Claire C. Weglarz

Claire C. Weglarz,
Senior Partner

Biography

Claire Weglarz is a first-chair trial attorney who represents public and private entities in high-risk litigation nationwide. She represents clients in a broad range of industries from energy and chemicals to manufacturing, automotive, and consumer goods. She has extensive experience in cases involving products liability, premises liability, environmental claims, and toxic exposures to asbestos, talc, benzene, and other various chemicals. Clients also look to Claire for help handling a variety of other disputes and litigation related to unfair business practices, product labeling, and employment issues.

Claire excels at effectively communicating complex issues to judges and juries to be both comprehensible and compelling. With a background in biology, Claire specializes in developing cutting-edge litigation strategies involving the advancement of technical, scientific, and medical defenses. As a registered patent and trademark attorney, she has a unique perspective and foresight into issues involving the design, manufacture, and intended use of products. 

Always results-oriented, Claire prides herself on providing legal services that are cost-effective and predictable. She keeps her clients informed of ongoing case developments and strategies, while also seeking to prevent future litigation. Claire serves her clients in local, national, and trial counsel capacities.

Professional Expertise

Asbestos Litigation

Claire’s experience in asbestos trials is unrivaled over the past decade. A representative sample of her trial results includes:

  • Finished a month-long wrongful death trial in San Francisco County Superior Court that was declared a mistrial because of a deadlocked jury. It was the first-ever civil trial in San Francisco to proceed mainly virtually. Only jury selection, opening statements, and closing arguments were in person. The client, an international industrial-seal product manufacturer, was the only defendant at trial.
  • Obtained a defense verdict in the retrial of a wrongful death mesothelioma case pending in the Superior Court of Washington in King County. Her client, a sealing product manufacturer, was the only defendant at trial. The three-week trial proceeded entirely via Zoom.
  • Secured an outright dismissal two weeks into trial in a mesothelioma case in Marion County, Indiana. Her client, a mechanical contractor of services at industrial and commercial facilities across the nation, was the last remaining defendant.
  • Won a defense verdict after a two-week mesothelioma trial in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Her client, a sealing product manufacturer, was the only remaining defendant.
  • Obtained a dismissal mid-trial in a wrongful death mesothelioma case in Anderson County, South Carolina, before the Hon. Jean H. Toal. The client, a sealing product manufacturer, was dismissed after Claire’s opening statement and the testimony of several witnesses.
  • Secured a defense verdict in a wrongful death mesothelioma case in King County, Washington. Her client, a sealing product manufacturer, was the only remaining defendant.
  • Won a defense verdict for a sealing product manufacturer in a wrongful death mesothelioma trial in Alameda County, California.
  • Obtained a defense verdict in an asbestos related lung cancer and asbestosis case for a sealing product manufacturer, the only defendant at trial. After a three-week trial with $6.5 million at risk, the San Francisco County jury quickly reached a defense verdict after a few hours.
  • Secured a defense verdict in a mesothelioma trial for a leading paint manufacturer in Los Angeles County, California. After a four-week trial with more than $11 million at risk, the jury returned a verdict without ever reaching the questions of causation or damages.
  • Received a defense verdict for a manufacturer of sealing products in a six-week mesothelioma trial in Alameda County, California.
  • Obtained a defense verdict in a $20 million mesothelioma trial in Los Angeles County, California.
  • Secured a directed verdict in a wrongful death mesothelioma case in Los Angeles County, California.
  • Won a defense verdict in a five-week lung cancer trial in Los Angeles County, California.

Services

Education

  • University of San Diego School of Law  (J.D., 2004)
    • Recipient, American Jurisprudence Award in Criminal Procedure
    • Institute on International and Comparative Law, London, England (2002)
  • Loyola Marymount University  (B.S., 2000)

Bar Admissions

  • California
  • United States Patent and Trademark Office

Courts

  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

Professional Affiliations

  • Trial Attorneys of America
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association
  • DRI
  • Central City Association
  • State Bar of California
  • American Bar Association

Honors

  • Southern California Super Lawyers, Rising Star (2009-2011)

Trials

Presentations

  • "The Evolution and Expansion of Talc Litigation," DRI Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Seminar, New Orleans, LA (April 2023)
  • "It’s Time for Some Beach Therapy: Navigating Through Product ID in the Form of Dying Declarations," DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, San Diego, CA (November 2022)
  • "The Perspective of Female Litigators in Cosmetic Talc Cases," DRI Talc Litigation Seminar, Washington, DC (September 2019)
  • “Asbestos Openings by a Plaintiff and Two Defense Lawyers,” Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar, Orlando, Florida (June 2017)
  • "Defense Exhibit 1: ;): Emoticons in Court," Trial Attorneys of America Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois (June 2016)
  • "Social Media Discovery, Collection & Admissibility," Trial Attorneys of America Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois (June 2014)
  • "Spoliation of Evidence: When to Cry Over Spilled Milk," Trial Attorneys of America Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois (June 2013)