DRI Faculty List

Defense Lawyer Asbestos Symposium

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas | Las Vegas, NV | November 1, 2017


Anders Abelmann, Ph.D.
Supervising Health Scientist
Cardno ChemRisk

Anders Abelmann, Ph.D. is a Supervising Health Scientist and Practice Area Lead for Industrial Hygiene and Exposure Science with Cardno ChemRisk. His principal areas of expertise include industrial hygiene, exposure and risk assessment, and occupational safety. He has been involved in researching, measuring and reconstructing exposure, and assessing risk to consumers and workers exposed to a variety of chemicals such as carbon monoxide, ethylene oxide propylene oxide, toluene, styrene, formaldehyde, asbestos, and diacetyl. Dr. Abelmann has conducted independent research and he has also acted as a peer reviewer for scientific journals and conferences. Dr. Abelmann has served on the American Industrial Hygiene Association's Finance Committee since 2016, and he is a member of the Advisory Board to the Illinois Education and Research Center. Previously, he served on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Local Section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association from 2010 to 2016 and was the Chair of the Environmental Section of the Illinois Public Health Association from 2009 to 2011.


William R. Adams
Dickie McCamey & Chilcote

William R. Adams is a shareholder of Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote, P.C. and the Shareholder-in-Charge of the Wilmington office He concentrates his practice in the areas of insurance litigation, civil litigation, and toxic torts with an emphasis in asbestos litigation. Aggressively representing clients in all phases of litigation from pre-suit discovery to argument before appellate courts in multiple jurisdictions, he practices in a diverse area of law including transportation litigation, premises liability, asbestos litigation, uninsured and underinsured motorist litigation, errors and omissions, and commercial torts.


Keith M. Ameele
Managing Partner
Foley & Mansfield PLLP

Keith M. Ameele is the managing partner of Foley & Mansfield's Los Angeles office and a member of the firm's executive committee. He concentrates his practice entirely on litigation, with an emphasis on product liability, toxic tort, mass tort, general negligence and business litigation. Serving as both trial counsel, national coordinating counsel and regional counsel, he defends manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and premises owners in high-risk toxic tort, products liability and complex business litigation matters.


Christy Barlow, Ph.D.
Cardno ChemRisk

Christy Barlow, Ph.D. is a Supervising Health Scientist with Cardno ChemRisk. She completed her doctoral work at the University of Vermont where she was involved in several research projects aimed at understanding the role of signaling by oxidant stress and asbestos through the CREB transcription factor and its relationship to the development of apoptosis in murine lung epithelial cells in vitro. As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Dr. Barlow examined the role of an oxidant-regulated poly(A) polymerase in the regulation of polyadenylation of specific mRNAs. More recently, Dr Barlow has been involved in characterizing exposure and assessing risk of a variety of chemicals in both occupational and non-occupational product exposure scenarios. In addition to performing comprehensive literature reviews, she has prepared exposure assessments for airborne asbestos exposures associated with multiple scenarios, including bystander exposures, take home exposures, and exposures to gasket and packing, automotive repair, insulation, steel mill, and home remodeling work.


Tracy J. Cowan
Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young

Tracy J. Cowan is Partner-in-Charge of the St. Louis, Missouri office of Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP. Tracy has extensive experience with managing national mass tort litigation for corporate clients, and he has litigated asbestos, toxic tort, product liability and environmental matters in trial courts around the United States. His expertise extends to pre-litigation investigation of fire and explosion scenes and industrial accidents and fatalities. Additionally, Tracy has worked closely with and against nationally renowned experts in the asbestos and toxic tort arenas.


Evelyn Fletcher Davis
Partner
Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP

Evelyn Fletcher Davis is a partner at Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP in its Atlanta office. She serves as local, regional and national counsel for numerous clients and is one of the nation's leading asbestos, silica, benzene, and product lliability lawyers, with a strong presence in the Alabama, Florida, and Georgia jurisdictions. M. Davis is a board member of the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, and an active member of DRI, FDCC, and IADC.


