Best Lawyers in America for Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
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State
Jim Crongeyer is a Managing Member of Watkins & Eager and has served in this capacity since 2008. He began the practice of law in Florida in 1995 after graduating cum laude from the University of Mississippi School of Law. He is admitted to practice in Mississippi (1997), Alabama (1996) and Florida (1995), and has actively practiced in all three states. Jim has significant litigation and trial experience in the general product liability litigation, mass tort, complex litigation and constr...
Richard D. Rusak is a partner in the Miami office of Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A and Board Certified in Marine/Admiralty Law by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Education and Specialization since 2010. He is an accomplished trial lawyer with two decades of litigation and appellate experience in federal and state courts and primarily represents major insurance companies, ship owners and marinas in marine/admiralty defense cases. Mr. Rusak also practices in the areas of hospitality defense, tr...
Mary McWilliams Dengler is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation, Litigation - Insurance, Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants, Product Liability Litigation - Defendants and Railroad Law. Mary McWilliams, who practices law in Columbus, Ohio, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Mary McWilliams is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic ...
David Allen practices litigation for a broad variety of clients. He has been trying lawsuits for more than 30 years with close to 100 juries empaneled during that time. A former president of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys (NCADA), David is a frequent lecturer on substantive and technical aspects of trial practice for numerous sponsors of continuing legal education presentations, having addressed both the NCADA and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice in recent years. ...
John Kemppainen has more than 30 years of courtroom experience defending clients in Missouri and Illinois. He is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, recognized as a Missouri Super Lawyer, and has been named one of the Top Lawyers in Missouri by the St. Louis Post Dispatch . His practice includes personal injury, products liability, wrongful death, class actions, and toxic torts, with clients ranging from insurers and corporations to municipalities and individuals. He also serves as National Coord...
Sean has extensive trial and litigation experience through his 27 years of civil defense practice. He represents national transportation companies in cases involving personal injury, Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), grade crossing accidents, property damage, cumulative trauma exposure and other accident investigation and defense. His litigation experience includes a record of success in jury verdicts and pre-trial motion practice. He regularly serves on initial response teams fo...
Walter Yoka is a nationally recognized trial attorney with particular focus on products liability. He has tried numerous complex and high profile cases to verdict on behalf of Yoka & Smith’s corporate clients and successfully argued in California’s Supreme and Appellate courts. Among his many affiliations, Mr. Yoka is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Product Liability Advisory Counsel and International Society of Barristers. He served as President of the Asso...
Tommy Williams has been practicing law since 1988 and is a founding member of Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC, established in July 2000. He currently serves as a Managing Member of the firm. His practice is concentrated on the defense of personal injury, wrongful death, and complex property damage claims, with particular emphasis in the areas of products liability, trucking and transportation, and premises liability. Mr. Williams has represented a broad range of clients, including nationa...
David, a shareholder at Taylor Day, leads the automobile insurance team in defending first and third-party insurance claims. This includes work in the areas of personal injury protection (PIP), Bodily Injury (BI), Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist and Coverage issues. In addition to advocating for his clients, David has also served as an expert witness for several national insurance companies and is a Florida state-certified continuing education instructor. When it is time to take a break f...
Jamie Huffman Jones is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group and a member of the Firm’s Management Committee. Jamie advocates for clients in jury and bench trials involving a variety of claims, including mass tort, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, business and commercial disputes, class actions, and automotive commercial disputes. Jamie handles FELA and regulatory litigation for the largest Class One freight railroad in the country and Section 1983/Constitutional litigation for...
Edward F. Fox is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants and Product Liability Litigation - Defendants. Edward F., who practices law in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been recognized since 2007. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Edward F. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Grady Hurley is a partner in and co-leader of the maritime litigation, arbitration, and dispute resolution team and co-chair of the Energy, Environmental & Natural Resources Industry Team. Since 1979, he has focused on maritime, oilfield, and energy litigation. Grady has broad-ranging dispute resolution and transactional experience at the intersection of energy and maritime law, including in areas such as offshore energy exploration, production, and distribution, where a range of complex ...
John H. Barr II is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. John H., who practices law in Dallas, Texas, has been recognized since 2016. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which John H. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
No stranger to a construction site, John Grayson worked his way through college as a laborer, equipment operator and pouring concrete in the Houston area. While a student, he pumped gas and fixed flats at a service station and worked in the History Dept at Texas A&M University. Grayson is a Principal in Cokinos | Young and represents major contractors, EPC contractors, subcontractors, pipeline contractors and owners, mechanical contractors and owners in complex construction matters across...
Craig H. Lubben is a Member of the firm and has been practicing law since 1981. Mr. Lubben’s practice is focused on representing business entities, executives, medical professionals, and other individuals in commercial disputes in state and federal court and in various alternative dispute forums. Employment and Workplace Disputes Mr. Lubben possesses extensive experience representing employers in complex workforce controversies, including harassment, discrimination, breach of fiduciary ...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.