McDermott, Robert F.

Bob McDermott has practiced at Jones Day since 1979. He has extensive experience in civil and criminal litigation. In addition, he has done significant work in antitrust, environmental, and white-collar crime. His practice has focused on complex, multidistrict product liability and toxic tort matters, serving as national counsel in major litigation for clients in the tobacco, paper, and mining/smelting industries.

Bob has served as national coordinating counsel for over a decade on a number of product liability cases against the tobacco industry and is currently co-lead counsel defending the $280 billion civil RICO claim brought by the United States against the tobacco industry: United States v. Philip Morris, Inc. He supervised and coordinated the defense of all the cases brought by the attorney generals seeking Medicaid recoupment against the tobacco industry and was lead trial counsel in the states of Mississippi, Texas, and Washington. Mississippi and Texas settled on the eve of trial; the Washington case went forward for 10 weeks before ultimately settling. Bob also served as national coordinating counsel in several thousand dioxin cases brought in state and federal courts in the Southeast, including class actions.

While serving as an assistant U.S. attorney, Bob prosecuted major federal crimes, including mail and wire fraud, crimes on federal reservations, kidnapping, murder, and narcotics cases.

Bob is a member of the District of Columbia Bar as well as the Virginia State Bar and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.