The Appellate Strategist : Appellate Lawyers & Attorneys for Updates on Trial Consultations, Amicus Briefs & Punitive Damage Awards

Christina J. Imre, chair of Sedgwick’s Appellate Group, specializes in civil appeals, writs and post-trial motions in business torts, insurance, and significant institutional matters. During her 30-year career, she has handled or consulted on more than 1000 appeals and writs (many after lengthy trials), in Arizona, Alaska, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Ohio, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania and Utah. Over 50 of her cases have resulted in published opinions. She has helped write the book on California Insurance Litigation — literally — as co-author of The Rutter Group’s three-volume California practice guide, the premier insurance treatise in the State.

One of her substantive specialties is handling and reducing major judgments, especially those including punitive damages. In recent years alone, she has reduced verdicts against her clients by over half a billion dollars, on appeal and in post-trial motions. As an expert in the field of punitive damages, she is regularly quoted and interviewed by the national media. She also specializes in consulting with trial counsel in major matters, to assist in strategy, issue selection and preserving the record for appeal.

Practice Areas

• Appellate Procedure, Strategy, Institutional Issues
• Insurance Bad Faith/Healthcare
• Complex Litigation
• Punitive Damages

Professional Associations

• Fellow, California Academy of Appellate Lawyers (by election)
• Voted by her peers, yearly since 2004 , as a “Southern California Super Lawyer,” Los Angeles Magazine.
• Named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Los Angeles Law” by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
• Named in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, National Registry of Who’s Who.

Education

• J.D., Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, 1980, cum laude
• M.A., University of Notre Dame, 1974 (philosophy)
• B.A., Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles, 1972, summa cum laude

Bar Admissions

• California
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Courts of Appeals for the 2nd, 7th, 9th and 10th Circuits
• United States District Courts for the Central, Northern, Eastern and Southern Districts

Frederick D. Baker has practiced appellate law since 1983. He has briefed and argued 150 cases to the California Supreme Court and every district of the California Court of Appeal, as well as numerous federal circuit courts of appeals. He has tried four cases to verdict. Mr. Baker has been appellate counsel for insurers, universities, manufacturers of a wide variety of products, retailers, utilities, builders, hotels, and a number of other private clients. He has been amicus curiae counsel representing the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Defense Research Institute, the American Insurance Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, and the American Petroleum Institute.

Practice Areas

• Business Litigation
• Class Action
• Complex Litigation
• Drug & Medical Device
• Employment & Labor
• Environmental & Toxic Tort
• Extracontractual & Commercial Insurance Litigation
• ERISA
• Insurance Practices
• Products Liability

Professional Associations

• Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America (by invitation only)  

Education

• University of San Francisco School of Law, J.D. (1983)
• College of Wooster B.A. (1973)

Bar Admissions

• California
• District of Columbia
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Courts of Appeals for the D.C., Federal, 5th, 9th and 10th Circuits

Kirk C. Jenkins maintains an exclusively appellate practice, concentrating in matters of antitrust, mass torts and complex litigation, and constitutional law. He regularly appears before state and federal courts in California and Illinois, as well as other parts of the country.

Mr. Jenkins has successfully represented major corporations, private individuals, and governmental entities and officials in connection with a variety of antitrust, products liability, civil rights and insurance coverage issues, and has helped defeat several billion dollars in claims for these clients. He has also represented clients in appellate matters involving issues such as administrative licensing, patent infringement and misuse, juror misconduct, statutory recreational use immunity, arbitration, defamation, federal preemption and ERISA.

Practice Areas

• Appellate Practice, concentrating in matters of:
  • Antitrust
  • Mass Torts and Complex Litigation
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Constitutional Law

Professional Associations

• Selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America, 2010-2012 editions, field of appellate law
• Fellow, California Academy of Appellate Lawyers (by election)
• Member, American Law Institute (by election)
  • Members Consultative Group, Restatement (Third): The U.S. Law of International Commercial Arbitration
  • Members Consultative Group, Restatement (Third) of Torts: Economic Torts and Related Wrongs
  • Members Consultative Group, Restatement (Third) of Torts: Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm
• ABA Council of Appellate Lawyers

Education

• Harvard Law School, J.D. 1986, cum laude
• Harvard College, A.B. 1983, magna cum laude

Bar Admissions

• Illinois
• California
• District of Columbia (inactive status)
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Courts of Appeals for the D.C., Federal, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th Circuits
   

Eric L. Lundt is a partner at Sedgwick's Fort Lauderdale, Florida office.

