Andrea’s commercial litigation practice involves solving disputes for local and national clients in the areas of products liability, premise liability, and insurance coverage defense. Andrea has significant experience in insurance coverage analysis and counseling for insurance companies facing declaratory judgment actions and bad faith claims involving Crime Loss Policies, Errors and Omissions Policies, Directors and Officers Policies, and Employment Practices Liability Polices. In Cargill v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., Andrea was part of the team that successfully defended a declaratory judgment action involving a Crime Loss Policy, winning summary judgment on behalf of the insurance carrier.

Andrea also spends a significant amount of her time defending product manufacturers and has obtained favorable results in cases involving consumer appliances such as: humidifiers, fryers, heaters, and valves and motors as component parts of furnaces, hot tubs and water heaters. Most recently, Andrea was part of the trial team successfully defending a products liability action against a motor manufacturer in a jury trial.

Andrea earned her J.D. from the University of Minnesota cum laude in 2001, where she competed on the Civil Rights Moot Court team and later served as a director for the same moot court. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, summa cum laude at St. Cloud State University in 1998, where she was a recipient of the University’s Excellence in Leadership and Women Studies’ Leadership Awards. Prior to working in private practice, Andrea spent time in Miami, Florida working with the Florida Immigrant and Advocacy Center in an effort to acquire citizenship for domestically abused women under the Violence Against Women Act.

Andrea joined the firm of Gartner, Bennett & Schupp, P.A. in 2001, and became an associate with Flynn, Gaskins, and Bennett in January 2002 when the two firms merged.

Vennemann v. Badger Mut. Ins. Co., 334 F.3d 772 (8th Cir. 2003). Declaratory judgment action in which the Eighth Circuit upheld the interpretation of the vacancy exclusion to preclude coverage.

Cargill v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., 2004 Minn. App. LEXIS 33 (Jan. 13, 2004). Summary judgment awarded to insurer under Crime Loss Policy, holding no coverage existed under the policy and coverage was excluded by the language of the policy.

Fessler v. Metropolitan Airports Commission, 2006 WL 1085164 (D. Minn. 2006). Summary judgment granted in favor of defendant on Section 1983 and other state law claims.

Andrea has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Minnesota Law & Politics in 2005 - 2008.

Minnesota State Bar Association
Minnesota Women Lawyers

Minnesota, 2001
U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, 2002
U.S. District Court, District of Wisconsin, 2006
U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, 2002