Mass Torts

Attorney Pamela A. Borgess, the founder and managing attorney of Borgess Law, is an experienced and respected trial attorney who aggressively handles civil (non-criminal) disputes and litigation, including personal injury, defective medical drugs/devices or recalled consumer products, car & truck accidents, wrongful death, product liability, nursing home litigation, and contract/business disputes. She has extensive experience with numerous national high-profile cases, such as the national litigation involving a contaminated drug, Heparin, which claimed the lives of hundreds of people after being manufactured in an uninspected overseas facility. The case was featured in national news media, such as TIME magazine, CNN, Bloomberg and ABC News. Borgess Law was founded on the principle that serving individuals is an honor and privilege and that clients should be treated with dignity, professionalism and respect. At Borgess Law, we believe that seemingly opportunistic, “ambulance-chasing” attorneys who appear more interested in exploiting their clients’ injuries or legal problems than helping the clients overcome them, bring shame and dishonor to our profession and do a disservice to the clients. We seek to bring a higher level of professionalism, ethics and quality of legal services that are client-centered and results-driven. We only represents people with real injuries or legal problems. Borgess Law never charges a fee for an initial consultation. If your legal matter is not one that we handle, we will help you find an attorney who does.

Hezekiah is a National Partner and President of The Cochran Firm, founded by the legendary Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. The Cochran Firm is one of the nation’s largest personal injury, medical malpractice, and consumer law firms with some of the most aggressive personal injury attorneys, known for their tireless and effective legal representation. Hezekiah is also Chairman of the National Firm's Executive/Management Committee and the Managing Partner of the Firm's Atlanta Office. He has tried over 100 cases to verdict. Hezekiah and his trial teams have attained verdicts and settlements on behalf of injury victims and consumers in excess of $1Billion. Hezekiah has authored and lectured on medical professional liability issues, complex litigation matters, including class action and mass tort litigation, and has conducted risk management and risk assessment seminars for various clients. In addition to his trial experience, lecturing and advising clients, Hezekiah has also served as a mediator in hundreds of matters. Mr. Sistrunk’s practice focuses largely on the litigation of complex disputes involving common law, statutory law, contract law, physician and hospital liability law, product liability law, commercial, corporate, and business issues, catastrophic personal injury cases, and class action/ mass torts/pharmaceutical litigation. Over the course of his career, in fact, Mr. Sistrunk has prosecuted and defended hundreds of litigated matters before state courts, federal courts, and administrative agencies and has tried over 100 cases to verdict Mr. Sistrunk has lectured on medical professional liability issues, complex litigation matters including class action and mass tort litigation and has conducted risk management and risk assessment seminars for various clients. In addition to his trial experience, lecturing, and advising clients, Mr. Sistrunk has also served as a mediator in hundreds of matters.

In environmental law, in exceptionally challenging cases, an ordinary approach is just not enough. Gregory A. Cade, has made this clear when he developed his personal vision of "Know your case". This is his leading principle that successfully combines all the necessary traits in order to solve complex legal issues. Having a solid science background is also a notable difference in his unique approach. Greg is using his Industrial Hygiene degree in handling injuries resulting from exposure to asbestos, benzene, creosote, coke emissions, dioxins, PAHs, PCBs, and other known toxicants. Representing thousands of individual and community claims all over the Southeast for 20 years, Greg is always driven to help injured people, be it in an occupational setting or in an environmental setting, in a mass setting or a class action setting. None of these would be possible without taking things personally, something that not every lawyer has the dedication to do. He has instilled in his entire firm a strong motivation to establish real connections with every client. Detailed knowledge, time consumption and financial risk may be enough reasons for most law firms to avoid environmental cases. For Greg, this is not the case. Patience, loyalty and knowledge make Greg a powerful ally on the side of environmental victims.

Sara M. Salger received her undergraduate degree from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, graduating cum laude, and Saint Louis University School of Law for her J.D. where she received an International Law Certificate and litigation focus. She spent two semesters abroad during law school attending Università Cà Foscari di Venezia in Venice, Italy and University College Cork in Cork, Ireland. Ms. Salger's legal career has been focused on advocating for individuals wronged by the actions of others, with a particularized focus on representing victims of mesothelioma and lung cancer, as a result of exposure to asbestos. She has also handled complex benzene litigation and general personal injury claims. Working at The Gori Law Firm since the firm's inception, and a Partner since May 2016, she is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Missouri, is a member of the American Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Madison County Bar Association, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Missouri State Bar Association, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, American Association for Justice, National Asbestos Mesothelioma Trial Lawyers (Member), National Women Trial Lawyers, and is on the Illinois Trial Lawyers Executive Committee and Board. Actively involved in her community, Ms. Salger serves on various philanthropic boards in the area and volunteers her time speaking to local high school and college law classes and groups.

