DRI Faculty List
2021 Product Liability Conference
Renaissance Nashville Hotel | Nashville, TN | August 19 - 21, 2021
Ian Botnick JCI
Ian Botnick has been in-house with Johnson Controls for over 8 years where he is primarily responsible for managing insured and commercial litigation in North America. The cases include complex product liability cases, general and auto liability matters, and construction disputes across multiple lines of business related to HVAC, fire suppression and security. Ian also supports multiple business units on product safety matters including reviewing product literature and warnings to assure compliance as well as navigating potential product safety investigations. Prior to Johnson Controls, he was in private practice at two different law firms. |
Nicole M. Brunson Head of Litigation & Disputes
Arrival
Nicole M. Brunson is Head of Litigation & Disputes at Arrival. Nicole practices general litigation, product liability, corporate matters and commercial disputes. She focuses on global cost avoidance and risk mitigation through business engagement. Nicole is a 2006 graduate of Indiana University School of Law- Bloomington (n/k/a/ Maurer School of Law) and a 1998 graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana, where she received a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry. Nicole also obtained an MBA in Marketing and Management from Christian Brothers University in 2002. Before joining Arrival in 2021, Nicole served as Associate General Counsel, Commercial Litigation Americas for Trane Technologies and worked as an associate with Swanson Martin & Bell, LLP, a boutique litigation firm in Chicago, Illinois. |
Hope Thai Cannon U.S.D.C. for the Northern District of Florida
Hope Thai Cannon is a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Florida, where she handles a variety of civil and criminal matters. Prior to taking the bench, Hope was a partner at the Bradley law firm, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, where she practiced in the firm's financial services, business, and commercial litigation groups for almost two decades. During her time at Bradley, Hope was licensed in Alabama, Texas, and Florida, and appeared before the federal and state courts in those states as well as a in Rhode Island, Washington, and Maryland. She has litigated numerous products and commercial cases during her time at Bradley. Additionally, while in practice, Hope was an active member with DRI, having served on the Young Lawyers' Steering Committee and the DRI Membership Committee. Hope is also an American Bar Foundation Fellow. |
Jennifer Collins Partner
Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP
Jennifer Collins is a business litigator focused on helping commercial clients to navigate business disputes. Her experience in complex litigation includes defending class actions and multi-district litigation (MDL). She has represented manufacturers and healthcare companies with facilities across the United States, regional and national banks, as well as multinational firms seeking efficient and practical solutions. Her practice emphasizes understanding the needs of the industry leaders and helping them to analyze risk in a competitive and evolving landscape. Jennifer has represented clients in matters involving corporate investigatory and employment matters, antitrust and unfair competition, fraud and civil RICO, trade secrets, unfair and deceptive trade practices, insurance coverage, breach of warranty/UCC disputes, and earn-out and post-transaction disputes. She has also represented building products manufacturers in product liability class actions. |
Jacob Crawford Lyft
Jacob Crawford is Autonomous Vehicle Counsel with Lyft, Inc., where his main area of responsibility is vehicle safety and regulatory compliance for Lyft's Autonomous Vehicle Programs in Palo Alto, California. Jacob was formerly Senior Counsel, Regulatory and Product Liability at Nissan North America, Inc., National Litigation Counsel at Kia Motors America, Inc. and in private practice at Huie, Fernambucq & Stewart as a first chair attorney in product liability, commercial disputes and other litigation matters. |
Sarah-Jane Dobson Kennedys
Sarah-Jane Dobson is a Legal 500 'Next Generation Lawyer' and 'Rising Star' international products lawyer. With a dual degree in Science/Law (Biomedical Science, with Honours) she is uniquely placed to provide strategic advice that reflects a deep understanding of the technical underpinnings of her clients' product law issues, especially in cosmetics, chemicals, medical devices and food. Her experience working in seven jurisdictions (Australia, Switzerland, Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany, England and the USA) and within various different types of organizations (including in-house at Silicon-valley headquartered leading international tech company and at a UN court) means she is adept at complex multi-jurisdictional, multi-lingual matters. With this background, Sarah-Jane works as a trusted advisor to her clients to provide commercially-focused litigation and regulatory advice in a broad range of sectors across the product life cycle. She is embedded in policy work, including Brexit and regulation for innovative products. She currently serves on pre-eminent Defense Research Institute (DRI)'s Product Liability Steering Committee. |