He specializes in individual high-exposure cases and manages mass tort dockets. He is an "AV"-rated trial attorney who has obtained numerous defense verdicts and summary judgments in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases on behalf of Fortune 500 companies. His clients include pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, a major oil company, heavy equipment and automobile manufacturers, and a major tobacco company.

Practice Areas

• Asbestos
• Pharmaceuticals
• Medical Devices
• Products Liability
• Appeals

Professional Associations

• International Association of Defense Counsel
• Defense Research Institute
• American Bar Association.
• Broward County Bar Association (Professionalism Committee)

Education

• JD, University of Miami School of Law (1990)
• Bachelor of Business Administration (cum laude), University of Miami (1987)

Bar Admissions

• Florida Bar
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit,
• United States District Court for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Florida

Christopher J. Keale is a seasoned attorney with extensive mass torts experience with an emphasis on multidistrict litigation (“MDL”). He has broad trial and appellate experience in all areas of practice and expertise in handling regulatory and election law.

He focuses his practice on pharmaceutical litigation, products liability, class actions and toxic torts. He serves as regional counsel with responsibility for thousands of cases against a global engineering, construction and power company and as trial counsel for an international energy company. Mr. Keale has defended toxic tort and pharmaceutical cases, from inception through trial, in jurisdictions throughout the United States, including regular appearances in the MDL Court. Mr. Keale has also defended class actions in state and federal courts in numerous pharmaceutical and medical device cases.

Practice Areas

• Appellate & Trial
• Mass Torts & Multidistrict Litigation
• Class Actions
• Products Liability
• Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Liability
• General Litigation

Professional Associations

• Trial Attorneys of New Jersey (TANJ)

Education

• M.A. (1993) Fordham University
• J.D. (1996) Seton Hall University School of Law
• B.A. (1990) The Catholic University of America

Bar Admissions

• New Jersey
• United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
• United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

Los Angeles-based attorney Douglas J. Collodel has broad experience working with major corporations and public entities, handling civil litigation matters in state and federal courts. He concentrates his practice on all aspects of appellate law, and has been certified by The State Bar of California Office of Legal Specialization as an Appellate Law Specialist.

Mr. Collodel has briefed and argued numerous cases involving, among other issues, healthcare matters, federal preemption issues, constitutional questions, civil rights violations, government tort claims, business torts, insurance coverage, and general liability disputes. He has participated in proceedings before the United States Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, California Supreme Court and California Court of Appeal, and has more than thirty published decisions.

Practice Areas

• Healthcare
• Constitutional Law
• Product Liability

Professional Associations

• Los Angeles County Bar Association (including Appellate Courts and Appellate Election Evaluations Committees)
• Defense Research Institute (including Appellate Advocacy Committee)
• Italian-American Lawyers Association (including service as president in 2000)
• Notre Dame Monogram Club

Education

• University of Notre Dame, A.B. (1980)
• University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, J.D. (1983)

Bar Admissions

• California
• U.S. Supreme Court
• United States Courts of Appeals for the 9th and 10th Circuits
• U.S. District Courts for the Central, Northern and Southern Districts

With over 30 years of front-line litigation experience, Hall R. Marston brings a deep and diverse range of skills to the service of the firm’s clients. With over 100 appellate matters, 22 jury trials and more than 30 published opinions which have molded significant elements of the nation’s jurisprudence, Mr. Marston’s practice encompasses a broad sweep of general civil litigation, including products liability, professional liability and healthcare, employment, complex business litigation, corporate and partnership disputes, surety and insurance coverage disputes. As a Certified Appellate Specialist, by the California State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization, Mr. Marston continues to help shape decisional authority in a wide array of practice areas.

