Clifford J. Zatz

Mass Tort, Product Liability, and Occupational Exposure Litigation:

• Defended two of the nation's largest chemical manufacturers against 25 plaintiffs' claims of occupational asthma as a result of exposure to isocyanates and ethylene diamine in the manufacture of the Gore-Tex® waterproof membrane. After a nine-week trial, the jury returned 75 defense verdicts for the two companies and a co-defendant. Successfully defended the verdicts twice on appeal in Kennedy v. Mobay Corp., 579 A.2d 1191 (Md. App. 1991), aff'd per curiam, 601 A.2d 123 (Md. 1992), which established the "sophisticated user" defense as the law of Maryland.
• Represented manufacturers of rubber solvent in a four-week trial in federal court in Virginia of three consolidated wrongful death cases alleging that benzene exposure in a tire manufacturing plant caused leukemia.
• Defended one of the earliest lawsuits alleging personal injury from exposure to trichloroethylene in groundwater. Thirty plaintiffs' claims of neurological injury, immune dysfunction, and "chronic systemic chemical poisoning" were resolved in a three-day summary jury trial in federal district court in Michigan.
• Together with Louisville co-counsel, defended thousands of personal injury and property damage claims brought by workers and neighbors at a Superfund site in southeastern Kentucky. Defended bellwether plaintiff claims of multiple myeloma, childhood leukemia, and other illnesses in a 52-day jury trial in federal court that led to a mass settlement of more than 550 plaintiffs' cases. Won a week-long arbitration of a tort of outrageous conduct action. In another bellwether plaintiff case, won summary judgment after excluding all of the causation experts under Daubert.
• Defended a major defense contractor in lawsuits in Florida in which more than 300 plaintiffs alleged personal injury, diminution of property value, and emotional distress as a result of occupational and environmental exposure to chlorinated solvents and beryllium.
• In a first-of-its-kind case at the intersection of cybersecurity and product liability, won dismissal of a nationwide class action in federal court in Minnesota alleging that computerized hotel locks vulnerable to hacking were therefore defective and in breach of warranty.
• Represented a Class I railroad against claims of personal injury and property damage arising out of the derailment of a train carrying Bakken crude oil.
• Represented a manufacturer of spray sunscreen in two personal injury cases in Virginia and Maryland alleging that the sunscreen ignited and caused severe burns to a jet ski rider and a small child.
• Defending a medical device manufacturer in mass tort product liability actions in Florida, Texas, and California.
• Represents a supplier in PFAS litigation, including a purported nationwide class action in the S.D. Ohio and the Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) multi-district litigation in federal court in South Carolina.
• Successfully opposed, in a four-day evidentiary hearing and on appeal, certification of a class action seeking lifetime medical monitoring for chronic beryllium disease.
• Serve on the national coordinating counsel team in asbestos litigation for a major telecommunications company, developing trial strategy, dispositive motions, and expert, fact, and 30(b)(6) witnesses.
• Defending a manufacturer of polyethylene pipe in a case in southern California involving severe burn injuries to a family of three after a natural gas explosion.

Defamation Actions:

• Won dismissal of a federal court action alleging that a university president had defamed four alumni by labeling their fraternity “the face of systemic racism” on campus. The court held that her statements were not “of and concerning” the plaintiffs and constituted non-actionable opinion.
• Won dismissal of defamation, false light, and civil conspiracy claims by a candidate for the presidency of a national professional association.
• Represented a foreign defense contractor as plaintiff in an anonymous defamation case in Pennsylvania state court, challenging allegations that it had violated the Iran Sanctions Act.
• Defended a claim, in federal court in Maryland, by a Department of Defense employee that she had been defamed by a contractor’s criticisms of her performance to her superiors. Resolved the case in early mediation without discovery.
• Defended a university in a defamation action arising out of an announcement to her colleagues of the plaintiff’s termination.

Environmental Litigation:

• With Louisville co-counsel, won a defense verdict after a month-long jury trial against three coal mining companies that sought $140 million in lost profits as a result of their proximity to a Superfund site. The National Law Journal recognized the victory in its annual list of the country's top defense verdicts.
• Won a two-week trial before a Florida administrative law judge, defeating a community's challenge to an environmental site assessment and remedial action plan.
• Led a trial team in defense of the first citizens' suit brought against a wind energy facility under the Endangered Species Act. This unusual "green versus green" trial received national media attention and was reported on the front page of The Washington Post.
• Brought a Federal Tort Claims Act suit and tried a Fifth Amendment takings case in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on behalf of a local real estate developer whose property was contaminated as a result of waste handling practices at an adjacent Army garrison.
• Twice won reversal of class certification in an action in state court in Kentucky alleging property damage from the application of an herbicide.

Miscellaneous Litigation:

• Won an international trademark dispute, before the American Arbitration Association, on behalf of a leading Italian men's clothing company.
• Defended a breach of contract action in a jury trial in federal court in Tampa, Florida resulting in a dramatic reduction in the damages sought by plaintiffs.
• Won dismissal for lack of general jurisdiction, after an evidentiary hearing, of a wrongful death case brought against a Kuwaiti government contractor. Baragona v. Kuwait Gulf Link Transport Co., 691 F. Supp.2d 1346 (N.D. Ga. 2007), aff'd, 594 F.3d 852 (11th Cir. 2010), cert. denied, 130 S.Ct. 3473 (2010).
• Successfully represented one of the country's largest engineering firms as plaintiff in a product liability and breach of contract action against the United States and its contractors arising from the lease of radioactive cesium capsules for use in sterilizing medical devices.