Atlas Turner, Inc. v. Hamilton, 120 S.Ct. 2691
(2000) successfully opposed petition for writ
of certiorari, petitioner claiming that the Second
Circuit applied an incorrect standard of review
in appeal concerning defense of lack of in personam
jurisdiction
Worthington Corp. v. Ronsini, 120 S.Ct. 1419
(2000) successfully opposed petition for writ
of certiorari, petitioner claiming a conflict among
the courts regarding the standard governing application
of the government contractor defense in failure
to warn cases
Consorti v. Armstrong World Indus., 518 U.S.
1031, 116 S.Ct. 2576 (1996) (no reported opinion) won
vacation of Second Circuit ruling concerning the
interplay of state and federal law in appellate
review of jury verdicts for excessiveness, in toxic
tort personal injury litigation, and ultimate entry
of multi-million dollar judgment
Harris v. United States, No. 04-3520, 2005 U.S.
App. LEXIS 19058 (6th Cir. Sept. 2, 2005) won
unanimous ruling that District Court had incorrectly
dismissed plaintiff's Bivens claims, with
regard to application of Ohio savings statute,
although divided Court affirmed on other grounds
with respect to plaintiff's Federal Tort Claims
Act action
Caruolo v. John Crane, Inc., 2000 U.S. App.
LEXIS 22316 (2d Cir. Aug. 31, 2000) regarding
defendant’s appeal in this multimillion dollar
toxic tort action, won affirmance on issues of
propriety of expert testimony, Federal Rules of
Evidence 803(6), 803(16), 903(18) and 804(b)(1),
state-of-the art evidence, jury instructions and
choice of law ruling on the question of damages;
regarding plaintiffs’ cross-appeal, won reversal
of court’s choice-of-law ruling concerning
prejudgment interest
Hamilton v. Atlas Turner, Inc., 1999 U.S. App.
LEXIS 30358 (2d Cir. Nov. 22, 1999) won reversal
of District Court’s ruling that Canadian
asbestos manufacturer had not waived its defense
of lack of in personam jurisdiction by its participation
before the Multidistrict Litigation Panel prior
to trial
Monaghan v. SZS 33 Assoc., 73 F.3d 1276 (2d
Cir. 1996) won affirmance of District Court’s
ruling concerning standard by which settlement
is deemed binding under New York law -- in action
brought by victim of violent crime committed on
defendant’s premises
Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. v. Celotex Corp.,
56 F.3d 343 (2d Cir. 1995) won reversal, in
property damage lawsuit, of District Court’s
ruling that doctrine of res judicata barred plaintiff’s
action against asbestos manufacturer where plaintiff’s
predecessor-in-interest abandoned lawsuit with
prejudice, but where plaintiff at the time held
option to purchase substantially below market value
In re Joint Eastern & Southern District
Asbestos Litig. -- Maiorana v. United States Mineral
Products Co., 52 F.3d 1124 (2d Cir. 1995) won
reversal of District Court ruling and reinstatement
of multi-million dollar jury verdict, on issue
of whether epidemiological evidence sufficiently
established causal relation between asbestos exposure
and colon cancer, given standard for evaluating
proffered expert testimony under Daubert v. Merrell
Dow Pharm., Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786
(1993)
In re Joint Eastern & Southern District
Asbestos Litig. -- Bauman v. Keene Corp., 18 F.3d
126 (2d Cir. 1994) representing consortium
of mass tort plaintiffs and liaison to several
law firms, won affirmance of District Court’s
method of calculating setoffs for pre-verdict settlements,
although Second Circuit modified method of computing
the interplay between settlement amounts and prejudgment
interest in wrongful death actions
In re Joint Eastern & Southern District
Asbestos Litig. -- Keene Corp. v. Fiorelli, 14
F.3d 726 (2d Cir. 1993) won vacation of order
issuing preliminary injunction and certifying mandatory
limited-fund class of all persons with present
or future asbestos claims against Keene Corporation
Bayless v. Dresser Indus., 12 F.3d 209 (5th
Cir. 1993) (no reported opinion) won affirmance
of judgment entered on jury verdict determining
that defendant had “willfully” violated
ADEA by terminating plaintiff’s employment
for age discriminatory reasons, based on U.S. Supreme
Court construction of “willful”
In re Repetitive Stress Injury Litig. -- Debruyne
v. National Semiconductor Corp., 11 F.3d 368 (2d
Cir. 1993) lost in vacation of District Court’s
consolidation of forty-four cases asserting repetitive
stress injury claims, appeal raising issues of
appellate jurisdiction over nonfinal “collateral
orders,” implied petitions for a writ of
mandamus, and the standard for evaluating the consolidation
of mass tort claims
In re Brooklyn Navy Yard Asbestos Litig. (Joint
Eastern and Southern Dist. Asbestos Litig.), 971