From the outset of his practice to the present, Mr. Marston has had the privilege of participating in some of the major episodes of mass tort litigation regarding pharmaceuticals and medical devices. He has represented defendants in the diethylstilbestrol (“DES”), Dalkon Shield, DPT and polio vaccine, TMJ Teflon implant, Bendectin, and breast implant litigation. In this field, Mr. Marston has had perhaps the most impact in developing the law before the nation’s appellate courts in this challenging environment for manufacturers and distributors.

Mr. Marston has also represented the defense in mass tort litigation involving tobacco (including a published California appellate opinion on the controversial limitations/revival statute), asbestos, benzene exposure litigation, as well handling suits involving heavy machinery, hand held small tools, and environmental contamination. After preparing a summary judgment motion for a manufacturer of a wood-working table router on the grounds of post-sale modifications, the plaintiff accepted a settlement from Mr. Marston’s client of less than one tenth of further costs of defense.

Practice Areas

• Appellate
• Drug & Medical Device/Products Liability
• Professional Liability
• Healthcare
• Commercial and Complex Litigation

Professional Associations

• Certified Specialist in Appellate Law, The State Bar of California Office of Legal Specialization
• Member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Appellate Courts Committee, and the America Business Trial Lawyers Association
• Member of the Defense Research Institute
• Voted by his peers, yearly since 2005 , as a “Southern California Super Lawyer,” Los Angeles Magazine

Education

• J.D. (1977) UCLA School of Law
• A.B. (1974) Occidental College, magna cum laude

Bar Admissions

• California
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Courts of Appeals for the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 9th and 11th Circuits
• United States District Courts for the Central, Northern, Eastern and Southern Districts

Lenore C. Smith is an AV-rated appellate attorney with 16 years' experience handling state and federal civil appeals in a variety of substantive areas, including product liability, personal injury, immigration, contracts, securities, arbitration, workers’ compensation, trusts and estates, admiralty, medical malpractice, civil conspiracy, real estate and charitable corporations.

Lenore practices out of Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Practice Areas

• Appellate

Professional Associations

• Florida Bar Association
• Miami Dade Bar Association

Education

• University of Miami School of Law, J.D., 1989
• Florida International University, B.A. in English, 1985

Bar Admissions

• Florida
• United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Robert C. Weill handles civil appeals in federal and state courts and provides litigation support to the firm’s trial attorneys.  He has briefed and/or argued cases involving a wide variety of issues before the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida District Courts of Appeal, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.  He also prepares complex motions for summary judgment, detailed case analyses, and other miscellaneous pleadings involving considerable research and writing.

Mr. Weill is an AV-Preeminent Rated Lawyer and member of the Florida Bar’s Appellate Practice and Advocacy Section. He is also active in the Insurance Coverage & Amicus Curiae Committees of the Florida Defense Lawyer’s Association and the Appellate Practice Section of the Broward County Bar Association. Additionally, he is a member of the Defense Research Institute and is on the Editorial Board of Trial Advocate Quarterly.

During law school, he was a senior staff member of the Nova Law Review, academic editor of the Moot Court Society, and national member of the Order of Barristers. He received the honor of Best Brief in the Freshman Moot Court Competition, and he was a member of Phi Delta Phi, the National Legal Honor Society.

Presentations & Publications

• “The Exhausting Task of Understanding Horizontal and Vertical Exhaustion,” Trial Advocate Quarterly (Winter 2011).
   
• “Representative Depositions: In Search of a Cohesive & Well-Defined Body of Law,” Nova Law Review (Spring 2009).
   
• “Buster and the Continuing Saga Over the Patients’ Right-to-Know-About-Medical Incidents-Amendment,” Trial Advocate Quarterly (Winter 2009).
   
• “The Overlooked Arrow in the Defense’s Quiver: The Rule Against Impermissible Inference-Stacking,” Trial Advocate Quarterly (Summer 2007).
   
• “A Primer on Contribution & Indemnity,” Trial Advocate Quarterly (Spring 2007).
   
• “Amendment 7: Will the Patient’s Right to Know Come At Too High a Price?” Trial Advocate Quarterly (Spring 2005).
   
• “Gone With the Windfall: Limiting Past Medical Expenses to Paid, Not Billed, Charges,” Trial Advocate Quarterly (Spring 2004).
   