Bradley Drew
Managing Director
Navigant Consulting Inc

Bradley Drew is a Managing Director of Navigant Consulting, Inc. Since joining the company in 1991, he has acquired expertise in the analysis and administration of asbestos, pollution and health hazard claims. He has assisted clients with the review and analysis of asbestos claims data and the allocation of costs to insurance coverage. Brad has provided expert and fact testimony at both deposition and trial. Prior to joining Navigant Consulting, Brad was an aerospace engineer with a major defense contractor and has a BS degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and an MBA in Finance from the University of Illinois.


Mary Margaret Gay
Maron Marvel Bradley Anderson & Tardy LLC

Mary Margaret Gay is a Director in the Jackson, Mississippi office of Maron Marvel Bradley Anderson & Tardy LLC. Mary Margaret is an Arkansas native. She attended Hendrix College and the Mississippi College School of Law. She clerked with former Mississippi Governor Bill Waller before joining Forman Perry Watkins Krutz & Tardy. She possesses extensive experience in creating cost-efficient, unified defense strategies to manage special issues arising in mass tort litigation. Her practice is primarily focused on mass tort defense, and she has represented dozens of clients nationally and regionally. Mary Margaret served as coordinating counsel for the defense liaison committee in MDL 875 which led to dismissals in more than 100,000 cases. She is currently spearheading unified joint defense efforts arising in the aftermath of Judge Hodges' landmark estimation opinion issued in the Garlock bankruptcy proceedings and has been retained by a number of insurers and defendants to serve as National Trust Transparency Counsel. Mary Margaret has written multiple articles regarding asbestos bankruptcy trust issues Mary Margaret received an AV® Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell® and is recognized as a Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers®. Her most important role is wife and mommy to Drew (8) and Owen (4).


Ollie M. Harton
Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP

Ollie M. Harton is a partner at Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Ollie Harton has tried toxic tort cases from Boston to Miami to Los Angeles and Portland. He has managed thousands of cases for multiple clients across the nation, serving as national counsel, regional counsel, and local counsel. In 2014, Ollie tried several cases for clients across the country which resulted in either the dismissal of the client during trial or defense verdicts. All of these claims were wrongful death, toxic tort cases where the plaintiffs were seeking millions of dollars.


Laura Kingsley Hong
Partner
Tucker Ellis LLP

Laura Kingsley Hong is a partner with Tucker Ellis LLP in Cleveland. She has tried several cases to jury verdict. Because of her decades of first-chair experience in wrongful death and cancer trials and nearly 20 years as national counsel, she spearheads legislative initiatives and leads strategy for clients. Laura testified before the Ohio General Assembly on Ohio's Medical Criteria Bill and is cited in its history. A former law professor of trial tactics, Laura writes and speaks frequently on topics relating to toxic tort and product liability litigation, as well as equity and inclusion.


Edward R. Hugo
Hugo Parker LLP

Edward R. Hugowith Hugo Parker LLP is a trial attorney, appellate lawyer, litigator and litigation manager for cases involving products and premises liability, toxic torts, environmental claims, personal injury, insurance, professional negligence, construction defect and criminal law. He also has been retained as an expert witness and testified in trial, arbitration and deposition regarding: the duties of defense counsel, the effectiveness of defense strategies, the reasonableness of settlement values and defense costs, and insurance coverage issues.


James A. Lowery
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP

James A. Lowery is a Partner in the Dallas office of Gordon & Rees and a member of the Environmental/Toxic Tort, Commercial Litigation, Trucking & Transportation and Professional Liability Defense practice groups. Mr. Lowery has achieved favorable verdicts in several high-risk cases on behalf of numerous clients in asbestos litigation. He has first chaired more than 40 major asbestos trials in multiple jurisdictions, including Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Massachusetts, Delaware, Ohio, Maryland, Louisiana, Virginia, Illinois and California. Mr. Lowery obtained defense verdicts in asbestos trials in some of the most notorious pro-plaintiff jurisdictions, such as Madison County, Illinois, Beaumont and Orange, Texas and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


Christopher S. Marks
Sedgwick LLP

Christopher S. Marks with Sedgwick LLP is a veteran trial attorney with verdicts in product liability and commercial litigation matters. He focuses his practice on defending high-exposure tort matters, including product liability cases related to asbestos, consumer products, transportation, and toxic torts. His commercial litigation and trial experience includes general contract and real estate disputes. Chris serves as national trial counsel for several clients, and is an advisor for corporate clients looking to develop nationwide strategies for mass tort litigation defense. He has obtained defense verdicts in state courts and has successfully argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and before several of Washington's state appellate courts.


