Find Lawyers in Cleveland, Ohio for Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
Practice Area Overview
Class actions and mass tort litigation typically arise from a single episode or related events that allegedly injure a “mass” of individuals and/or their property. The number of claimants may range from a few dozen to many thousands. The volume of plaintiffs and complexity of claims and issues dictate special judicial management and require experienced defense counsel. In mass tort litigation, global issues that affect all claimants may be consolidated, especially in federal courts. Cases may be aggregated in federal multi-district litigation (“MDLs”) for coordination of pretrial proceedings, in which questions of fact common to all plaintiffs, key legal issues, and discovery may be handled on a global basis. Following the determination of fact issues, plaintiffs’ unique claims often are tried independently. The Court may order trials of the claims of certain plaintiffs in mass tort litigation as test, or “bellwether,” cases. Bellwether cases may provide the courts with guidance on the related claims’ suitability for group development and litigation. State court consolidation and management vary widely. With class actions, the class of plaintiffs may be voluminous, with all asserting damages arising from a common occurrence or related events; however, in contrast to mass tort litigation, the “class” often is represented by a single individual or a small group of individuals who embody the claims and damages of the larger group. Class actions in federal courts are governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. Members of the “class” may be bound by findings related to that class. Class certification often is denied due to state law restrictions (or prohibitions) on class actions or the predomination of plaintiffs’ individualized circumstances over any common issues.
Defense counsel's role in consolidated litigation includes all tasks inherent in the traditional litigation setting, with an added managerial component of litigation coordination and organization of global discovery, including:
- Identification and differentiation of the nature of individualized and global claims
- Document management and review, including electronic data and e-mails
- Expert witness development and preparation
- MDL and bellwether trials
- Defeating class certification
- Improper joinder
- Development of comprehensive trial strategies
- Development of consistent factual and legal positions in coordination with counsel representing named defendants on local and national levels
- Working with lawyers from different firms as a “virtual” law firm
- Trials of claims of certified classes or individual mass tort plaintiffs
- Global settlement negotiations
Andrew has a history of representing corporate clients in sophisticated, complex, and sensitive matters in a wide variety of industries and disciplines. He has tried cases to verdict in Ohio, Florida, and California and has served as lead appellate counsel in the defense of a class certification denial. For the past 15 years, however, his focus has been in spearheading insurance recoveries for corporate policyholders in a variety of business sectors, under various state and international laws...
While fully engaged as Managing Partner of Buckley King, Brent Buckley counsels and represents financial institutions, private equity firms, lenders, businesses and executive management on business issues, complex and structured finance, workouts, asset-based lending, corporate internal investigations, and commercial litigation matters. Brent is nationally recognized for excellence in both corporate law and banking and finance litigation. He is named among the prestigious Legal Who's Who as o...
Greg’s practice encompasses a variety of litigation matters, including commercial disputes and the litigation of lender liability, insurance coverage, and consumer fraud claims. He has represented defendants in numerous class actions in state and federal courts. Greg has successfully challenged the unconstitutional aspects of Ohio’s medical marijuana law and successfully presented other arguments for cannabis companies in courts around Ohio.
With over 30 years of experience, Jim litigates negligence, product liability, toxic tort, employer intentional tort, insurance, commercial, and construction related claims in federal and state trial courts, as well as state appellate court. His liability defense concentration includes personal injury, property damage, construction defects, product liability, and general litigation. Jim has achieved the highest ranking, AV Preeminent®, from Martindale-Hubbell® and has been listed as a...
Jenifer focuses her practice on defending general product liability claims, mass toxic torts, and general business disputes, including breach of contract and warranty claims in both federal and state courts. She is part of national coordinating counsel teams for several clients that manage asbestos and benzene toxic tort claims across the nation, as well as active local trial counsel in Ohio. Jenifer’s toxic tort practice also includes defending clients in the emerging cosmetic talc lit...
As a partner with Hahn Loeser, Robert B. Port has extensive experience in business tort litigation, representing both plaintiffs and defendants, nationally, including breach of contract, tortious interference with contractual relations, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breach of fiduciary duty. Robert has represented clients nationally in class-action lawsuits. Robert also has significant experience in analyzing business financial information and developing damages models based on both ...
Dennis R. Rose represents clients across a wide spectrum of industries at both the trial and appellate level. Dennis has extensive experience handling a broad range of disputes in federal and state courts throughout the country. He has served as national litigation counsel in products liability litigation and Ohio counsel for lender liability and toxic tort matters. He represents clients in a diverse spectrum of industries, including financial services, paper, manufacturing, retail, real esta...
Gregory A. Thompson is a partner in Hahn Loeser’s nationally acclaimed Litigation and Construction Groups. Greg is a seasoned litigator with a proven track record in a wide array of matters. He has significant experience handling complex commercial litigation, including breach of contract, Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), and business tort claims. Greg has also successfully handled significant intellectual property matters and employer intentional torts. Greg has strengths across a number...
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