About Richard Vollertsen

Mr. Vollertsen received his undergraduate degree from Brown University in 1975, and went on to complete his law degree at the University of San Francisco in 1981. Upon graduation, he was invited to serve as law clerk for Chief Justice Edmond Burke of the Alaska Supreme Court. At the close of that clerkship, he joined the firm of Atkinson, Conway & Gagnon, Inc., in 1982 and was quickly made a partner in 1985. He currently serves as a managing partner of the firm, and has served in that capacity since 2000.

Mr. Vollertsen has received the highest possible rankings for legal ability ("A" for high to preeminent) and ethical standards ("V" for very high) from Martindale-Hubbell, a national peer-review organization. Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. Mr. Vollertsen has been listed for many years in Best Lawyers in America. In 2009, Best Lawyers in America selected him as Alaska's "Personal Injury Litigator of the Year". In both 2007 and 2009, Mr. Vollertsen was selected as one of Alaska's Super Lawyers in the specialty practice of personal injury.

A life-long Alaskan, Mr. Vollertsen arrived in Alaska in 1957, living in Bush Alaska initially in Bethel and then a homestead in Stoney River before moving to Anchorage. He graduated from West Anchorage High School in 1971. He was able to pay for his education while working as a construction laborer through the Laborer's Local 341, and worked in many parts of Alaska—Glennallen, Valdez, Palmer, Moose Point and Anchorage. His wife Linda's Alaskan roots run even deeper. Her grandfather operated the first air taxi service in Nome, Mirow Air Service, which ultimately became part of Alaska Airlines. Her great grandfather, Charles Calkins, arrived in Nome for the Gold Rush in 1898, mining out of the Daisy Mine on White Mountain. Mr. Vollertsen is also a commercial fisherman, operating a set net site in Cook Inlet, and is an accomplished amateur photographer.