About Us-
David Axelrad is Partner with Horvitz & Levy, Encino, California. He is a recognized appellate advocate and a widely read author on a number of legal topics. David joined Horvitz & Levy in 1982 and became a partner in 1986. He is a California State Bar Certified Appellate Specialist and is admitted to practice before California state courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has handled hundreds of civil appeals in state and federal courts, and routinely argues cases in the California Supreme Court. Representative cases in which David has appeared as counsel include: J.C. Penney Casualty Ins. v. M.K., Advanced Bionics v. Medtronic, Lockheed Litigation Cases, and Mycogen v. Monsanto. He is an expert author and reviewer for nuisancelaw.com.
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Recognized in the 2008 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for appellate litigation, Tom maintains an active appellate litigation practice with Hanson Curran LLP in Rhode Island state and federal courts, having briefed and argued approximately 60 cases before the Rhode Island Supreme Court. He has been recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers for his general commercial and insurance-related appellate work and has represented clients in a variety of legal areas. Tom has authored a number of law review articles related to issues of state constitutional law. He is a member of the ABA Council of Appellate Lawyers, the Defense Research Appellate Advocacy Committee, and the Supreme Court Bench/Bar Committee of the Rhode Island Bar Association.
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Steven P. Benenson is a senior principal and former chair of the Complex Tort Department of Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C. in Morristown, NJ. For 24 years, he has concentrated his practice in the representing public companies in product and pharmaceutical liability, toxic tort, and complex business and commercial litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts. He was a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court briefing team that obtained a reversal of the intermediary court’s recognition of a public nuisance cause of action in In re Lead Litigation. He is a frequent lecturer and author on litigation and trial practice and risk management-related topics. He has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” by New Jersey Business and Commerce in mass torts, has received an “AV” rating from Martindale Hubble and is a certified Master Advocate of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. He is admitted to practice in New Jersey and the District of Columbia. Steve received his J.D. from Cornell University Law School and his B.A. from Dartmouth College.
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Mark Carlton has over 25 years experience representing and advising corporations in environmental compliance and envirinmental and toxic tort litigation as well as complex commercial and business litigation.
As a sole practitioner, Mark focuses his practice on representing corporations in the energy and petrochemical industries and assisting those clients with best practices and in litigation management and litigation avoidance. He works closely with advocacy such as the Public Nuisance Fairness Coalition to raise awareness of the misuse of the public nuisance tort and to seek legislative and regulatory remedies.
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A partner at Pierce Atwood, LLP, Cathy practices primarily in the area of appellate litigation - both civil and criminal - in the federal and state courts, including petitions for review of administrative decisions. She has argued over 100 appeals, primarily in the United States Courts of Appeals and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Cathy is listed in the 2008 edition of Woodward/White's The Best Lawyers in America for Appellate Law and is the sole Maine attorney listed in "Superlawyers.com" for Appellate Law. She was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers in 2005. She has also received the highest Martindale-Hubbell legal ability and general ethical standards rating.
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Richard Faulk chairs Gardere Wynne Sewell's litigation department. He concentrates his practice in complex toxic tort and environmental litigation, including class actions and other “mass tort” cases involving multiple plaintiffs and defendants. He has significant expertise in cases with international implications and comparative mass tort procedures.
In almost 30 years of practice, Mr. Faulk has served as lead counsel for toxic tort and environmental litigation in Texas and other jurisdictions. He has defended claims for a variety of injuries and illnesses and has assembled a group of highly qualified medical, safety and engineering experts to assist in defending his clients.
Mr. Faulk received the 2003 Burton Award for Legal Achievement in Recognition of Exceptional Legal Writing. He has been recognized as one of Law & Politics' Texas Super Lawyers and as one of America's Leading Lawyers for Business by Chambers USA. In 2005, Mr. Faulk addressed the National Academy of Sciences regarding the reliability of admissibility of scientific evidence in the courts.
Mr. Faulk received his J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and a B.M. from the University of North Texas. -
Borden R. Gillis is a counsel and member of the Complex Tort Department of Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C. He has substantial experience defending a wide range of corporate clients at the trial and appellate levels in toxic tort, products liability, commercial and environmental litigations. Borden is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York. He earned his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of law, and his B.A. from Pennsylvania State University.
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John S. Gray. a partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell, specializes in environmental law focusing on the natural resources, manufacturing, real estate development and petroleum industries. His legal experience includes environmental property damage and toxic tort litigation where the damages result from air, water or soil contamination, as well as regulatory environmental compliance assistance and counseling and environmentally related contractual language and due diligence counseling.
Prior to obtaining his law degree, Mr. Gray was an accomplished licensed professional engineer, earning extensive experience as an environmental consultant. With this background, Mr. Gray developed a successful legal career concentrating in the areas of hazardous and solid waste regulations, remedial actions and Superfund matters, including Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) cost-recovery actions and negotiating CERCLA consent decrees.
Mr. Gray received his J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, graduating cum laude. He received a B.S.E.M. from West Virginia University and an M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.
John Gray's Blog -
Peter Gray is an attorney at Halleland Lewis Nilan & Johnson PA. He focuses his practice primarily in the areas of appellate practice, product liability/mass tort and federal court practice and procedure. In addition, he has significant experience in other substantive legal areas, including commercial litigation and labor and employment litigation. Peter has repeatedly been named a “Super Lawyer” by the Minnesota Journal of Law and Politics, and is an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where he teaches a course on appellate advocacy. He received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School, graduating magna cum laude, Order of the Coif.
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Marla H. Kanemitsu is an attorney at Kelly Drye & Warren LLP, where her practice focuses on representing policyholders in complex insurance coverage disputes. An experienced trial attorney, she has broad experience representing clients in multi-party federal and state litigation, mediation, and bankruptcy proceedings. She also counsels clients nationwide on insurance coverage and related matters.
Recently, Ms. Kanemitsu was part of the trial team that obtained a landmark decision upholding policyholders’ rights to operations coverage under comprehensive general liability insurance policies for certain asbestos-related claims. She also secured a key decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a bankruptcy-related coverage dispute that led to a settlement valued at over $500 million. She currently represents a number of companies who have been named as defendants in lead paint and pigment related public nuisance lawsuits in their efforts to obtain insurance coverage for those claims.
Ms. Kanemitsu is a frequent commentator on insurance issues, and has written for The American Banker, Coverage, and Risk & Insurance, among other publications. She also is a contributing author for the New Appleman Insurance Law Practice Guide (LexisNexis 2007).
