Mary Nikolai

Mary Nikolai is an associate at Gustafson Gluek PLLC. Mary graduated from the University of St. Thomas School of Law and clerked for the Honorable Luis Bartolomei in the Fourth Judicial District of Minnesota.  

Mary Nikolai joined Gustafson Gluek in 2019 after serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Luis Bartolomei, District Judge, Fourth Judicial District of Minnesota.  Since joining Gustafson Gluek, Mary has represented individuals in asserting claims on behalf of themselves and/or a class in the areas of consumer fraud, product defect, and employment arbitration.  Mary is actively involved in representing individuals on a pro bono basis through the Minnesota Federal Bar Associations Pro Se Project, which matches pro se litigants to pro bono clients. She is an active member of Minnesota Women Lawyers, where she serves on the MWL Partner Leadership Council (PLC). Mary is also a member of the Federal Bar Association. Mary has been recognized as a North Star Lawyer for providing over 50 hours of pro bono legal services in a year, and was selected by Minnesota Lawyer as Minnesota Attorney of the Year for her work on a pro bono case on behalf of a Vietnam War Veteran against the United States.

Mary is a graduate of DePaul University with a major in Spanish and a minor in LGBTQ Studies.  Mary is also a graduate of the University of Saint Thomas School of Law.

During law school, Mary clerked for two Twin Cities law firms and was a judicial extern for the Honorable Patrick Schiltz, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. She was also a Certified Student Attorney at the University of St. Thomas Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services, where she helped a family secure asylum in the United States, as well as individuals at detained master calendar and bond hearings.

For more information regarding Mary and a list of her representative cases, see below. 

More About Mary

    • University of St. Thomas School of Law, J.D. (2018)

    • DePaul University, B.A. (2012)

    • Minnesota State Bar

    • U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

    • Selected as a Minnesota Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer (2022)

    • Recognized as a North Star Lawyer by the Minnesota State Bar Association (2021)

    • Selected as the University of St. Thomas Clinic Student of the Year (2017-2018)

  • Since joining Gustafson Gluek, Mary has had the opportunity to work on several different cases. Mary is currently representing proposed classes of individuals who purchased certain baby foods alleging that various defendants misrepresented and omitted the presence of dangerous heavy metals and, as a result, overcharged consumers. These cases are being litigated in several states against several baby food manufactures including Thomas et al v. Beech-Nut Nutrition Company (N.D.N.Y.), In re Hain Celestial Heavy Metals Baby Food Litigation (E.D.N.Y.), In re Nurture Baby Food Litigation (S.D.N.Y.), In re Gerber Products Company Heavy Metals Baby Food Litigation (E.D. Va.), and In re Plum Baby Food Litigation (N.D. Cal.). Mary was part of the litigation team that represented a husband and wife (the Plaintiffs), who brought a Federal Tort Claims Act action against the United States alleging negligent care provided to the husband, a Vietnam War Veteran, during his 2014 stay at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Mary and the litigation team reached a successful settlement that will provide the needed assistance to the Plaintiffs as they continue to navigate the Plaintiff’s ongoing medical care. Mary is working to help facilitate the settlement in Bhatia v. 3M Co. (D. Minn.), a case in which Gustafson Gluek was Co-Lead counsel representing a class of dentists who were suing 3M over a defective product. The case ultimately settled for $32.5 million for the class. Mary also represented, and ultimately assisted in the settlement of, a number of former members of the nationwide FLSA collective alleging off-the-clock work in arbitrations throughout the country. Turner et al v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (D. Colo.)

    Other Representative Cases:

    • Castorina v. Bank of America, N.A. et al (E.D. Va.)

    • Willoughby et al v. Abbott Laboratories (N.D. Ill.)

    • William Salter, et al. v. PHH Mortgage Corp. (S.D. Fla.)