Conrad, Courtney M.

Tom Fennell manages the Dallas product liability/toxic tort group. He has served as national counsel in numerous complex product liability/toxic tort matters. He has broad product defense experience across industries involving class actions, MDL proceedings, crisis management, state attorney general investigations, and congressional investigations and testimony.

Tom is currently lead counsel for Mattel involving actions arising out of alleged excessive lead in toys, including several U.S. and foreign class action lawsuits and congressional/state investigations; Yamaha in MDL 2016, coordinating more than 140 federal cases involving the Rhino; Parker Hannifin in several commercial aircraft crash cases pending in the U.S. and overseas; Xcel Energy in several suits related to alleged global warming; and Colt Manufacturing in litigation brought by cities, states, and others against the firearms industry. Tom served as one of four lead defense counsel in the highly publicized trial of NAACP v. AA Arms, Inc., et al. The defense win was selected as one of the top 10 defense verdicts of 2003 by The National Law Journal.

The Firm's products practice, including matters on which Tom was involved, was selected "Products Liability Department of the Year in 2003" and as one of two finalists in 2005 in The American Lawyer "Products Liability Department of the Year" competition. Tom has argued appeals in state intermediate appellate and supreme courts and in various U.S. federal courts of appeal. He has lectured and written on trial tactics, international law, evidence, expert witnesses, deposition techniques, and jury research.