F.2d 831 (2d Cir. 1992) won affirmance of multi-million
dollar judgment, entered on more than sixty consolidated
verdicts, on issues, inter alia, of (1) causation
involving injuries manifesting decades after exposure,
(2) the defense of intervening negligence, (3)
the interpretation of New York’s General
Obligations Law governing the effect of settlements
on the judgment-molding process, (4) the status
of certain bankrupt parties and its impact on set-off
procedures, (5) the interplay between New York’s
General Obligations Law and its statutory provision
creating limits to and set-offs against joint liability
under certain circumstances, and (6) the interplay
between New York’s General Obligations Law
and its Wrongful Death statute
Kreppein v. Celotex Corp., 969 F.2d 1424 (2d
Cir. 1992) won affirmance of judgment in toxic
tort wrongful death action on issues of sufficiency
of product nexus proofs and New York’s statutory
scheme for apportioning liability among tortfeasors
O’Brien v. National Gypsum Co., 944 F.2d
69 (2d Cir. 1991) won affirmance of multi-million
dollar judgment entered in wrongful death action
on issue of nature and quantum of evidence required
to prove exposure to a particular manufacturer’s
toxic products
B & S Transport, Inc. v. United States, No.
05-423C, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 269 (U.S. Ct. Fed.
Claims Sept. 12, 2005) bringing bid protest
on behalf of government contractor supplying Army
with pneumatic tires, administrative record failed
to establish conclusively that awardee lacked sufficient
capacity to fulfill contract, or that winning bidder's
component part substitution, albeit unauthorized,
would impair performance
Latino Officers Ass’n N.Y. v. City of
New York, 209 F.R.D. 79 (S.D.N.Y. 2002) won
motion to certify the class of all Latino and African-American
individuals who had been, were, or would be employed
by the police department as uniformed officers,
including civilians who performed the same employment
functions as uniformed officers, who had been or
would be subjected to discrimination on the basis
of race, color or national origin in the form of
a hostile work environment, disparate disciplinary
treatment, and retaliation for the exercise of
their rights
In re Joint Eastern&Southern District Asbestos
Litig. -- All Brooklyn Naval Shipyard Cases, 772
F. Supp. 1380 (E.&S.D.N.Y. 1991) won a
number of rulings by the Honorable Jack B. Weinstein
on issues of (1) the consolidation of approximately
seventy cases over three trial phases, (2) the
authority of intermediate state court pronouncements
under the Erie doctrine, when these conflict with
United States Court of Appeals’ rulings (3)
the method of calculating setoffs under New York’s
General Obligations Law § 15-108, (4) the
status of bankrupt parties and their impact on
the judgment-molding process, (5) the interplay
between New York’s General Obligations Law
and its statutory provision creating limits to
and set-offs against joint liability under certain
circumstances, and (6) the interplay between New
York’s General Obligations Law and its Wrongful
Death statute
Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc., 873 So.2d
1222 (Fla. 2004) assisting local counsel, won
review of intermediate appellate court ruling that
reversed
$200 billion class action judgment in favor of tobacco
product liability plaintiffs
Edmond v. International Bus. Mach. Corp., 91
N.Y.2d 949, 671 N.Y.S.2d 437 (1998) won reversal
of Appellate Division ruling regarding significance
of pleading aggravation of preexisting injury upon
New York statute of limitation analysis
Blanco v. American Tel.&Tel. Co., 90 N.Y.2d
757, 666 N.Y.S.2d 536 (1997) won modification
and remand of Appellate Division ruling that construed
New York’s traditional statute of limitations
to view repetitive stress injury claims and toxic
tort claims in an analogous manner, the Court of
Appeals carving out a new construction of the statute
of limitations appropriate to the unique issues
presented by repetitive stress computer keyboard
injuries
In re New York County Asbestos Litig.: Brooklyn
Naval Shipyard Cases -- Dudick v. Keene Corp.,
82 N.Y.2d 821, 605 N.Y.S.2d 3 (1993) won affirmance
of newly recognized method for calculating off-sets
under General Obligations Law § 15-108 in
multiple defendant mass tort actions
People v. Nickerson, 75 N.Y.2d 883, 554 N.Y.S.2d
473 (1990) lost in affirmance on issue of state’s
failure to comply with CPL 710.30, regarding notice
of intent to present inculpatory evidence in criminal
trial, although affirmance concerned preservation
of issue
Root v. Eastern Refractories, Inc., CA 04-01412,
2004 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 16302 (4th Dep't Dec.
