, 2020
• Chambers USA, North Dakota – Litigation: General Commercial, Band 2, 2023-2024
• Chambers USA, North Dakota – Litigation: General Commercial, Band 3, 2019-2022
• Great Plains Super Lawyers, General Litigation, 2021-2024
• Great Plains Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2013-2020
• Marquis Who’s Who, 2020
• Chambers USA, North Dakota, Up and Coming – Litigation: General Commercial, 2017-2018
• Order of the Barristers
• Past Chair of the North Dakota Pattern Jury Instruction Commission

• North Dakota State Bar Association
• Minnesota State Bar Association
• Cass County Bar Association
• Trial Law Institute
• Diversity Law Institute
• Barrister, Order of Veritas
• Advocate, Order of Certus
• University of North Dakota School of Law’s External Moot Court Team coach in 2012
• University of North Dakota School of Law’s Trial Team coach in 2009

• Peter W. Zuger, North Dakota, in Covenants Against Competition in Franchise Agreements, ABA Forum on Franchising, at 433-38 (Michael R. Gray and Natalma M. McKnew, eds., 3d ed. 2012).

• Is Skynet Taking over our Law Practices? (February 13, 2024)
• The Disciplinary System and How to Stay Out of It (February 15, 2022)
• Speaker at the North Dakota Defense Lawyers Association Meeting on Navigating Attorney Disciplinary and Malpractice Cases (September 24, 2020)
• Fundamental Ethical Issues Facing North Dakota Attorneys (February 24, 2020)
• Panelist for Professional Foundations: The Trial Lawyer, at the University of North Dakota School of Law (2017-2019)
• Ethical Pitfalls Facing North Dakota Attorneys (February 2018)
• Recent Disciplinary Cases & Trending Issues (August 18, 2016)
• Panelist at the SBAND Annual Meeting on Navigating the Disciplinary Process: What Members of the Bar Need to Know (June 16, 2016)
• Applying the Rules of Evidence: What Every Attorney Needs to Know—Determining Admissibility (May 16, 2014)
• Applying the Rules of Evidence: What Every Attorney Needs to Know—Ethics (May 16, 2014)