CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS

​

W. Mark Lanier, Esq., Co-Chair

The Lanier Law Firm

Attorney, Author, Teacher, Pastor and Expert Story Teller, Mark Lanier is no stranger to the public platform. Since he founded The Lanier Law Firm in 1990, Mark has earned international recognition as one of the top trial attorneys in the United States with firm offices in Houston, New York and Los Angeles supporting his work for clients across the country...

Ginger Susman, Esq., Co-Chair

ARCHER

Ginger Susman is a Co-Executive Chairman of ARCHER Systems, LLC. Prior to ARCHER, Ms. Susman was Founder and President of Providio MediSolutions, LLC which focused primarily on lien resolution and QSF administration. Ms. Susman has been involved in the mass tort market for over 10 years and, in that time, has become widely recognized as a leading authority on settlement administration. In addition to helping drive ARCHER’s strategic vision and overall success, Ms. Susman frequently speaks at conferences and works behind the scenes with litigation stakeholders at the highest levels on strategic settlement resolution and administration issues.

FACULTY

​

Basil Adham, Esq.

The Johnson Law Group

Basil Adham was born and raised in Houston, Texas.  He attended the University of Texas at Austin earning a bachelor’s degree in both Economics and Biology.  Basil worked in real estate and commercial banking before attending law school.  With his background and experience in economics, Basil pursued a joint degree in law and business from the University of Houston.  In law school, Basil worked with the university’s Consumer Law Clinic to assist the underprivileged resolve claims involving deceptive trade practices...  

Mike Arias, Esq.

Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos LLP

Mike Arias is the founding and managing partner of Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos LLP. He is the 2019 President of Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) and Immediate Past-President of Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA). In September of 2019, the Daily Journal named Mr. Arias one of the Top 100 Attorneys in California. Earlier in 2019, the Daily Journal named him one of the Top 30 Plaintiff Attorneys in California for the second year in a row. Mr. Arias is also a Member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)...

Richard J. Arsenault, Esq., Co-Chair

Neblett, Beard & Arsenault

Richard Arsenault has been recognized as one of America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyers by Trial Lawyer Magazine. He has participated in over 25 multidistrict litigation proceedings and currently serves as Co-Lead Counsel in the Actos MDL where a jury rendered a historic $9 billion dollar punitive damage verdict which has been reported as one of the nation’s largest personal injury verdicts...

Steven C. Babin, Jr., Esq.

Babin Law

Steven loves being a lawyer. It gives him the opportunity to help real people. He considers it a privilege to fight for the rights of individuals that have been harmed by the negligence and maleficence of large corporations. Steven also loves to win. He helps lead the charge for complex mass tort and class action matters throughout the country....

Esther E. Berezofsky, Esq.

The Berezofsky Law Group

Esther Berezofsky is nationally recognized and respected for representing plaintiffs in complex litigation involving mass torts, pharmaceutical drugs and medical device products liability, consumer fraud class actions, environmental litigation and chemical exposure cases.  As one of the foremost environmental attorneys in the country, she has litigated high-profile cases including– notably as lead counsel the Toms River case–which has been profiled in books, television news programs and other media...

Timothy Clark, Esq.

The Sanders Firm

Timothy Clark, simply Tim to friends, is a third generation trial lawyer admitted to the California Bar. He recently joined the law firm of Sanders Phillips Grossman, LLC. He received his J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law and graduated with honors from Chapman University....

Larry Cohan, Esq.

Anapol Weiss

As a leader in many complex cases, Larry Cohan has forged new law in both the trial and appellate court levels in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. Larry was plaintiff’s lead counsel for the MDL on the infamous “human tissue” scandal case. He just completed a term as president of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association. Larry served as Lead Counsel in the first and only “market share” lead poisoning case filed in Pennsylvania against the lead pigment industry.

Moze Cowper

Cowper Law

Moze Cowper has spent the last nineteen years developing a deep understanding of complex litigation. He has been recognized “as one of the most innovative attorneys in the United States” by Law360 for his work at the intersection of litigation and technology. In 2012, he was recognized by the Association of Corporate Counsel as a rising star under the age of forty. In 2017, he was recognized by the highly regarded Chambers USA for his work on litigation and e-discovery.  In 2019, Moze was inducted into The National Trial Lawyers “Top 100.”

Erin Copeland, Esq.

Fibich Leebron Copeland Briggs Josephson

After graduating cum laude from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Arts, Erin Copeland went on to earn her Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law. She has been with Fibich, Leebron, Copeland, Briggs & Josephson ever since, claiming a place as the only female partner. Erin represents personal injury cases in both state and federal courts across the country...

Brooks Cutter, Esq.

Cutter Law, P.C.

