Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2021 
Darron E. Berquist is the managing attorney for the firm’s asbestos practice serving clients nationwide and a dedicated New York City mesothelioma lawyer. In addition to representing individuals with asbestos-caused diseases such as mesothelioma, lung cancer, and ovarian cancer, he assists the firm’s pharmaceutical and product liability groups, particularly on matters related to expert witnesses.
Mr. Berquist manages the litigation side of the firm’s asbestos practice, overseeing every matter that is actively litigated and positioned to be tried, across dockets in the Northeast, California, Louisiana, Florida, and other jurisdictions nationwide. His responsibilities include case ' and deadline oversight, retention and coordination of the firm’s expert witnesses, and the mentorship and training of the practice’s younger attorneys and paraprofessional staff. He has continued to work up and try his own cases throughout and remains the primary lawyer on an active docket of his own.
A defining feature of the firm’s mesothelioma practice, and of Mr. Berquist's own approach, is continuity of counsel. Rather than working a case up and handing it to a separate trial team and then to an appellate team, the same lawyers stay with a client from the first meeting through discovery, motion practice, trial, and appeal. Mr. Berquist considers that continuity both a tactical advantage, because the lawyer arguing summary judgment is the lawyer who took every deposition, and a source of reassurance for clients navigating a terminal diagnosis and a long case.
Mr. Berquist gives clients a candid assessment of a case at the outset. He describes the approach as telling clients the good, the bad, and the ugly, and he regards it as central to how he and his team tailor each case to what the individual client actually wants, whether that is a trial or a resolution reached with as little burden on the client as possible.
Mr. Berquist is originally from Columbus, Ohio. Law school brought him to New York, and prior to joining the Lanier Law Firm, he practiced at Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer. He lives in Putnam County, New York, and enjoys cooking (or at least attempting to), running, hiking, and traveling.