• “The Voluntary Payment Doctrine in Florida,” Trial Advocate Quarterly (Fall 2002).
   
• “Multiple Claims Exceeding the Policy Limits,” Mealey’s Litigation Report-Insurance Bad Faith (August 17, 1999).
   
• “Trends & Developments in Bad Faith Litigation,” BBP Insurance Defense Seminar (August 17, 1999).
   
• Speaker, “An Effective Approach to Legal Writing & Research in Florida,” Lorman Education Services, Tampa, Florida (November 18, 1999).
   
• Speaker, “Good Faith Claim Handling: Laforet & Powell,” Superior Insurance Company, Atlanta, Georgia (December 10, 1999).
   
• “Does a Liability Insurer Have a Duty to Initiate Settlement Negotiations?” Mealey’s Litigation Report-Insurance Bad Faith (September 15 and October 20, 1998).
   
• “Multiple Claims Exceeding the Policy Limits: How to Protect the Insured and Avoid Bad Faith Claims,” Mealey’s 1998 Bad Faith Conference (1998).
   
• “Time Demand Letters: Identifying Problems & Avoiding Them,” Onyx Insurance Company 1998 Bad Faith Seminar (1998).

Practice Areas

• Appellate

Education

• Shephard Broad Law Center, Nova Southeastern University, J.D. 1994
• Cornell University, B.A. 1990 Psychology

Bar Admissions

• Florida
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Courts of Appeals, Third and Eleventh Circuits
• United States District Courts, Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida

Sherman Vance Wittie is certified as a specialist in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. His practice focuses upon appeals and class actions with particular emphasis in products liability, consumer law, insurance and reinsurance and commercial litigation.

Mr. Wittie is frequently called upon to address complex substantive and procedural issues in areas such as choice of law, forum non conveniens, personal jurisdiction, class certification, the effect of tort reform legislation.

Mr. Wittie practices in the firm’s Dallas office.

Practice Areas

• Civil Appeals
• Class Actions
• Insurance and Reinsurance
• Products Liability
• Commercial Litigation

Education

• Baylor University, B.A. (History) 1983, Honors with Distinction
• Baylor University School of Law, J.D. 1985, cum laude

Bar Admissions

• Texas
• United States Courts of Appeals for the 5th and 10th Circuits
• United States District Courts for the Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas

Jeannine C. Jacobson has 15 years’ experience handling state and federal civil appeals in a wide range of areas, including insurance, products liability, personal injury and commercial litigation. A significant portion of her career has been devoted to the defense of employers and insurers in the field of life, health and disability litigation, under both ERISA and state law. Jeannine practices out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Practice Areas

• Appeals
• Insurance Related Litigation
• Commercial Litigation

Education

• Duke University School of Law, J.D., 1995
• Cornell University, B.A. in English, 1992

Bar Admissions

• Florida
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
• United States District Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida

Matthew A. Reed practices primarily in the area of product liability litigation, representing drug and medical device manufacturers in state and federal litigation across the country.  He also litigates complex business matters on behalf of clients in a variety of industries.  His recent efforts encompass a broad spectrum of motion and briefing practice, including post-trial and appellate work.

As the lead associate on the motion and briefing team for national coordinating counsel in multi-state medical products liability litigation, he has drafted successful motions for summary judgment, motions in limine, and trial briefs in state and federal courts around the nation.  He is familiar with state and federal complex litigation procedures, having contributed prevailing briefing in federal Multi-District Litigation (“MDL”) proceedings, as well as oppositions to consolidation in the state court context.  He also has experience managing local counsel’s motion work and case handling.

Mr. Reed has extensive experience challenging and defending expert witnesses, having drafted and opposed numerous Daubert motions and motions to strike against a diverse range of medical and regulatory experts.  His motions have secured the exclusion or limitation of key opposing experts in vanguard federal court litigation.  He has also worked with co-defense counsel to coordinate nationwide Daubert strategy.