Brooks founded Cutter Law, P.C., with offices in Sacramento and Oakland, with a mission of providing injured people with great lawyers to help them get the compensation they deserve and the resources they need.  Brooks has a long-established, respected reputation as a skilled trial attorney and a record of proven success, including Sacramento County’s highest jury verdict on record for medical malpractice. He has received numerous honors for his advocacy on behalf of clients injured by carelessness, negligence, fraud or willful intent.

John A. Dalimonte, Esq.

Dalimonte Rueb

Mr. Dalimonte has a national reputation representing catastrophically injured clients throughout the country. His practice focuses on products liability, toxic tort, mass tort, wrongful death, traumatic brain injury, personal injury, dangerous amusement rides and defective medical devices. He has successfully recovered substantial compensation for thousands of clients nationally against the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. More recently, John has been on the forefront of the IVC filter litigation as one of the pioneers prior to the formation of the MDLs.  He presently serves on the plaintiffs' executive committee for the Cook IVC filter MDL and on the plaintiffs' steering committee for the Bard IVC filter MDL. 

Sindhu S. Daniel, Esq.

Baron and Budd

Sindhu Daniel has a passion for representing people harmed by big pharmaceutical companies which have marketed their products as safe when they are not or have otherwise misrepresented the efficacy and toxicity of their medical commodities. Over the course of her career Ms. Daniel has played significant roles in complex multi-district litigation involving Vioxx, Fresenius Granuflo/Naturalyte dialysis products, Actos, DePuy Orthopaedics and Celebrex, to name a few...

Joe DiNardo, Esq.

Counsel Financial

Joseph DiNardo, Esq., CEO, Director & Founder — practiced mass tort and personal injury law for more than 26 years and was featured multiple times in the publication “Best Lawyers in America.” During his extensive trial career, he represented thousands of injured plaintiffs, obtaining many multi-million dollar settlements or awards on cases tried to verdict. 

Kimberly Dougherty, Esq.

Andrus Wagstaff

Kimberly Dougherty knew from an early age that she wanted to help people. She volunteered for Big Brother Big Sister in college and quickly became passionate about issues facing women and children. Kim then earned a master’s degree in social work and worked in child protective services, but recognized that many people needed more. They needed a legal advocate. That’s when she decided to become an attorney...

Fidelma Fitzpatrick, Esq.

Motley Rice

Fidelma Fitzpatrick represents people and communities in toxic tort and environmental matters, including property damage and personal injury claims. Her experience with complex civil litigation has led her to represent other victims of corporate malfeasance, including hundreds of women allegedly injured by medical devices such as Essure® and pelvic mesh/sling products.

Yvonne M. Flaherty, Esq.

Lockridge Grindal Nauen

Yvonne M. Flaherty focuses her practice on the representation of injured parties in complex litigation against pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, as well as class actions involving a variety of consumer and product defect claims. She has been appointed to serve as Lead Counsel in consolidated claims against national medical device manufacturers and serves on several Plaintiff Steering Committees on behalf of thousands of claimants in Multi District Litigation throughout the United States...

Richard Freese, Esq.

Freese and Goss

Attorney Richard Freese is a graduate of Auburn University (B.A. 1982). He graduated from Cumberland School of Law (J.D. 1985), where he served as the Articles Editor of the Cumberland Law Review (1984-1985). He is licensed to practice law in Alabama (1985) and Mississippi (2000), and admitted to the following courts: Alabama Supreme Court; Mississippi Supreme Court; United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Seventh, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits; United States District Courts for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Alabama and the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi.

Brenda Fulmer, Esq.

Searcy Denney

BRENDA S. FULMER is a shareholder with the law firm of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, one of the largest personal injury law firms in Florida.  For the past 23 years, her practice has focused on the areas of pharmaceutical and medical device mass torts litigation.  For several years, she has been named one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers Association, selected as a Super Lawyer from Florida, listed as one of Florida Trend’s Florida Legal Elite, and included in The Best Lawyers in America. She has received an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell.  She has also been named a Fellow to the Litigation Counsel of America.

Henry G. Garrard, III, Esq.

Blasingame, Burch, Garrard, Ashley P.C.

Garrard has extensive experience in handling complex mass tort and product liability litigation. He has served as lead counsel in complex product liability jury trials in state and federal courts throughout the United States, including several consolidated multi-plaintiff trials against numerous defendants. Garrard has been a trailblazer in the area of transvaginal mesh litigation, having investigated and pursued these cases since 2006.  

Gary M. Goldberg

Vice President, ARCHER

Gary Goldberg is Senior Vice President of ARCHER, one of the nation’s leading providers of lien resolution, Qualified Settlement Fund administration, national bankruptcy and probate coordination, and other pre and post-settlement services to the legal industry.  Mr. Goldberg is responsible for business development as well as client and project management within the company’s single event and mass torts divisions.  He has managed several billion dollars’ worth of settlement programs involving tens of thousands of claimants and hundreds of individual law firms.  

