Roman M. Silberfeld
Experience
- Trial and appellate experience in complex civil litigation including business and high technology matters, product liability, professional negligence and mass tort litigation, with particular emphasis upon multi-state, multi-party, and class action litigation.
- Represents both plaintiffs and defendants in complex litigation.
Other Experience
Court Appointed Positions
- Lead counsel, In Re Chocolate Antitrust Litigation, MDL 1935, pending in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
- Lead Counsel in nationwide Gammagard blood products litigation (1996 - 2001). Litigation involved claims against a health care company for contaminated blood products resulting in the contraction of Hepatitis C.
Chair, plaintiff’s steering committee, California coordinated breast-implant litigation (1992-1997)
Chair, Diethylstilbestrol Litigation Group (1980-1996)
Lead Counsel, New York State Diethylstilbestrol Trials (1996)
Lead counsel in Los Angeles County Asbestos Litigation (1982 - 1992)
Selected Results*
Lead counsel, In Re Chocolate Confectionary Antitrust Litigation. Direct and indirect purchasers of chocolate products brought suit for price fixing conspiracy against 4 major chocolate makers.
DiMassa v. Medtronic AVE: Trade secret litigation concerning the Bonneau stent which was the platform for the AVE business. The case was in jury selection when it settled, employing a creative settlement model. The case was then arbitrated to a JAMS judge in San Francisco and our client prevailed, saving the company the $30m at risk in the arbitration.
Counsel in a breach of contract and antitrust dispute between a medical device manufacturer and a start-up regarding a medical technology.
Roberts v. Best Buy: Represented Best Buy in a certified California class action involving overtime pay for managers.
Ride and Show v. MTS: Represented MTS, a manufacturer of amusement park rides. Ride and Show holds a patent for the control of the seat movements of a typical amusement park ride. The rides involved in the case were called "Men in Black" and "Cat in the Hat". After discovery and a Markman hearing, the court issued its claim construction which directly tracked our arguments. Obtained a dismissal with prejudice from the action, with no money paid.
Advanced Bionics v. Medtronic: An employment and trade secrets case that established the principle, in the California Supreme Court, that non-compete agreements are enforceable in California not withstanding a statutory bar on such agreements.
Lead defense counsel in a number of Best Buy matters. The cases range from deceptive trade practice claims to real estate disputes involving leased property.
Represents several patent holders of business method patents in litigation against the significant companies in the real estate industry.
Class Counsel, In Re Structured Settlement Litigation (2001-2004). Involved claims of negligence, fraud and breach of contract against banks and brokerage firms arising from annuities, structured settlements, and long-term payouts of settlement proceeds.
Holloway v. Best Buy: Representing Best Buy in a purported national class action alleging gender and race discrimination in hiring, pay and promotion.
Recognition
Listed in "Who's Who Legal: California" for Products Liability (2007) **
Named a "500 Leading Lawyers in America Finalist," Lawdragon (2007)**
- Named a “Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008)**
- "Trial Lawyer of the Year," Loyola Law School (1999)**
Memberships
- Judicial Council Advisory Committee on Civil Jury Instructions
- Commission for Impartial Courts, Task Force on Judicial Selection and Retention Committee
- American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America)
- Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
- Consumer Attorneys of California
- International Academy of Trial Lawyers
Civic Associations
- Public Counsel, Board Member, Officer, Past Chair
- Friends of Fawnskin, Founder and Chair
- San Bernardino National Forest Association, Board Member, Officer, Chair
- Loyola Law School, Board of Overseers
Bar Admissions
- California
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
Education
- Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, J.D. (1974), Associate Editor of the Law Review
- UCLA, with honors
Selected Speeches
-
Tenth Annual Sedona Conference on Complex Health Law and Medical Products Litigation
The Sedona Conference Institute, The Hilton Sedona, Sedona, California
(April 17-18, 2008)
-
Plaintiffs' Perspective on the Duty of Sponsors and Investigators in Clinical Trials
American Bar Association, San Francisco, California
(October 2, 2007)
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