On the Pulse…Our Asbestos and Mass Tort Litigation Practice Group
By Daniel J. Ryan, Jr., Esq.*
Litigation related to asbestos injuries is one of the longest-running mass torts in United States history. Marshall Dennehey’s Asbestos and Mass Tort Litigation Practice Group has been involved since a flood of this litigation began in the 1970s. Through the decades, the law, medicine and overall how these cases are defended has constantly evolved. The practice group attorneys know how important it is to stay on top of each change and remain zealous advocates for our clients in these complex, multi-million dollar matters. Our group consists of twenty-five attorneys and ten paralegals, with the majority of attorneys having over twenty years of experience. These veteran attorneys mentor and share insights with our younger associates in the group to ensure that the same philosophies and skills are provided at each level of representation.
Our Asbestos and Mass Tort Litigation Practice Group is not only housed in our Philadelphia office, but we have a regional presence with attorneys residing to the north within our Long Island office, to the west in our Pittsburgh office, to the south in our Delaware office and also in both of our New Jersey offices. Our representation is not contained within the local jurisdiction of each office, but our attorneys represent clients across the country as national or regional counsel. Additionally, these offices are certainly not isolated from each other, and each has the capacity and ability to work together on any particular case. We are a paperless group and have easy access to any asbestos case via our computer system . Our asbestos and mass tort attorneys make a consistent effort to meet and confer about the trends in our respective jurisdictions. This practice group has developed internal continuing legal education courses to ensure that all of our attorneys understand key concepts in the ever-changing defense of asbestos cases. Further, the same clients are often represented across county and state lines by our various offices. This makes it possible for our attorneys to provide a consistent and knowledgeable defense in every court our clients find themselves in.
The practice group represents various types of clients—including manufacturers, suppliers, contractors, employers and premises owners—in multi-party matters. With the broad scope of representation, we understand that it is imperative to be efficient , organized and cost effective. We exceed at this at every juncture of litigation, which allows us to provide strong, excellent representation while also providing considerable savings to our clients. All of our attorneys have access to an internal, electronic asbestos reference database that stores medical journals/articles, past expert depositions, jury selection information, naval documents and jurisdictional law, among other resource material. Our attorneys are never left to “reinvent the wheel” as they have access to this detailed and expansive source of information.
We strive to provide our clients with the most up-to-date information as to the developing trends in the litigation. This group issues several Legal Updates over the course of the year to keep our clients abreast of special news and updates. At the request of various clients, our attorneys have also organized and given presentations at various seminars. We encourage anyone who is interested in scheduling a presentation or being included on our electronic mailing list to contact one of our attorneys.
At trial, Marshall Dennehey attorneys are consistently considered the most experienced team in the courtroom. Our asbestos and mass tort group has tried hundreds of cases to verdict. The trial talent of our attorneys is best shown by our impressive results obtained over the last twenty years. During any trial, our lawyers optimize the access to our firm’s highly respected appellate practice group, chaired by John J. Hare, Esquire. Our appellate attorneys not only provide monitoring at trial for appellate issues, but they also assist with the preparation and argument of dispositive and pre-trial motions to ensure early and favorable rulings. The proficiency of our attorneys is known locally, regionally and nationally. Several of our attorneys are members of national trial teams that send them to defend our clients across the country. At times, the involvement is on short notice; however, the defense is never short on skill.
In addition to our practice group’s extensive experience in the defense of asbestos claims, our attorneys also have experience in handling other toxic tort matters, including benzene, mold, chemical sensitivity, lead and other chemical exposures. We encourage our clients to contact us to determine how we can be of assistance on these other matters.
With our dedication, outstanding resources and seasoned trial attorneys, our practice group is a strong and incomparable team dedicated to the protection of the interests and welfare of each and every client. Retaining a single attorney is impossible as each client has this team working together and striving for an outstanding result with every case. We are confident that, if a client finds themselves in court where our attorneys are present, the client not only finds that our attorneys are known for their talent and diligence, but that they are also known as the jurisdictional leaders in the defense of these matters.
*Dan is chair of our Asbestos and Mass Tort Litigation Practice Group. He works in our Philadelphia, Pennsylvania office and can be reached at 215.575.2740 or djryan@mdwcg.com.
Defense Digest, Vol 21, No. 4, December 2015
Defense Digest is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1. © 2015 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.