Ben Gordon, Esq.

Levin Papantonio

Mr. Gordon joined the Levin Papantonio law firm in its Mass Tort Department in 1993 and tried a number of mass tort cases with Mike Papantonio. Mr. Gordon became a shareholder in 1997, and moved to of-counsel status in 2017.  He is the author of several published articles concerning medical and legal aspects of failed products such as Silicone Gel Breast Implants and dangerous drugs like fen-phen. He has worked on a variety of other mass tort projects including Rezulin, Ephedra, Sulzer Implants, Renu Contact Lens, and Avandia...

Elizabeth Graham, Esq.

Grant & Eisenhofer

Elizabeth (“Beth”) Graham is a director at Grant & Eisenhofer, leading the firm’s complex pharmaceutical and medical device litigation practice.  Since 1989, she has dedicated her practice to complex mass tort and class action litigation.  Ms. Graham’s expertise spans the practice areas of mass tort, consumer fraud, product liability, environmental, and business torts. She has served as Lead Class Counsel in multi-million dollar cases, has acted as a member of various Plaintiffs’ Executive Committees in complex actions, and has prior experience as national defense coordination counsel in product liability litigation...

Melissa Fry Hague, Esq.

Goldman, Scarlato, & Penny

Goldman Scarlato & Penny, P.C. is pleased to announce that Melissa Fry Hague, Esquire has joined the firm as a partner. Melissa will lead the firm’s new Mass Tort litigation practice, and brings over ten years’ experience litigating cases involving dangerous drugs and defective medical devices. She currently serves on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In Re: Zofran (Ondansetron) Products Liability Litigation, and has successfully represented hundreds of plaintiffs injured by defective metal-on-metal hip implants, and knee implants. Melissa has also successfully represented victims who received infected and stolen cadaver bone in the In re: Human Tissue Products Liability Litigation, and has been a fierce advocate for women harmed by defective transvaginal mesh products and Fosamax. 

Judge David R. Herndon

United States District Judge

Judge Herndon was appointed United States District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois November 16, 1998 and designated Chief Judge October 1, 2007. He received a B.A. in 1974 from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and earned his Juris Doctorate from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1977....

Robert C. Hilliard, Esq.

Hilliard Martinez Gonzales

Attorney Robert Hilliard has been practicing law in the state of Texas for over 35 years, gaining national recognition for his work on many high-profile cases. With his partners, he established Hilliard Muñoz Gonzales LLP in 1985, which became Hilliard Martinez Gonzales LLP in 2017...

Tor Hoerman, Esq.

Tor Hoerman Law

After graduation from Chicago-Kent School of Law in 1995, Tor Hoerman began working at the defense firm Bullaro, Carton & Stone until he got a call from a plaintiffs firm, Kralovec, Jambois & Schwartz that they may have an opening for a young associate. Tor jumped at the opportunity and learned about his passion to help injured people against those that he had previously represented.

Eric D. Holland, Esq.

Holland Law

Eric is also a leader in the national complex litigation bar.  He has been appointed to leadership positions in mass tort and class action litigations including lead counsel, steering committee and executive committee posts in a variety of state and federal courts across the country often involving pharmaceuticals, banking, financial services, product liability, and consumer cases...

William Hornsby, Esq.

Keynote

Will Hornsby is an attorney and adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he teaches the professional responsibility of innovative and tech-based legal services. After serving as staff counsel in the ABA’s Division for Legal Services for 30 years, Will now champions access to legal services through his law firm at www.willhornsbylaw.com. He writes and speaks extensively on issues of ethics, technology and client development. 

Nick Johnson, Esq.

The Johnson Law Group

Nick Johnson was born and raised in Houston, Texas. He graduated from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. In 1991, Nick graduated from the University of Houston Law Center and formed the law firm that became Johnson, Burnett & Chang, L.L.P. Now leading the Johnson Law Group, Nick practices in all areas of personal injury law– focusing on Mesothelioma lung cancer, nursing home negligence, Paxil side effects and roll-over auto accidents.

Ari Kornhaber, Esq.

Esquire Bank

Ari Kornhaber, Esq. is the Executive Vice President and Director of Sales for Esquire Bank; a full service commercial bank dedicated to serving the financial needs of the legal community. Ari has spoken on the subject of financing, banking and EFT for lawyers, law firms and their clients, and the ethics surrounding each at numerous seminars and conferences across the United States.  After receiving his law degree from Touro Law School in New York, Ari was a practicing plaintiff’s lawyer in New York City with the law firm of Pariser and Vogelman, PC . He was also a trial attorney for the law firm of Napoli, Kaiser and Bern, LLC where he specialized in personal injury, medical malpractice and mass tort litigation.

