HarrisMartin's MDL Conference: General Motors Ignition Switch Recall Litigation Speaker Profiles

Steve W. Berman founded Hagens Berman in 1993 after his prior firm refused to represent several young children who consumed fast food contaminated with E. coli. Steve went on to prove that the poisoning was the result of Jack in the Box’s cost cutting and gross negligence. He is the managing partner of Hagens Berman and is considered one of the most successful class-action attorneys in the nation.

Mr. Berman played a key role in winning record settlements in consolidated cases against Wall Street, Big Oil, Big Pharma and Big Tobacco. He has served as lead counsel for the largest settlement in world history, largest U.S. antitrust settlement, largest U.S. ERISA settlement, and largest U.S. securities settlement at the time of settlement. His trial experience has earned him significant recognition, and led The National Law Journal to name him one of the 100 most powerful lawyers and rate Hagens Berman one of the top ten plaintiffs’ firms in the country.

Mark P. Robinson, Jr. is the founder and senior partner of Robinson Calcagnie Robinson Shapiro Davis, Inc. (RCRSD), based in Newport Beach, California with offices located in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire. Mr. Robinson earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University and graduated cum laude from Loyola School of Law. He has established a prominent legal practice devoted to consumer safety and has been counsel or co-counsel in cases in 46 states. He has worked on thousands of products liability cases, including the landmark Ford Pinto case, Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company, where a jury in Orange County, California awarded $128 million in compensatory and punitive damages. The verdict was recognized by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America as one of the ten most significant civil trials of the past millennium.

Mr. Robinson’s other significant trials include: Anderson v. General Motors, where a Los Angeles jury awarded $4.9 billion to burn victims in an automobile crash; Barnett v. Merck, a $51 million verdict in New Orleans federal court against the manufacturer of the prescription drug Vioxx; Ketchum vs. Hyundai, where a Los Angeles County jury awarded $15 million to a young boy paralyzed by a defective seat belt during a collision; Oliver vs. Nissan, where a jury returned a $9 million verdict in a product liability action in Los Angeles County; Siu v. General Motors, a $9 million judgment in a product liability action in San Diego; and Fair v. Ford, a $12 million award in a wrongful death action in Kentucky arising from a post-collision fire involving a school bus.