As the lead associate on post-appeal, state trial court briefing, Mr. Reed drafted a successful motion for contractual attorney fees in the amount of $1.5 million, despite an appellate decision affirming judgment against his client on all causes of action except the contract claim.  The success of the motion provided the client the right to recoup an additional $1.3 million in attorney fees already paid to the opposing party.  He also drafted motions to amend the judgment and for restitution, which the client leveraged for a favorable settlement of associated litigation.

Mr. Reed also has federal and state court appellate experience. He has drafted the respondent’s brief to the 9th Circuit in an appeal from a district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of his client. He has also drafted the respondent’s brief and a motion to dismiss in an appeal from a state court trial verdict in favor of his client, a law firm.  The appellate court upheld the verdict in his client’s favor in its entirety, and the state supreme court denied petition for review.

Practice Areas

• Appellate
• Complex Litigation
• Drug & Medical Device
• Mass Torts
• Products Liability

Education

• Pepperdine University School of Law, J.D., 2005
• Pepperdine University School of Public Policy, M.P.P., 2004
• Azusa Pacific University, B.S., 1998

Bar Admissions

• California
• United States District Courts for the Central and Eastern Districts of California

Kelly Savage Day represents clients in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. She has a decade of experience counseling and defending companies in state and federal court at both the trial and appellate level. She combines aggressive advocacy with practical, common sense advice to achieve the best results for her clients.

Ms. Savage Day recently helped generic drug manufacturer Perrigo Pharmaceuticals Company (Perrigo) avoid several multi-million dollar claims by convincing the Northern District of California that plaintiffs' state-law claims against the generic drug manufacturer were preempted under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (FDCA). The court's ruling has broad implications, because it is one of the first to explicitly recognize the preemptive effect of federal Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) labeling requirements with respect to generic drug manufacturers despite the United States Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Wyeth v. Levine. She also recently rescued a small local business from bankruptcy by persuading the California Court of Appeals to vacate a $1.7 million judgment in a high-profile employment case featured on both The Oprah Winfrey Show and Today Show. In both instances, Kelly worked closely with clients to control legal expenses and prevent wasteful and unnecessary activity.

Practice Areas

• Appellate Litigation
• Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, Food and Nutritional Supplement Litigation
• Products Liability
• Complex Civil Litigation

Professional Associations

• California Bar Association
• San Francisco Bar Association
• National Association of Women Business Owners

Education

• The Ohio State University, B.A. History 1996
• Ohio Northern College of Law, J.D. 1999
• Wright State University, M.S. Biological Sciences (in progress)

Bar Admissions

• Ohio 1999
• California 2005

Brian Thompson concentrates his practice in the areas of products liability and appellate litigation in multiple state and federal jurisdictions. His products liability experience centers on automotive liability. In his appellate practice, Mr. Thompson has briefed issues that cover a broad spectrum of substantive law, including asbestos and medical device matters, premises liability, civil procedure questions, and insurance and workers’ compensation law. Mr. Thompson has worked on cases before courts of appeal in California, Washington, and the Ninth Circuit.

Practice Areas

• Appellate
• Products Liability

Professional Associations

• American Bar Association

Education

• University of California, Hastings College of the Law, J.D. (2007)
• University of California at Davis, B.A. (2000)

Bar Admissions

• California
• United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
• United States District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California

Michael M. Walsh has over nineteen years of litigation and appellate experience in both state and federal courts, including mass tort and complex products liability, premises liability, toxic tort, bad faith, workers' compensation petitions, professional negligence, and general liability in addition to general appellate matters. Mr. Walsh is at the office in Los Angeles, California.

Mr. Walsh's Pro Bono Activities include participating in the Appellate Pro Bono Program (with Public Counsel), guardianships and adoptions, acting as a pro tem judge for the Los Angeles Superior Court - traffic and small claims court, and appeals before the L.A. Board of Education.

Practice Areas

• Appellate Law
• Mass Tort & Complex Litigation
• Products Liability
• Drug & Medical Device Litigation
• Insurance Litigation
• Workers' Compensation

Professional Associations

• Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Appellate Courts Committee

Education

• J.D. (1990) Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
• B.S. (1987) University of California at Los Angeles

Bar Admissions

• California
• United States Courts of Appeals for the 9th and 10th Circuits
• United States District Courts for the Central, Northern, Eastern and Southern Districts of California