The Vaping Injury Crisis: Products Liability & Insurance Coverage issues for Nicotine and Cannabis Industries

Michelle Molinaro Burke is a trial lawyer that understands that in today’s business climate, clients demand practical and cost-effective solutions to litigation. She strives to understand her clients' long-term goals and partners with her clients not only to resolve pending litigation, but to provide forward-thinking solutions with an eye towards diverting future litigation. A practical yet creative problem-solver, Michelle is skilled at seeing the "big picture" from very early on in her cases. Armed with early case development and an understanding of the law, Michelle determines the case strategy and designs and executes a streamlined discovery plan aimed to posture the case or individual claims for dismissal on summary judgment. Although Michelle's goal is to keep her clients out of the courtroom, Michelle is experienced in adeptly and aggressively trying cases, and has obtained favorable results for her clients.

Michelle serves as both primary and local defense counsel and manages a large docket of products liability, toxic tort, commercial and general civil litigation matters. She handles all aspects of complex litigation and is adept at developing defense strategies, coordinating all aspects of discovery and crafting successful dispositive motions.

Michelle serves in a variety of roles, including: serving as national coordinating counsel and trial counsel for a major elevator manufacturer in defense of asbestos exposure claims; as counsel for a Fortune 100 chemical company for litigation and liability matters; as counsel to a major automobile manufacturer; and as counsel to many other small and large businesses and insurance companies in general liability matters.

In addition to her clients, Michelle is also respected as a leader among her peers. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation's Products Liability Committee, and has also served in other leadership roles within the Section. She has also been recognized on the New Jersey Super Lawyers "Rising Stars" List, Personal Injury Products: Defense, since 2014, and was recently recognized in The Best Lawyers of America, 2020 Edition, for "Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants I Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants."

Latosha Ellis helps corporate policyholders facing large losses recover from their insurers.

Latosha has experience representing clients in complex commercial litigation, products liability, alcohol beverage control litigation, and other matters. She regularly counsels clients on directors and officers liability (D&O), commercial liability, business interruption, employment practices liability, and cyber insurance issues. She has presented at seminars across the country on topics related to insurance coverage, including presenting at the ABA Women In Insurance Network (WIN) annual conference on emerging issues in insurance coverage for cannabis operations.

Jodi Green is a member of Miller Nash's cannabis and insurance recovery teams and represents clients in a range of non-litigated and litigated business matters.

With over ten years of experience in insurance coverage, Jodi is familiar with a vast range of first-party and third-party insurance policies, including among others: Bermuda Form, builder’s risk, cannabis and hemp, commercial general liability and excess, crime, cyber, directors and officers and management liability (D&O), employment practices (EPLI), homeowners; pollution; property and business interruption, and representations and warranties. Jodi has also evaluated coverage for disputes arising in a variety of contexts, including: advertising injury; cannabis and hemp; construction; employment and wage disputes; ESG and environmental; healthcare, life sciences, and pharmaceutical claims; sexual abuse; and mass tort and products liability, many of which implicated hundreds of millions of dollars or more, such as the Las Vegas Harvest Festival lawsuits and the opioid multi-district litigation matters.

Using her expertise in insurance, Green hopes to "bridge the knowledge gap" between the insurance and cannabis sectors to ensure that cannabis businesses have the proper protection.

A partner in our San Francisco office, Fabrice N. Vincent is a tireless and principled advocate for the injured and the families of loved ones who died in personal injury and wrongful death cases. Fabrice’s cases include aviation accidents, auto and recreational vehicle accidents, cases arising from defective infant and consumer products, dangerous prescription drugs, and faulty medical devices. Fabrice’s practice also includes cases involving environmental toxic exposures, medical malpractice, and international and human rights violations.

In many of the cases Fabrice has prosecuted, he has assisted our clients in persuading corporate defendants to issue recalls or improve their safety procedures for the protection of all consumers and patients.

Fabrice played a pivotal role in the firm’s representation of patients injured by the diet drugs fenfluramine (sold as Pondimin) and dexfenfluramine (sold as Redux), which resulted in a $4.75 billion settlement for those who developed cardiac valve damage or the often fatal condition of Primary Pulmonary Hypertension after taking Pondimin or Redux. Fabrice successfully represented scores of injured patients in individual lawsuits.

Fabrice has been recognized by Super Lawyers magazine as a Northern California Super Lawyer for the past five years, and has written extensively on current issues in litigation, including co-editing California Class Actions Practice and Procedures from 2003-2006.

Seth Row is an experienced insurance problem-solver and business litigator, representing commercial policyholders, including banks, manufacturers, developers, agriculturists, and public entities, in litigation and negotiation of insurance disputes in Oregon, Washington, and nationwide. Seth has assisted clients in recovering millions of dollars in insurance proceeds under many kinds of insurance policies, including commercial general liability (CGL), employment practices liability (EPL), directors’ & officers’ (D&O), cyber-risk, errors & omissions (E&O), stock, cargo, and marine coverages, through negotiation, arbitration, trial, and appeal. His focus on value-added, bottom-line case management has won him accolades from his clients.

Seth’s coverage litigation practice has involved several issues of first impression in Oregon insurance law, including the duty to defend EPA enforcement actions under long-tail coverage forms, coverage for intellectual property disputes, and recovery of attorney fees. Seth also provides counseling on business risk management and effective insurance procurement, particularly in emerging areas such as cyber breach prevention and cannabis.

Outside of the coverage arena, Seth has substantial experience in business litigation involving commercial transactions, as well as litigation involving product liability, employment, and land-use issues. He also maintains an active practice in environmental litigation under CERCLA, the Clean Water Act, RCRA, and state law analogues.

Seth is a frequent speaker and author on litigation and insurance matters, and has been recognized by Oregon Super Lawyers magazine and other publications. Seth serves in the leadership of the American Bar Association's Section of Litigation, the ABA's Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee, and the Multnomah Bar Association. Seth has provided pro bono legal services to local housing organizations, transgender individuals, and immigration groups, among others.

Seth is the founder and editor of The Northwest Policyholder, our blog that focuses on insurance coverage issues in the Pacific Northwest.