Squitieri & Fearon, LLP has been recognized by courts throughout the country for its high-quality and professional experience handling complex lawsuits, particularly in the fields of securities, ERISA, wage and hour, mass torts, shareholder derivative actions and antitrust claims.

Charles Boyk is a practicing lawyer in the state of Ohio, who focuses on personal injury law. He has tried cases in the areas of brain injury, car accident, catastrophic injury, mass torts, dog bite, insurance claims, medical malpractice, motorcycle accident, and wrongful death.

Todd Miller was born in Fargo, North Dakota where he attended school and graduated from Fargo North High School. He is an Eagle Scout. After graduating from high school, Todd went to college at the University of North Dakota and graduated from law school at UND. Todd’s practice will focus on mass tort litigation, including representing people injured by defective and unsafe drugs and defective medical devices. He will also handle personal injury litigation including representation of people hurt in automobile accidents, animal attacks and slip and falls, as well as the general practice of law.

Scott E. Gwartney graduated from Liberty University in Virginia in 1985 with a degree in political science and human resource management. The Tallahassee native then returned home to attend Florida State University College of Law, graduating in 1991. He has remained in Tallahassee since. After working with the first attorney to successfully submit a nursing home case to verdict in the State of Florida, renowned trial lawyer Kenneth L. Connor, the two went on to create The Connor & Gwartney law firm. The firm eventually joined the Tampa-based nursing home litigation firm of Wilkes & McHugh, becoming its Tallahassee office, where Mr. Gwartney continued to work until he joined Brooks, LeBoeuf, Foster & Gwartney in 2002, becoming a firm partner in 2003. Mr. Gwartney’s practice is unique: While he always carries a significant number of case files for auto claims and medical litigation in his Tallahassee hometown, his expertise in the fields of Medical Malpractice, Assisted Living Facility, Nursing Home and Group Home litigation is widely known throughout Florida and Georgia. And so, he often finds himself pursuing claims in courthouses from Naples and Ft. Meyers, up the Gulf coast to Pensacola, and on the east coast all the way to Savannah and Augusta Georgia … and virtually all points in between. Mr. Gwartney passionately believes that our disabled and senior citizens deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. In the same manner that fine china is treated with a gentle and compassionate touch, our physically frail citizens also need to be treated with a gentle touch and great respect. The fragile among us deserve no less respect and dignity than that which is afforded to any other member of our society. The results of Mr. Gwartney’s experience and efforts on behalf of the elderly speak volumes about his expertise and dedication. His work on behalf of his clients has led to numerous verdicts and settlements of $1 million or more across the southeast. While Mr. Gwartney’s case load is most active throughout Florida and Georgia, he is also licensed to practice law in Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Founded by Warren R. McGraw II’s Father in 1963, McGraw Law Offices has since grown into a nationally recognized firm with locations in Pineville and Beckley, West Virginia, as well as in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm’s experienced legal team focuses on complex plaintiffs’ civil litigation, involving matters of significant public policy both in the United States and around the world. With more than 100 years of combined legal experience, attorneys are able to provide skilled representation in cases involving serious personal injury, wrongful death, pharmaceutical litigation, asbestos/benzene exposure, railroad/FELA law, automobile and trucking accidents, industrial accidents, major mass torts and class action litigation, and defective products. “While we handle many types of complex litigation, we hold true to the values of our small town beginnings,” McGraw says. “We are proud of our years of success not only in the litigation field but also in the personal and professional service that we provide to our clients.” McGraw Law Offices has been involved in major litigation in several states and many courts around the country. A few years ago, McGraw served as co-lead counsel in one of the largest flood cases in state history, representing more than 10,000 people in litigation that helped to establish certain mass litigation rules in West Virginia. He was also a lead attorney in litigation involving the 2010 explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch coal mine. McGraw has been AV® Preeminent™ Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® and recognized by a number of prestigious organizations. He is a member of the American Bar Association, has been included in West Virginia Super Lawyers, and named one of the top 100 trial lawyers in West Virginia by the American Trial Lawyers Association. Notably, he is also a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. This certification, which is limited to attorneys who have won million- and multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements, demonstrates McGraw’s ability to accomplish superior results in complex cases. He notes, “These organizations provide me with a national network of experienced colleagues for information exchange, assistance, and professional referral.” Above all, McGraw emphasizes that the firm is committed to helping people who have no one else to turn to. “In many of our cases, individuals and communities are opposing giants of industry and Wall Street,” he says. “So I appreciate having the ability to help those people seek redress for the wrongs that have been committed against them.”