Kristine Kraft, Esq.

Schlichter Bogard and Denton

As a partner, Kristine is an experienced litigator of more than 25 years, who has developed a national reputation in the area of mass torts, representing injured plaintiffs who have filed product liability lawsuits against manufactures of pharmaceutical products and devices.  Kristine has served in leadership roles in several nation-wide multi-district pharmaceutical cases...

Adam W. Krause, Esq.

Krause and Kinsman Law Firm

Adam Krause is a Kansas City Attorney and one of the founding partners of the Krause and Kinsman Law Firm. He was born and raised in the Kansas City area. He earned his law degree from the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law with an emphasis in trial practice and litigation.  Before law school Adam studied human biology at the University of Kansas. Adam still uses the knowledge he acquired while at the University of Kansas when reviewing medical records, consulting with doctors and other expert witnesses and talking with clients about their injuries...

Noah Kushlefsky, Esq.

Kreindler and Kreindler

Noah H. Kushlefsky joined Kreindler & Kreindler LLP in 1987 and is a Partner in the firm. He is a 1983 graduate of Boston University and received his law degree from George Washington University in 1986. He is admitted to the bars of New York and New Jersey, the Federal District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of New York, the District of New Jersey and the District of Colorado, and the Federal Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit...

Rachel Lanier, Esq.

The Lanier Law Firm

Ms. Lanier is dedicated to representing injured clients and their families by pursuing justice for those who have been harmed by toxic substances and defective products. Prior to joining the Lanier Law Firm, Ms. Lanier was an associate at a mid-sized firm in Manhattan, where she focused on representing individuals suffering from asbestos-induced diseases, such as mesothelioma and lung cancer...

Jennifer Lenze, Esq.

Lenze Lawyers

Jennifer is the founding partner of Lenze Lawyers, PLC. Jennifer studied at the University of San Diego receiving her B.A. in 2002 and Juris Doctorate in 2006. During her time in law school she studied abroad at the Institute on International and Comparative Law, University of Barcelona, Spain and Trinity College, Ireland and was a member of the Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity...

  

Tracy A. Finken Magnotta, Esq.

Anapol Weiss

In 2002, Tracy Finken Magnotta was named as one of the very first “40 on the Fast Track” by the Legal Intelligencer, a listing of the top 40 young attorneys in Pennsylvania.  From 2005 through 2012, Tracy was named a Pennsylvania Rising Star, which recognizes the top 2.5% of attorneys 40 years of age or younger in Pennsylvania. She has been selected for inclusion in Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® since 2013.  Tracy was also recognized in the 2016 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the field of Plaintiffs’ Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions...  

Ben C. Martin, Esq.

The Law Offices of Ben C. Martin

Ben Martin has dedicated his career to helping individuals and families whose lives have been shattered by catastrophic injury and wrongful death. He has represented thousands of clients, from people injured in the oilfield to those harmed by medical negligence and dangerous products, including defective machinery, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. He has tried numerous cases to verdict in Texas, Mississippi, California and Arkansas and represents people in all 50 states.

Danielle Ward Mason, Esq.

Sanders Phillips Grossman

Danielle Ward Mason is a personal injury attorney specializing in claims involving dangerous drugs and medical devices. One of the country’s most successful talcum powder litigation attorneys, Danielle has secured nearly $1 billion in verdicts against Johnson & Johnson for failing to warn about ovarian cancer risks. She joined Sanders Phillips Grossman in 2019 and heads the firm’s talc litigation team...

D. Todd Mathews, Esq.

Gori Julian and Associates

D. Todd Mathews graduated from Nova Southeastern University School of Law in 1996. He is licensed to practice law in Missouri, Illinois and Florida. He is admitted to U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, U.S. District Court Central District of Illinois, U.S. District Court Western District of Missouri, U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida, U.S. District Court Eastern District of Missouri,U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois, U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit.

David P. Matthews

Matthews and Associates

Attorney David Matthews has been repeatedly voted by his peers as one of the Best Lawyers in America.  He has represented victims of  dangerous medical devices such as IVC filters, and drugs such as Invokana for more than two decades.  His firm also represents survivors of the latest California wildfires.  Mr. Matthews and his team also represent victims of Clergy Abuse.  His firm also works in Roundup cancer litigation, hernia mesh lawsuits, talcum powder cancer, and stem cell contamination cases.

Richard R. Meadow, Esq.

The Lanier Law Firm

Richard “Rick” Meadow is the National Mass Tort Leader as well as the Director of Business Development for The Lanier Law Firm.  His responsibilities include overseeing all the firm’s pharmaceutical mass tort litigation in addition to promoting, recruiting and maintaining associated outside relationships at a national level...