Keven Drummond Eiber MTD Consumer Products Inc
Keven Drummond Eiber is Assistant General Counsel for Litigation at MTD Products Inc., a major manufacturer of outdoor power equipment for residential and commercial lawns and gardens. Keven joined MTD in 2016 after more than 25 years in private practice at the law firm of Brouse McDowell, where she was a partner and former Litigation Practice Group chair. Keven's private litigation practice focused on insurance coverage matters. Keven is designated an Insurance Law Specialist by the Ohio State Bar Association, and is rated AV by Martindale Hubbell. She is admitted to practice law in Ohio and Florida. |
William M. Gage Butler Snow
William M. Gage is a trial attorney with Butler Snow LLP in Ridgeland, MS. William has thirty years' experience in drug and medical device, product liability, and personal injury litigation. He has served as statewide coordinating counsel for the Wyeth diet drug litigation, and more recently as trial counsel in the New Jersey Accutane litigation. William currently serves as lead trial counsel on behalf of several defendants in the pelvic mesh litigation. William has tried six mesh cases to verdict over the past four years, which include defense verdicts in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas (June 2017) and in state court in Dallas, Texas (October 2015). The Texas trial was one of Law360's 2015 Product Liability Trials to Watch and the subsequent verdict was named as one of CVN's "Top 10 Defense Verdicts of 2015." William is the past Litigation Department Chair and former Practice Group Leader for Butler Snow's Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Practice group. He is a member of the Defense Research Institute (DRI), the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, and the International Association of Trial Lawyers. William is recognized by The Best Lawyers in America®, Mid-South Super Lawyers®, Who's Who Legal – Product Liability Defense, Benchmark Litigation as a "Litigation Star". |
Ruth Anderson Gates Senior Counsel
Nissan North America Inc.
Ruth Anderson Gates is Senior Counsel in the product liability group at Nissan North America Inc. She regularly advises clients on all issues relating to product liability prevention and defense. In her capacity at Nissan she routinely hires and manages outside counsel in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. She has served as a mentor to a number of younger lawyers both in-house and outside of Nissan. Additionally, she has given numerous speeches on the importance of law firm succession planning. Ruth joined Nissan in 2006 after practicing in Austin, Texas for just over 6 years. |
Michael (Mike) Gentine Counsel
Keller and Heckman
Michael (Mike) Gentine with experience spanning federal government, private practice, and in-house roles, Mike advises clients on legal and regulatory matters particularly in the areas of consumer goods, product safety, and motor vehicle regulation. Mike has held multiple positions at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) where he led several efforts to reform rules and regulations, including an initiative to reduce the paperwork burden on CPSC-regulated companies. Mike was also in-house at a major recreational product and motor vehicle manufacturer, advising on product safety and compliance strategies and government affairs. Aided by a prior career in broadcast journalism, Mike is a frequent speaker at industry and other conferences on product safety, regulatory, compliance, and government affairs topics. |
W. Rick Griffin Partner
Martin Pringle Oliver
W. Rick Griffin is a partner at the law firm of Martin, Pringle, Oliver, Wallace & Bauer, and focuses his practice on commercial litigation, including products liability. His products liability practice encompasses products of all shapes and sizes, including those related to aircraft and equipment manufacturing. Rick also has extensive experience in advising insurance companies and insureds on insurance coverage issues, including litigation of insurance coverage disputes. Rick has been recognized by both Best and Super Lawyers. Rick serves DRI as a member of the products liability and aviation law committees, and has been published in several DRI publications. Rick is the Program Vice-Chair for the 2021 DRI Product Liability Conference and Program Chair for the 2022 DRI Product Liability Conference. |
Steven Hall Senior Consultant
Rimkus Consulting Group Inc
Steven Hall holds a B.S.E. in Engineering Physics and an M.S.E. in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan. He has expertise in the fields of warnings and instructions design, ergonomics, human factors engineering, and product and occupational safety. Mr. Hall serves as Chairperson of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z535 Committee on Safety Signs and Colors. This committee establishes national consensus standards for, among other things, product safety labels and safety information in product manuals. He previously served as Chairperson of the ANSI Z535.4 Subcommittee on Product Safety Signs and Labels. He is a member and former Vice-Chairperson of the ANSI Z535.6 Subcommittee on Product Safety Information in Collateral Manuals, Instructions and Other Collateral Materials. He is also a member of the ANSI Z535.5 Subcommittee on Safety Tags and Barricade Tapes (for Temporary Hazards) and the Z535. 2 Subcommittee on Environmental and Facility Safety Signs. He serves on the U.S. TAG for International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 145 on graphical symbols. |
