Founded in 1986 by Perry Weitz and Arthur Luxenberg—who were later joined by Robert Gordon—the national plaintiffs’ firm of Weitz & Luxenberg continues to set the standard of excellence for mass tort litigation, having won billions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients from every state.
“We founded this firm on the passionate belief that everyday people are as entitled to high-powered legal representation as big corporations,” Weitz says. “That core value still rings true today and is reflected in the significant results we continue to win for our clients.”
Weitz & Luxenberg established its reputation as a powerhouse firm in the late 1980s with its pioneering work in asbestos/mesothelioma litigation. Among its groundbreaking cases, the firm won a $75 million jury verdict in a consolidated asbestos trial in 1991, which it followed up a year later with a $91 million verdict in another consolidated asbestos case.
“Back then, there were no mass tort plaintiffs’ firms in New York, so pursuing these consolidated trials meant reinventing the very idea of a plaintiffs’ firm,” Luxenberg says. “But we were determined to achieve justice for our clients and put practically everything on the line—Perry even mortgaged his home to help cover case costs.”
Given this commitment, it should come as no surprise that years later Weitz & Luxenberg remains a leader in its field. In 2017, for example, the firm secured a $20 million jury verdict in an asbestos exposure case and made history when it obtained the largest single case asbestos verdict in New York history—a $75 million result. In addition, the firm previously won a landmark $190 million verdict in 2013 that was the largest result for a consolidated asbestos case in New York history.
The firm has found similar success in practice areas such as pharmaceutical, environmental, product liability, class action, and catastrophic injury cases. For these areas, its results include a settlement of more than $1 billion against Stryker Corp. over defective metal hip replacements and a jury verdict of $9 billion for a man who developed bladder cancer after taking Actos. In individual cases, the firm recently won a $23 million verdict for the victim of a hit-and-run car accident and a $13.34 million judgment for the victim of a vicious bar attack.
“As a diversified national plaintiffs’ firm, we handle a range of cases, but in each we seek to provide clients with diligent attention, compassion, and excellence,” Weitz says. “And our long history of significant results is proof of our dedication to our clients.”
