Mr. Berger has expertise in pharmaceutical product liability defense, environmental litigation, and toxic tort defense. He has tried more than twenty cases to verdict.
Mr. Berger was lead trial counsel for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation in Hogan v. Novartis Pharms. Corp., No. 1:06-CV-00260 (E.D.N.Y.), one of the first bellwether trials in the Aredia® / Zometa® multidistrict litigation pending in the Middle District of Tennessee. Aredia® and Zometa® are bisphosphonate drugs used to combat skeletal-related events (e.g., bone fractures) that occur as cancer metastasizes to and degrades a cancer victim’s bones. Plaintiff Karlene Hogan alleged that her late husband, Timothy Hogan, developed osteonecrosis of the jaw (“ONJ”) as a result of his receiving Zometa® as part of his cancer treatment. Following a seven-day trial, the jury rendered a verdict in favor of Novartis, concluding that plaintiff had failed to prove that Zometa® had caused Mr. Hogan’s jaw condition.
Mr. Berger secured his second consecutive defense verdict in the Aredia® / Zometa® litigation in Brodie v. Novartis Pharms. Corp., No. 4:10-CV-138 (E.D. Mo.), a failure-to-warn case in which plaintiff Sharon Brodie alleged that her deceased husband, John Brodie, developed ONJ as a result of his use of Zometa®. After a one and one-half week trial, the jury deliberated for less than two hours before it returned a verdict in favor of Novartis, validating Novartis’s position that the company provided adequate warnings about the known and reasonably knowable risks associated with the use of Zometa®.
Among his most memorable trial victories, in 1997 Mr. Berger successfully defended a pharmaceutical company against products liability claims brought by four plaintiffs and their spouses in a month long trial in Galveston, Texas. To this day, Mr. Berger continues to represent pharmaceutical manufacturer clients against claims that prescription and over-the-counter drugs caused serious personal injury, including strokes, heart attacks, congestive heart failure, immune system dysregulation, diabetes, and dermatological disorders.
In addition to his extensive experience with the defense of pharmaceutical products liability cases, Mr. Berger served as counsel for Norfolk Southern in the case of Avondale Mills v. Norfolk Southern, No. 1:05-2817 (D.S.C. 2008). Plaintiff Avondale alleged property damage to its textile plants arising from a January 2005 train derailment and chlorine gas release. Mr. Berger led the defense of financial damages issues in the case, which was the largest single mass tort case in South Carolina history. After one month of an anticipated three-month trial, the parties agreed to a confidential settlement.
Mr. Berger represents manufacturers and industrial clients in a range of complex solvent-related and benzene-related cases. He has, for example, defended gasoline manufacturers and successfully obtained summary judgment in leukemia cases relating to alleged exposure to benzene. (Bly v. Tri-Continental Indus., 663 A.2d 1232 (D.C. 1995).) He also has successfully advocated the causation defense relating to alleged benzene exposures in complex workplace settings involving contract laborers and bystanders.
Mr. Berger has represented former manufacturers of asbestos-containing products, advancing complex medical causation defenses in trials and appeals, including one client’s Havner challenges in connection with the consolidated Texas statewide asbestos docket.
Mr. Berger has defended personal injury and property damage claims brought against a leading termiticide manufacturer. In a key pre-Daubert ruling, Mr. Berger obtained summary judgment based on the failure of plaintiffs’ medical causation evidence, as to the claims of five plaintiffs who alleged that pesticide had contaminated their home. Conde v. Velsicol Chemical Corp., 804 F. Supp. 972 (S.D. Ohio 1992), aff’d, 24 F.3d 809 (6th Cir. 1994). In another federal case for this client, after extensive international discovery, he won summary judgment against a plaintiff who had experienced a serious acute medical event during the fumigation of a building.
Mr. Berger also litigates diverse environmental matters, including CERCLA and RCRA actions and major natural resource damages claims. He obtained a rare summary judgment in an environmental contribution action arising out of chemical disposals in a municipal landfill. Hassayampa Steering Comm. v. Velsicol Chemical Corp., 942 F.2d 791 (9th Cir. 1991).
Prior to joining Hollingsworth LLP, Mr. Berger worked for the United States Department of Justice in both the Civil Rights Division and the Lands and Natural Resources Division. He has taught Trial Practice as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center and has frequently chaired seminars, lectured, and written on trial practice, toxic tort litigation, and environmental issues. He clerked for the Honorable John Minor Wisdom, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. While attending law school, he served as Executive Editor of the Harvard Law Review.
In addition to the work he handles on behalf of our clients, Mr. Berger has served for five years as the Firm's Pro Bono Coordinator. He has frequently served as Guardian ad Litem representing children in custody disputes, and he serves on the Children and the Courts Committee of the Council for Court Excellence.