Sid Kanazawa Partner
Alternative Resolution Centers
Sid Kanazawa is a mediator/arbitrator with ARC and a prolific writer and speaker. He was a trial lawyer at Lillick McHose; Pillsbury Winthrop; Van Etten, Suzumoto, & Becket; and McGuireWoods for 40 years, a "Southern California Super Lawyer" since 2004, a National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) instructor and program director for 30 years, and a LCA Senior Fellow in 2019. Sid served as NAPABA's Pro Bono General Counsel, with his firm (McGuireWoods), from 2007 to 2017 and received NAPABA's President's Award in 2014 for their service and establishment of two annual NAPABA Internships. He has also served as an Executive Board Member for JABA, PLAC, and the California State Bar Litigation Section; as Chair of the DRI Trial Tactics Committee; and as Chair of the California State Bar Committee on the Administration of Justice. |
Edward D. Lanquist, Jr. Shareholder
Patterson Intellectual Property Law PC
Edward D. Lanquist, Jr. focuses his practice on patent and trademark litigation, intellectual property counseling, and trademark prosecution. In addition to litigating more than one hundred and fifty cases, Mr. Lanquist has filed over one thousand trademark registration applications, over 150 patent applications, and performed in excess of 2,300 trademark clearance searches. He has litigated and performed appellate work in cases involving patent infringement, trade mark infringement, trade dress infringement, right of publicity, copyright infringement, design patent infringement, and trade secret misappropriation cases. Mr. Lanquist counsels clients on the economic benefits and implications of intellectual property protection and litigation. Ed received his J.D., with Honors, University of Tennessee, 1988 and his B.S., Civil Engineering, with Honors, University of Tennessee, 1985. He is a Band One Chambers attorney for intellectual property as well as receiving recognition from Super Lawyers and Best. Ed is a Past President of the Nashville Bar Association. He is the General Counsel for the Tennessee Bar Association. |
Roman Lifson Partner
Christian & Barton LLP
Roman Lifson is a partner with Christian & Barton LLP in Richmond, Virginia. He has tried cases in federal and state courts across the country and focuses his practice on motorsports law, product liability and catastrophic injury litigation. Mr. Lifson is the past chair of DRI's Automotive Specialized Litigation Group and past chair of the Virginia Bar Association's Civil Litigation Section. Mr. Lifson has served as Chair of DRI's Product Liability Conference and DRI's Strictly Automotive seminar. Mr. Lifson devotes time to car racing at race tracks across the country. He is the Law Institute liaison of this conference. |
Lindsay Lorimer Partner
McMillan LLP
Lindsay Lorimer is a partner in the Advocacy and Litigation Group at McMillan LLP with a practice that emphasizes class action defence, product liability litigation and product safety and preventative counselling. Consistently recognized for her expertise in numerous directories, Lindsay is listed as a leading lawyer in the International Who's Who Legal for Product Liability Defence, Chambers Canada , and as a litigation star in Benchmark Litigation: Canada. She also enjoys a Distinguished rating from Martindale-Hubbell and is described as a "top tier advocate who is known to be a very effective either at mediation or in the courtroom". Lindsay has extensive experience defending class actions and both individual and commercial product liability lawsuits involving a broad range of products including fire and security products, consumer products, food products, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, recreational products, construction and industrial machinery, motor vehicles, building materials and juvenile products. Lindsay also regularly advises manufacturers, distributors, importers and retailers on regulatory requirements of various products, risk management issues and corrective actions including product warnings and recalls. Lindsay is a member of the Product Liability Committee and Drug and Medical Device Committee. |
Dr. Gavin Manes CEO
Avansic
