Mass Torts Committee

Mission

This Committee was created to address both current and emerging issues that arise in a broad spectrum of substantive areas, where the common denominators are the large number of plaintiffs asserting the claims, and the type of claims being a tort in the broadest sense of the word. Thus, this Committee focuses on the substantive and procedural developments in the case law, proposed reforms, and best practice techniques in cases that may involve environmental, toxic torts, pharmaceutical, various types of products liability litigation, aviation, antitrust, securities litigation, and employment claims.

The Committee is also dealing with the management aspects of mass tort litigation, including class action issues, joinder of multiple parties, and the use of ADR in such a context. Every effort is made to have an ecumenical membership that includes demographic diversity as well as representation among the plaintiff’s bar, the defense bar, academia, and in-house counsel. The Committee has established subcommittees to provide a variety of benefits to its members, which includes programming at the Litigation Section’s Annual Conference and the ABA’s Annual Meeting, as well as co-sponsorship of an annual two-day joint CLE seminar with the Products Liability and Environmental Litigation Committees.

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Announcements

Save the Date for Massachusetts Workshops

The Section of Litigation’s Products Liability and Mass Torts Litigation Committees are presenting an annual, one-day Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Regional CLE Workshop on Friday, November 16, 2012, at Boston Scientific in Natick, Massachusetts. Members of the plaintiff and the defense bars, government agencies, judges, and in-house counsel will share their views on emerging legal, procedural, and factual issues relating to products liability in the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries.

This workshop will follow the Women in Products Liability Regional CLE Workshop on Thursday, November 15, 2012, hosted by K&L Gates in Boston, Massachusetts. Please save the date for these two great workshops.

For more information, please contact the Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Subcommittee cochairs, Karen Woodward and Eric Hudson.

The First National Institute on Aviation Litigation

Join us for the First National Institute on Aviation Litigation in New York City on June 7, 2012. Leading aviation lawyers from across the United States will showcase an aviation accident case, covering everything from forming the attorney-client relationship to identifying issues for appeal.

Joint CLE Seminar Was a Great Success

From January 19–21, 2012, Mass Torts Litigation Committee members gathered at the Environmental, Mass Torts, and Products Liability Litigation Committees’ Joint CLE Seminar, held at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa outside of Miami, Florida. The seminar provided a wonderful opportunity to network with colleagues and in-house counsel and to hear the latest developments in mass-tort law. Our very own committee members, Rudy Perrino and Catherine Riegle, provided their insights into the “Next Wave of Mass Torts,” and committee member Karen Woodward co-chaired the event. To download materials from the seminar, visit the Programs & Materials page.

Chemical and Industrial Products Regional CLE Was a Success

The Sixth Annual Chemical and Industrial Products Regional CLE Workshop was held on October 13, 2011, at the DuPont Country Club. The terrific event was well attended and afterwards there was a fun cocktail hour that was sponsored by the Rivkin Radler law firm. The Mass Torts Litigation Committee cosponsored the CLE along with the Products Liability Committee. Our Mass Torts Toxic Tort Subcommittee organized two of the six panels. Those panels presented on practical topics related to the role of liaison counsel versus non-liaison counsel in the mass tort setting and strategies and best practices related to negotiation and settlement.

Current subcommittee cochairs Lisa Pisciotta (Jarden Corporation, Boca Raton, FL) and Andrew Scholz (Goldberg Segalla, White Plains, NY) moderated the two panels, which consisted of a diverse and top-notch lawyers and former judges, such as Timothy S. Tomasik (Clifford Law Offices, Chicago, IL), Andrew J. Carboy (Sullivan Pappain, Block, McGrath & Cannaro, P.C., NY), Judge Marina Corodemus (Ret) (Corodemus & Corodemus L.L.C., Iselin, NJ), Eric Rothenberg (O’Melveny & Myers, NY, NY), Donald A. Migliori (Motley Rice, L.L.C, Providence, RI), William F. Kiniry (DLA Piper LLP, Philadelphia, PA), Hon. Jane Cutler Greenspan (Ret) (JAMS, Philadelphia, PA), and Laurie Strauch Weiss (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP, Herrington, NY).

