Vaita, Eleni

Rod Umberger is an equity member in the Seattle office where he serves on the Board of Directors and chairs the firm's Business Litigation Practice Group. He is first and foremost a trial lawyer with more than 20 years of experience in the courtroom. As lead trial counsel, Mr. Umberger has tried over 40 jury trials and over 60 bench trials in state and federal courts across the country. His trial experience includes product liability, toxic tort, transportation, construction and a variety of commercial disputes. Mr. Umberger was named to Super Lawyers by Washington Law & Politics magazine in 2006 and 2007, and in 2008, he was one of sixteen attorneys in the state of Washington recognized as a top civil litigation defense attorney by the Corporate Counsel Edition of Super Lawyers magazine.

Mr. Umberger's product liability experience includes defending pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers in state and federal courts and in multidistrict national litigation. He has served as both National Coordinating Counsel and MDL Counsel in national product liability litigation, and has developed significant knowledge and experience in addressing issues that arise in multidistrict litigation. He has defended manufacturers of construction products and manufacturers of heavy agricultural machinery and industrial equipment and machinery in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases. His product liability practice also encompasses consumer products and toxic torts and he serves on a national trial counsel team in asbestos litigation.

Mr. Umberger's experience in the transportation industry is extensive. For over 20 years, he has represented local and national trucking companies in freight loss/damage litigation, breach of contract cases and catastrophic highway accident litigation in both state and federal courts. He is a member of the Transportation Lawyers Association (Litigation Committee), Defense Research Institute (Trucking Law Committee) and the USLAW Network Transportation Practice Group.

Mr. Umberger's commercial and business litigation experience includes the following:

• Representation of local, national and international corporations in patent infringement, copyright infringement, trademark and trade name infringement, breach of contract and fraud cases
• Representation of international technology companies in lawsuit involving software licensing and development agreements
• Representation of employers and employees in lawsuits involving noncompetition agreements and trade secrets
• Representation of builders, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers in complex construction litigation
• Representation of consumer products and services companies in false advertising, unfair competition, CAN-SPAM Act litigation, TCPA class action litigation, and litigation with the Federal Trade Commission
• Representation of individuals and businesses in federal securities litigation

Mr. Umberger's representation of health care providers is diverse and extensive. He has defended physicians, hospitals, clinics, dentists, counselors, nursing homes and medical laboratories in medical negligence lawsuits and disciplinary proceedings.