Vincent J. Moccio
Experience
- Trial practice focusing on representing individuals in complex civil litigation including product liability, personal injury and mass tort litigation, with particular emphasis upon multi-party and class action litigation.
- Currently litigating and investigating cases involving illegal strip searches and prison wrongful death at correctional facilities across America.
- Currently litigating cases involving the pain reliever Vioxx, which was voluntarily recalled from the market by Merck because of an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Selected Results*
Counsel in Charbonneau v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Pfizer, Inc.. Represented plaintiffs in first Mirapex products liability bellwether trial. On July 30, 2008, jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiffs for $8,279,300, including $7.8 million in punitive damages for failing to warn of risk of compulsive behaviors, including pathological gambling, from the Parkinson's drug Mirapex.
Counsel in Zwayer v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Pfizer, Inc.. Represented plaintiffs in second Mirapex bellwether trial. Case was confidentially settled prior to closing argument.
$700,000 settlement in a wrongful-death lawsuit involving an 18-year-old man whose pleas for medical care were rebuffed by jail employees for three days, resulting in death of acute bacterial meningitis associated with a skull fracture.
Class Counsel for class of persons illegally strip searched at the Isanti County, Minnesota Jail, resulting in $750,000 settlement.
Class Counsel for class of persons illegally strip searched at the St. Croix County, Wisconsin Jail, resulting in a $7,000,000 settlement.
Class Counsel for class of persons illegally strip searched at the Mille Lacs County, Minnesota Jail, resulting in $2,000,000 settlement.
Part of a team of attorneys representing the families of Paul, Sheila and Marcia Wellstone and three aides killed in a plane crash resulting in a $25,000,000 settlement.
Part of the Minnesota tobacco litigation team, representing the State of Minnesota and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota against the tobacco industry resulting in a settlement of over $6 billion.
Counsel for a mother and minor son who survived a head-on, highway speed motor vehicle collision. Settlement of $3.9 million plus assignment of potential claims
held by the defendant against third parties.
Co-counsel for families of the victims of the March 2005 shooting at Red Lake High School resulting in $1 million policy limits settlement with school district.
Counsel for families of elderly hospital patients who were given contaminated mouthwash, resulting in aggregate settlement of over $1,000,000.
Counsel for family of man killed by part polishing machine resulting in settlement of over $2,000,000.
Counsel for plaintiff in Brault v. Acceptance Indem. Ins. Co., 538 N.W. 2d 144 (Minn. Ct. App.1995), holding that certain dram shop insurance policies were ambiguous and therefore provided insurance for pecuniary wrongful death loss up to their aggregate maximum limits, resulting in settlement for those limits.
Appellate counsel for plaintiff in DiRico v. Restart, 2004 App. Lexis 356 (Minn. App. 2004), overturning trial court’s grant of summary judgment on causation, resulting in eventual settlement.
Counsel for plaintiffs in Denman v. Gans, 607 N.W.2d 788 (Minn. App. 2000) ruling that plaintiffs, who were “back-lot” owners, had right to access lakefront and had not abandoned those property rights.
Counsel for plaintiff in Rivard v. State of Minnesota, 1995 Minn. App. Lexis 558, affirming denial of partial summary judgment for City of Saint Paul and resulting in settlement.
Counsel for plaintiff in Hoglund v. Herrmann, 1993 Minn. App. Lexis 426, overturning, in part, trial court’s grant of summary judgment on duty issues, resulting in settlement.
Recognition
- Recipient of the "Larry Trattler Public Justice Enhancement Award," Public Justice (2007)**
- Named a "Super Lawyer" by Minnesota Law & Politics (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009)**
- Received the 1998 Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association’s "Member of the Year" award as part of the Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. Tobacco Litigation Team.
- Received certificates of appreciation from Trial Lawyers Care, Inc., the New Jersey Bar Association and the Minnesota Bar Association for pro bono work on behalf of the families of victims of the September 11 attacks at the World Trade Center.
Memberships
American Bar Association
- Minnesota State Bar Association
- State Bar of Wisconsin
- Minnesota Association for Justice (formerly Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association)
- American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America)
- Minnesota Justice Foundation
- Committee on Judicial Independence, ATLA, 2002-2005
- Board of Directors, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
- Board of Directors, Pearl Improvement and Recreation Council
- The National Crime Victim Bar Association
- Trial Lawyers Care, Inc., ATLA, Volunteer Attorney
- The Advocates for Human Rights, Volunteer Attorney
- Roscoe Pound Institute
Bar Admissions
- Minnesota
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of North Dakota
- U.S. District Court, Minnesota
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
Education
- Indiana University School of Law, J.D., cum laude (1987)
- Indiana University, B.A., Political Science
Articles
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Restraint Chairs Cause Unnecessary Pain, Injury and Even Death
(June 9, 2006)
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Unconstitutional Police Department Strip Search Practices May Be Widespread
(November 1, 2005)
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Advanced Expert Witness Deposition Tactics in Minnesota
National Business Institute (NBI, Inc.), Minneapolis, MN (2004)
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Fourth Amendment Rights of Pre-trial, Pre-and Post-Arraignment Detainees
The National Crime Victim Bar Association 2004 National Conference, Washington D.C. (2004)
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Proposed Rules for Low Cost Litigation
Submitted to the Rules Committee of the Minnesota Supreme Court, and adopted for use in a trial program by the Ramsey County District Court, 2001 (co-authored)
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Consumer Safety Alert: Child-Play Fires Caused by Non-Child-Resistant Utility Lighters
(February 2002)
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The Future of Products Liability in America
27 William Mitchell Law Review 850, (2000) (With Gary Wilson and Daniel O’Fallon)
Selected Speeches
Faculty Presenter, Advanced Expert Witness Deposition Tactics in Minnesota
National Business Institute (NBI, Inc.), Minneapolis, MN (2004)
Faculty Presenter, Section 1983 Strip Search Class Actions
The National Crime Victim Bar Association 2004 National Conference, Washington D.C. (2004)
Faculty Presenter, Minnesota’s Three General Consumer Fraud Statutes (and Minnesota Tobacco Case)
MILE Seminar on Drug and Medical Device Litigation, Bloomington, MN (1998)