Domenic A. Cossi, Esq.

Domenic Cossi is a Senior Partner at Western Justice Associates, PLLC (WJA) in Bozeman. Mr. Cossi joined WJA in 2011 after clerking for N. Randy Smith with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Cossi has worked on multiple class action and MDL cases throughout his career as well as other complex litigation. Mr. Cossi was recently appointed as Financial Institution spoke co-lead in the In re Snowflake Data Privacy class action. 

Mr. Cossi and his partners at WJA are recently finished Gardner v. PacificSource Health Plans in the 18th Judicial District of Montana, which included over 123,000 class members who have received injunctive relief against PacificSource health plans preventing subrogation of auto insurance recoveries of their insureds.

WJA similarly recently finished Mach v. Montana Health Co-op in the First Judicial District, which is one of the only class actions in Montana to include an insurance bad faith class. Mr. Cossi and his firm have worked with national counsel in state court and in multiple MDLs involving Biomet, Pinnacle and Smith and Nephew metal on metal hips (see e.g. Biomet Mfg. Corp. v. Montana Thirteenth Jud. Dist. Ct., No. OP 18-0529, 2018 WL 5262953 (Mont. Oct. 23, 2018)).

He has prosecuted dozens of cases in the federal district of Montana, including against Health Care Service Corporation. He also has extensive experience and leadership within the federal court system in Montana and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, including:

• Montana Representative to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (2019-2023);
• President of the Montana Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (2016-2019);
• Chair of the Federal Practice Section of the State Bar (2016-2019);
• Board Member of the Montana Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (2012-present).

Mr. Cossi has held many other leadership positions in Montana and the country including:

• Lawyer Representative for the State of Montana, National Center for State Courts (2023-present);
• American Association of Justice Board Member (2018-2019);
• Montana Trial Lawyers Board of Directors (2019-present);
• Co-chair of the Amicus Committee for the Montana Trial Lawyers Association (2019-2022);
• President of the Gallatin County Bar Association (2018-2019);
  Board of Directors for Bridgercare (2013-2016).

These leadership positions show Mr. Cossi works well with others and is well respected within the profession.

Domenic has tried multiple cases to verdict and been involved in several multi-million dollar settlements. He particularly enjoys pushing the legal envelope in ways that help Montana consumers and landowners. He has worked on several cases that changed or clarified Montana law, including:

• A Montana Supreme Court decision confirming that landowners have a right to clean up their own land beyond federal standards set under CERCLA.
• A Montana Supreme Court decision clarifying that under products strict liability law, an industry cannot incorporate foreseeable use into a blanket statement that its product is “safe as used.”