Stephen Novakidis
Malaby & Bradley LLC

Stephen Novakidis, who was selected as a Super Lawyer in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, joined M&B as trial counsel in 2014. Additionally, he is an experienced litigation defense attorney who has represented corporate clients for over a dozen years, on a range of issues including products liability, toxic tort, wrongful death, personal injury and premises liability. Mr. Novakidis' role has included all aspects of litigation, from initial discovery through trial and the appellate process. Mr. Novakidis has served as liaison counsel in multi-defendant complex litigation, including the New York Asbestos Litigation. In 2016, Mr. Novakidis tried a case on behalf of a boiler manufacturer in a New York City asbestos matter, receiving an incredibly rare defense verdict, and the only such result for a boiler manufacturer in at least a decade.


Vincent J. Palmiotto
DeHay & Elliston LLP

Vincent J. Palmiotto is a partner in the Baltimore, Maryland office of DeHay & Elliston, L.L.P. and has been with the firm since January 2013. His practice is currently focused on product liability, toxic tort and personal injury litigation. He has extensive litigation experience, including extensive experience handling asbestos cases as both local and national coordinating counsel for a wide variety of different product manufacturers. As national coordinating counsel he has supervised all aspects of trial strategy and preparation for cases pending throughout the country. He also has worked closely with clients in developing defense strategies, managing litigation and developing and retaining experts.


Albert H. (Al) Parnell
Partner
Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP

Albert H. (Al) Parnell is a nationally recognized trial attorney with Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP (Atlanta, Austin Charleston, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Napa, St. Louis and San Francisco). He has spent his entire career preparing, managing, and trying product liability, environemental and toxic tort cases. Mr. parnell has tried more than 300 cases in 32 states. Mr. parnell an authority on asbestos medicine, is frequently requested to speak on medical, state-of-the-art, firm management, and ethics issues. He is a founding member of DRI's Law Institute and a former member of the DRI Board of Directors


Judith A. Perritano
Managing Partner
Pierce Davis & Perritano LLP

Judith A. Perritano is the Managing Partner of Pierce Davis & Perritano LLP and has over two decades of experience in the defense and trial of complex personal injury cases and handles a variety of multi-party cases, from pre-suit investigation through trial including products liability, automobile, eminent domain, and construction. She also defends toxic tort claims including asbestos and other environmental exposures, carbon monoxide, latex and lead. Additionally, she represents several asbestos clients in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. and serves as National Coordinating Counsel for an equipment manufacturer in asbestos litigation. She has been named a top-rated products liability attorney in Boston by Super Lawyers.


R. Thomas Radcliffe, Jr.
Partner
DeHay & Elliston LLP

R. Thomas Radcliffe, Jr., is a partner in the Baltimore firm of DeHay & Elliston LLP. His practice areas include general litigation, mass torts, product liability and insurance. He has trial experience in Maryland, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia. Mr. Radcliffe maintains a trial case load nationally and actively supervises attorneys in jurisdictions throughout the country. He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.


Robert F. Redman
McGuire Woods LLP

Robert F. Redmanpractices with McGuire Woods in Richamond, VA. Bob focuses his practice on mass tort, product liability and complex commercial litigation. He frequently tries jury cases to verdict in state and federal courts around the country. He recently tried a product liability wrongful death case to a defense verdict for a major automobile manufacturer. Prior to entering private practice, Bob was a prosecutor for the U.S. Army in the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.