Dr. Gavin Manes is a nationally recognized expert in e-discovery and digital forensics. He is currently the CEO of Avansic, a firm that provides the legal, business, and government sectors with e-discovery, digital forensics, data preservation, and online review services. Dr. Manes founded this Tulsa-based company in 2004 after graduating with his Doctorate in Computer Science and serving as a professor at the University of Tulsa. There he led the creation of nationally recognized research efforts in digital forensics and telecommunications security. In growing Avansic, Dr. Manes strives to create a scientific approach to ESI processing in order to make e-discovery more effective and efficient for clients. By designing a laboratory that combines industry standard programs with custom software, Avansic can create more useful data sets. Dr. Manes has served as an expert witness for many legal proceedings through courtroom testimony, depositions and consulting with attorneys on data preservation issues. He has given hundreds of presentations to law firms, corporate officers, legal conferences and judges on the latest topics in e-discovery. Dr. Manes has briefed the White House, Department of the Interior, the National Security Council, and the Pentagon on computer security and forensics issues. |
Hon. W. Neal McBrayer Tennessee Court of Appeals
Hon. W. Neal McBrayer is a Judge for the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Judge McBrayer was appointed to the bench by Governor Bill Haslam and sworn in on May 5, 2014. He was elected to an eight-year term in August of 2014. Prior to his appointment, Judge McBrayer practiced law for twenty-five years in Nashville, representing clients in commercial litigation, bankruptcy, and aviation matters. Judge McBrayer graduated from Maryville College, magna cum laude, in 1986 and from the College of William & Mary's Marshall-Wythe School of Law in 1989, where he was an editor of the William & Mary Law Review. He is a fellow of the American, Tennessee, and Nashville Bar Foundations and serves on the board of directors of Maryville College. He received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Maryville College in 2015. |
Gretchen N. Miller Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig LLP
Gretchen N. Miller is a Shareholder in the Litigation Practice of Greenberg Traurig's Chicago office. She concentrates her practice in product liability and toxic tort litigation in state and federal courts. As trial counsel, Gretchen has tried cases on behalf of manufacturers of consumer, industrial and automotive products. As national counsel, Gretchen oversees litigation nationwide and counsels clients on risk management strategies and compliance with regulatory authorities, including the CPSC, NHTSA and EPA. Gretchen is the Product Liability Committee Vice Chair, is a member of IADC and is recognized as an Illinois Super Lawyer. |
Joseph P. (Joe) Mohorovic Senior Consultant
ESi
Joseph P. (Joe) Mohorovic has a distinguished background as an executive and public servant, operating at the intersection of business and government, culminating in his service as a Commissioner on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) from 2013 – 2017. A board-certified product safety expert, Joe brings real world product safety experience and insider's knowledge in both the private and public sectors as a Senior Managing Consultant in ESi's Safety and Risk Assessment Practice Group. He specializes in adverse event analysis, regulatory compliance counseling, expert testimony and dispute resolution. Joe has an intimate understanding of the CPSC, having previously served as chief of staff and director of international programs. Prior to joining the CPSC, Joe served two terms in the New Mexico Legislature as a state representative from the 28th District. |
Dr. Emily Skow Exponent
Dr. Emily Skow is a principal in the Human Factors Practice at Exponent with previous experience as an assistant professor. She specializes in work related to human interaction, cognition and information processing, perception, attention, and development, particularly as these factors relate to everyday product use, accidents, injuries, and risk assessments. She applies this expertise to evaluating the junction between the role of these human variables and motor vehicle crashes, pedestrian accidents, child safety, the development and evaluation of warnings and safety information, consumer product hazard and risk assessments, and safety-related surveillance tasks. Through her consulting practice and education, Dr. Skow has experience with a variety of analysis tools and methodologies, including utilizing large-scale injury and accident databases; collecting physical measurement of light and sound; executing large-scale, global user research studies; and performing evidenced-based risk assessments. |
James E. Weatherholtz Partner
Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP
James E. Weatherholtz is a partner in the Charleston, South Carolina office of Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, from The Citadel in 1996, and his J.D. from the University of Virginia in 1999. His primary areas of practice are product liability - including building products and class actions - and construction law. Mr. Weatherholtz is a Past Chair of the South Carolina Bar Construction Law Section. He is also an active member of the DRI Product Liability Committee, having served as program chair, chair of the building products specialized litigation group, and currently as committee chair of the committee. He is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell and listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the field of construction law. He is the Chair of the Construction Practice Team at Womble and is a frequent lecturer on construction and product liability topics. |