30, 2004) won reversal of grant of summary
judgment motion in products liability action, the
trial
court having found dispositive the testimony of
the defendant's president denying that company
had supplied any asbestos-containing product to
plaintiff's Syracuse University job site
Ruffing v. Union Carbide Corp., 764 N.Y.S.2d
462 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dep't, Sept. 22, 2003) in
case involving horrific birth defects resulting
from parental exposure to toxic semiconductor
workplace chemicals, won reversal of ruling which
precluded
the infant plaintiff’s fraud claims against
defendant IBM
Tronlone v. Lac d’Aminate du Quebec, Ltd,
747 N.Y.S.2d 79 (App. Div. 1st Dept., Sept. 17,
2002) won reversal of trial court’s summary
judgment in favor of defendant, on issue of the
sufficiency of plaintiff’s identification
of the defendant’s toxic product
Villoch v. Lindgren, 269 A.D. 2d 271, 703 N.Y.S.2d
131 (1st Dep’t Feb. 22, 2000) won reversal
of trial court’s ruling that New York’s “danger
invites rescue” doctrine, formulated by Judge
Cardozo in Wagner v. International Railway Co.,
did not apply to the facts of this highway accident
case
Cerreta v. New Jersey Transit Corp., 267 A.D.
2d 128, 700 N.Y.S.2d 11 (1st Dep’t 1999) won
reversal of summary judgment ruling on issue of
duty of common carrier toward passenger attempting
to board moving train
In re New York City Asbestos Litig. -- Ronsini
v. Garlock, Inc., 256 A.D.2d 250, 683 N.Y.S.2d
39 (1st Dep’t 1998) won affirmances of
multi-million dollar judgments in three consolidated
appeals in mesothelioma asbestos cases, on product
liability issues of, inter alia, (1) manufacturer’s
liability for replacement parts, (2) New York’s
substantial modification defense, (3) the government
contractor defense, (4) apportionment of fault
under New York’s statutory joint and several
liability scheme, (5) claimed verdict sheets error,
and (6) the sufficiency of product identification
proofs when multiple entities bear similar company
names
Dollas v. W.R. Grace and Co., 225 A.D.2d 319,
639 N.Y.S.2d 323 (1st Dep’t 1996) won
reversal, in mass tort wrongful death action, on
issues of standard for taking judicial notice,
standard for evaluating testimony of a litigant,
and sufficiency of product identification proofs
Aikman v. Atex, Inc., 224 A.D.2d 180, 637 N.Y.S.2d
123 (1st Dep’t 1996) won affirmance of
ruling establishing innovative method for consolidating
various repetititive stress injury cases for trial,
involving the simultaneous impanelment of separate
juries, and upholding the consolidation under the
guidelines suggested by the United States Court
of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In re New York County Data Entry Worker Product
Liability Litig. -- Hulse v. A.B. Dick Co., 222
A.D.2d 381, 635 N.Y.S.2d 641 (1st Dep’t 1995) won
affirmance of ruling granting plaintiffs’ motion
for a protective order against preverdict disclosure
to nonsettling defendants of materials relating
to settlement agreements between plaintiffs and
settling defendants
Cochrane v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 219
A.D.2d 557, 631 N.Y.S.2d 358 (1st Dep’t 1995) won
reversal in toxic tort action on issue of standard
for evaluating moment of “discovery of injury” for
purposes of New York’s toxic tort statute
of limitations
Lloyd v. W.R. Grace&Co.-Conn., 215 A.D.2d
177, 626 N.Y.S.2d 147 (1st Dep’t 1995) won
affirmance of trial court ruling regarding sufficiency
of evidentiary showing that plaintiff was exposed
to manufacturer’s toxic products several
decades prior to manifestation of disease
Polokoff v. Palmer, 190 A.D.2d 897, 593 N.Y.S.2d
129 (3d Dep’t 1993) won reversal in medical
malpractice action on issue concerning continuous
treatment exception to statute of limitations
People v. Bellini, 162 A.D.2d 693, 557 N.Y.S.2d
407 (2d Dep’t 1990) lost in affirmance
of murder conviction on issues, inter alia, of
whether trial court improperly curtailed expert
psychologist’s response to hypothetical questions,
whether court erred in charging the jury on the “duty
to retreat”
People v. Miranda, 151 A.D.2d 321, 543 N.Y.S.2d
904 (1st Dep’t 1989) won modification
of judgment and dismissal of charge of criminal
possession of a controlled substance in the third
degree