Toxic Tort/Environmental

• Successfully argued a series of appeals of orders setting aside default judgements on behalf of an insurer, resulting in a published opinion (Mechling v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, 29 Cal. App. 5th 1241).
• Negotiated outright dismissal of 73 asbestos cases against a variety of clients, including contractors, manufacturers, and retailers in a six-month period.
• In a significant mesothelioma case, defended an insulation contractor at trial and achieved a settlement one month into trial, with plaintiff coming well down to numbers discussed pre-trial. The case went on to a $25+ million verdict against the other two defendants.
• Defense of a glove manufacturer in a living mesothelioma case. Plaintiffs have made demands in the range of $400,000 to over $1 million, among the numerous defendants. Glove manufacturer client has one of the lower demands.
• Represented a supplier of asbestos-containing cement pipe in a case brought by a husband and wife. Plaintiffs claimed the wife was dying of the cancer called mesothelioma and that she was exposed to asbestos via the work clothes of her laborer husband. Plaintiffs dismissed the supplier after a motion for summary judgment was filed on client's behalf. The case progressed to trial against the manufacturer of the asbestos-containing cement pipe. The jury returned a verdict in excess of $200 million against the manufacturer.
• Successful defense of a gasket distributor in several asbestos cases in which plaintiffs have claimed illness, or death of another, as a result of an asbestos-related illness.
• Negotiated outright dismissal of 73 asbestos cases against a variety of clients, including contractors, manufacturers, and retailers.
• In a significant mesothelioma case, an insulation contractor was defended at trial. Settlement was achieved one month into trial, with plaintiff coming well down to numbers discussed pre-trial. The case went on to a $25 million verdict against the other two defendants.
• Summary judgment was granted in favor of a gasket manufacturer following the deposition of a co-worker, during which the co-worker identified the gasket manufacturer, but also testified that plaintiff's counsel advised him to sign an inaccurate declaration.
• Dismissal of a boiler manufacturer was obtained in a living mesothelioma case in which plaintiff had positively identified client's boiler from a magazine advertisement. Summary judgment motion forced plaintiff to dismiss.
• Dismissal of a heavily-identified steam cleaner manufacturer was obtained in a wrongful death mesothelioma case.

Business Litigation

• In a Proposition 65 claim brought by a school district, settlement was achieved below the actual replacement cost on behalf of client, an artificial turf manufacturer.
• Determined strategy for novel motion to dismiss based on applying filing date of plaintiff's first action to plaintiff's second case filed several years later, effectively extricating our plumbing contractor client, and all joining defendants, from the case.
• A dismissal was obtained of a mechanical contractor, after researching and producing credible evidence that plaintiff had mis-identified our client, and that there was another similarly-named mechanical contractor that was more likely to have been at plaintiff's work site.

• Santa Clara University School of Law  (J.D., 1992)
  • Editor, Santa Clara Computer and High Technology Law Journal
• Santa Clara University  (B.S., 1987)

• California