Upcoming Events

Take a look at the committee's calendar of upcoming events for the dates, times, and locations of upcoming committee events, conference calls, and meetings.

Message from the Chairs

The Section of Litigation’s Annual Conference was held at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C., April 18–21, 2012. The Mass Torts Litigation Committee held its annual Dutch-treat dinner on Wednesday, April 18, immediately after the welcome reception. The dinner was held at the Darlington House and was a great opportunity to catch up with committee members. The program included a multitude of CLE programs available on many aspects of litigation relevant to each of our practices. Our committee participated in the networking luncheon held on Thursday, April 19, featuring a keynote address from Judge Emily C. Hewitt of the U.S. Court of Claims.

This year, the annual Committee Expo featured a game-show theme and was once again one of the highlights of the conference. Our booth at the expo had a Trivial Pursuit motif featuring a giant wheel. Special thanks go to Kip Makuc at Navigant for providing the custom-made wheel. Visitors to our table were given the opportunity to answer three questions from the topics including crashes, spills, the practice, mass-tort movies, drugs, and disasters. Paul Majkowski and David Schwan asked the questions for those who wanted to play. Those who guessed correctly were entered into a drawing for a Kindle Fire. Congratulations to Yvette Golan, our winner. We also gave away special mass-torts fortune cookies featuring fortunes such as “MDL = Many Delicious Libations. . . Join Mass Torts.” In addition, paper airplanes were sailed to advertise our upcoming Aviation Conference in June. Lots of members and soon-to-be members stopped to check us out.

The evening was capped off with a sumptuous dinner at the National American History Museum that featured full access to all of the exhibits, including the lunch counter that launched the famous Greensboro sit in.

A committee networking breakfast kicked off events on Friday, April 19. The Diversity Leadership and John Minor Wisdom Award is always an annual conference highlight, and it was again this year. Laurie Novion was acknowledged by Ron Marmar, Section Chair, at the luncheon as our Subcommittee Chair of the Year. Congratulations to Laurie for her well-deserved honor.

If you missed the conference, there is another opportunity to network and obtain great CLE at the First National Institute on Aviation Litigation scheduled for June 7, 2012, at the University Club of New York in New York City. This will be the first aviation seminar since the program transitioned to a national institute. Register now for this unique seminar designed for both aviation and general mass-torts attorneys. This years’ presentation will feature programs, such as an update to legal issues in aviation from the last year, an ethics portion regarding initial meetings with your client, and a mock trial based on a mid-air collision that will start with pretrial motions on legal issues on choice of law and conflicts of law and move to opening statements, direct and cross-examination of liability and damage experts, summations, and jury deliberations. The day will conclude with the all-important cocktail networking reception. Prominent speakers and judges have already been selected and the day portends to be another terrific opportunity to learn and meet colleagues that practice in aviation, products and mass torts.

Looking toward the summer, make your reservations now for the ABA Annual Conference scheduled for August 2–7, 2012, in Chicago, Illinois. Cheryl Woodin, one of our members, will be a featured speaker at a program that the Mass Torts Litigation Committee is co-sponsoring with the Class Actions & Derivative Suits Committee during the meeting.

The committee continues to focus its energies on improving its membership numbers and its diversity profile through grassroots recruitment and a commitment to top-notch substantive content. To achieve these goals, we need your help, which you can provide in two ways. First, get involved. We have several substantive subcommittees that are very active, and involvement in them can be quite rewarding. If you’re interested at all, please contact one of the cochairs and we will get you there. Second, look around you and invite others that you know in your firm or surrounding legal community to get involved.

Finally, the cochairs of the Mass Torts Litigation Committee want to thank all of you for your participation in the committee. Your energy and enthusiasm are appreciated. Through your efforts, our membership continues to grow and we are delivering more valuable member services.

Andrew J. Maloney
Beatrice O'Donnell
Rudy Perrino
Cochairs, Mass Torts Litigation Committee