Robert A. Rich
Partner
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP

Robert A. Rich is a partner in Gordon & Rees's Oakland office and is a member of the firm's Environmental/Toxic Tort practice group. Mr. Rich started his asbestos trial career in the early 1990's at a Los Angeles law firm that was representing Owens Corning Fiberglas (OCF) which was a target defendant in the landmark asbestos litigation. OCF developed an elite National Trial Team composed of a dozen of some of the most successful asbestos trial attorneys in the country to try the company's most dangerous cases. In 1991 OCF held a national trial competition, which Mr. Rich won and he joined OCF's National Trial team. Mr. Rich has tried more than 30 asbestos cases in California, Florida, Texas and throughout the United States and achieved defense verdicts in almost all the cases he tried.


Theodore F. Roberts
Venable LLP

Theodore F. Roberts with Venable LLP. Ted's practice centers on the defense of corporate clients involved in toxic tort litigation. Since 1994, he has defended manufacturers, distributors and contractors involved in industry-wide litigation on local, regional and national levels. He has first chair trial experience in state and federal courts. Mr. Roberts has tried to verdict, as lead counsel or co-counsel, seventeen cases involving claims of occupational cancer, lung disease and death. He has also tried numerous other cases short of verdict. His cases routinely involve complex medical and scientific issues relating to causation.


Gary J. Saalman
Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease LLP

Gary J. Saalmanis a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the litigation practice group. He represents companies in complex commercial, product liability litigation, and advises clients on document retention and e-discovery obligations. Gary serves on national counsel trial teams and as Ohio counsel in toxic tort litigation for Fortune 500 companies. Gary also advises clients on the identification, preservation and collection of ESI and designs litigation hold protocols to ensure compliance with federal and state rules. He has worked with corporate, environmental, and labor attorneys to develop efficient and compliant document retention, IT, and archiving practices.


James G. Scadden
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP

James G. Scadden is a partner in the Environmental/Toxic Tort practice group at Gordon & Rees. His practice focuses on defending asbestos personal injury, benzene personal injury, dietary supplement cases, Proposition 65 compliance cases, and other toxic exposure cases. Mr. Scadden represents clients in all stages of litigation throughout California. He is acquainted with prominent plaintiff experts by way of examining them in depositions and trials and has also worked with notable defense experts in trial.


Gary D. Sharp
Managing Partner
Foley & Mansfield PLLP

Gary D. Sharp is a partner at Foley & Mansfield. As Chair of the Firm's Toxic Tort group, Gary splits his time between the Detroit and California offices. With 30 years of civil trial experience, he focuses his practice on the defense of complex product liability and toxic tort cases. Gary's extensive trial experience in both State and Federal courts around the United States has resulted in successful outcomes for numerous product manufacturers, suppliers and distributors. Noted for his expertise in the trial of high profile cases, Gary was the lead defense counsel in a Wisconsin products case that was featured as one of the most significant defense verdicts of the year by the National Law Journal. Gary has been retained as National and Regional trial counsel for several companies and corporations sued as defendants in asbestos related litigation.


David A. Speziali
Partner
Speziali Greenwald & Hawkins PC

David A. Speziali is a partner at Speziali, Greenwald & Hawkins PC in Williamstown, New Jersey. Since 1981, he has managed and/or tried asbestos related claims for dozens of corporate defendants in more than 40 states. Mr. Speziali has conducted numerous training programs and lectured across the country. He has served as the prior co-chair of the DRI Asbestos Medicine Conference (2011-2013) and is a co-chair of the Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar (DALS) held annually.


Edward R. Ulloa
Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP

Edward R. Ulloa is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP. Mr. Ulloa is an experienced trial attorney whose practice involves the defense of clients in high-risk, mass tort litigation, including asbestos, chemical exposure, flammable fabric and automotive product liability actions. Mr. Ulloa has served as first-chair trial counsel in over 50 jury trials and has represented manufacturers of naval and industrial equipment, automotive friction and gasket materials, and joint compound and drywall materials, and flammable fabrics at trial. Mr. Ulloa is highly experienced in the successful argument of summary judgment and pretrial motions and is involved in the development of litigation and trial strategies for high-risk mass tort litigation clients across the nation. Mr. Ulloa supervises other attorneys in the representation of products liability matters and negotiates on behalf of clients at court mandated settlement conferences. Mr. Ulloa represents clients in fact and expert witness depositions in cases in across the country and is involved in pre-litigation investigation of actions involving clients on a national basis.