Copyright 2000 The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
September 26, 2000, Tuesday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: BUSINESS, Pg. 7B-
LENGTH: 584 words
HEADLINE:
BUFFALO ATTORNEY TO HELP SHAPE TORT REFORM DEBATE
BYLINE: CHET BRIDGER; News Business Reporter
BODY:
A Buffalo attorney will help shape
the tort reform debate as head of one of the nation's premier legal institutes.
Neil A. Goldberg, a partner at Saperston & Day, has been elected
president of the Defense Research Institute. He becomes the first local lawyer
to lead the Chicago-based institute representing 22,000 of the nation's civil
defense attorneys. Goldberg specializes in product liability law, and his
Buffalo firm has built a national practice representing General Motors, General
Electric, Fisher-Price and other major clients.
The seeds for his ascent
within the profession were planted by his father in Brooklyn more than 40 years
ago. The senior Goldberg, a salesman, wanted his son to be a successful
attorney. While other fathers were taking their sons to ball games, Goldberg and
his father visited courthouses to watch trials.
"I really developed a
love of the law. My father really thought this was a wonderful thing to do with
your life," Goldberg said.
Now the 52-year-old University at Buffalo Law
School graduate will help shape public policy governing the legal profession. He
will lead the institute, which is trying to curb the nation's voracious appetite
for civil litigation.
"You don't see the level of litigation in Europe
or Japan that you do in the U.S.," Goldberg said. "There are different paradigms
in other countries. Obviously, we'd like to see the pace of litigation contained
so corporations in the U.S. can compete more effectively with their counterparts
in other countries."
The cost of fighting product liability cases, and
other civil litigation, can carry significant expense.
Reforms sought by
the Defense Research Institute include moving all class action lawsuits with
interstate class members into federal court, capping plaintiffs' attorney fees
for class cases and raising the qualifications for expert witnesses in all state
courts to the minimum standards set by the federal court's "Daubert rule." The
institute does not directly lobby state legislators, but attempts to influence
public debate by publishing reports and studies. Goldberg's group is often at
odds with the American Trial Lawyers Association, the larger and well-financed
group representing plaintiffs' attorneys.
John Kouris, executive
director of the Defense Research Institute, believes Goldberg will help
strengthen the defense lawyers.
"He's an energetic, big picture thinker.
He has tremendous ideas for energizing the defense bar," Kouris said.
One of Goldberg's main objectives is to increase the number of female
and minority members in the historically white organization.
"The
message is, please come join us. This is a land of opportunity for all attorneys
and we open our arms to everybody," he said.
Goldberg will be installed
Oct. 7 at the institute's annual meeting in New Orleans
Goldberg is
known locally for several high-profile cases. He defended the Jacobs family in
getting the New York Court of Appeals to overturn an $ 800,000 jury award
against Seth Jacobs, who was accused of assaulting actress Mary Kate O'Connell
in 1980.
He also faced a team that included celebrity attorney Johnnie
Cochrane Jr. while defending Pyramid Co. in the wrongful-death suit filed by the
family of Cynthia Wiggins. The case, which included multiple defendants, was
filed after Wiggins was struck by a truck and died while crossing Walden Avenue
attempting to reach Walden Galleria Mall. The case was settled out of court for
$ 2.5 million.
GRAPHIC: Neil A. Goldberg
LOAD-DATE: September 28, 2000
