Bob is an experienced trial lawyer who previously served as the Chair of the Firm's Commercial Litigation Practice Group and Co-Chair of the Product Liability group when Reed Smith was recognized by the American Lawyer as Product Liability firm of the year. For more than three decades he has represented manufacturers in class action and individual product liability and consumer protection lawsuits throughout the United States. He regularly counsels manufacturers on recall issues and multi-disciplinary strategies for navigating through recalls and civil consumer protection and product liability lawsuits at the same time.
Experience
Representative matters
Representative matters
Represented Imker Capital Partners portfolio company, Euramax for Mobility, in its joint venture with Lippert Components Manufacturing, Inc.
Arbitrated cases before the American Arbitration Association and other alternative dispute resolution services in jurisdictions including California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Oklahoma
Concluded jury trial in California for a major automotive parts manufacturer during third day of trial by obtaining a voluntary dismissal with prejudice of all claims against client manufacturer and settlement by which plaintiff was required to pay significant portion of client's trial expenses
Represented Imker Capital Partners portfolio company, Euramax for Mobility, in its joint venture with Lippert Components Manufacturing, Inc.
Arbitrated cases before the American Arbitration Association and other alternative dispute resolution services in jurisdictions including California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Oklahoma
Concluded jury trial in California for a major automotive parts manufacturer during third day of trial by obtaining a voluntary dismissal with prejudice of all claims against client manufacturer and settlement by which plaintiff was required to pay significant portion of client's trial expenses
Successfully mediated a larger commercial dispute between a manufacturer and supplier that resulted in a settlement saving the client approximately $8 million.
Successfully defended dealer claims against a manufacturer of water softeners and water purification systems by winning an arbitration and obtaining a federal court order in Minnesota vacating an adverse award previously issued on a separate similar arbitration that had been entered prior to the firm's involvement
Won a two-week high risk jury trial in Harford County, Maryland against nationally prominent plaintiff's firm
Obtained Temporary Restraining Order on behalf of Tier One Automotive Supplier from U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan from same judge who had just denied the same relief to General Motors one week earlier, and who began the contested injunction hearing by stating on the record that she views temporary restraining orders as extraordinarily relief and would almost certainly not grant a restraining order in a commercial matter such as that before her
Defeated "bet the company" and other high stakes emergency motions for Temporary Restraining Orders and Preliminary Injunctive Relief through expedited evidentiary hearings in state and federal courts in Michigan and Minnesota
Obtained summary judgment for the defendant in a $120 million environmental lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles
Provided counseling and training to in-house counsel on management of litigation portfolio of product liability and commercial cases throughout United States
Won a product liability case through "baseball" arbitration in Oklahoma in which the arbitrator conducted full evidentiary hearings and then selected award proposed by the firm's client verbatim and rejected the opponent's proposal
Represented Tier I automotive component suppliers in negotiations and related investigation concerning possible a product defect
Obtained a jury verdict for the defense in an eight-day product liability trial in Pittsburgh without presenting any evidence and relying solely on cross-examinations of plaintiff’s witnesses and experts
Vacated verdict in favor of plaintiff in Harris County, Texas through post-trial motions and served as lead trial counsel for re-trial, obtaining defense verdict after two-week product liability trial
Won a jury trial in a multi-million dollar state court in Dade County Florida in a product liability case brought against diversified product manufacturer
Successfully participated on team for two high profile cases resulting in unanimous decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court
Credentials
Education
Education
- John Marshall Law School, 1989, J.D., Magna Cum Laude, Editor, The John Marshall Law Review
- Lewis University, 1986, B.A.
Court admissions
Court admissions
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Seventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court - Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court - Central District of Illinois
Professional affiliations
Professional affiliations
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Chicago Bar Association