Eric G. Lasker

Eric G. Lasker litigates a wide variety of complex civil matters, with a current focus on toxic torts, environmental litigation, and pharmaceutical products liability. He has successfully represented his clients' interests as lead counsel in multidistrict litigation, mass torts, jury trials and bench proceedings, and in oral argument in multiple federal courts of appeal and state supreme courts. In 2013, Mr. Lasker was named by Law360 as one of its five national Product Liability MVPs. Recently, he headed up the Firm’s defense of serial personal injury litigation in Cook County, Illinois circuit court arising from alleged exposure to ethylene oxide emissions from a medical device sterilization company.

Mr. Lasker was recognized by The American Lawyer as "Litigator of the Week" and featured on the Bloomberg News program "Rainmakers" for his work in securing a victory for Firm client, DynCorp International. DynCorp is a contractor to the U.S. Department of State assisting with the joint United States-Colombia war-on-drugs initiatives known as “Plan Colombia.” In 2013, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted summary judgment to DynCorp, dismissing claims brought by 3,200 Ecuadoreans for alleged personal injury and property damage in connection with counternarcotics aerial herbicide spraying operations in southern Colombia, because plaintiffs failed to present reliable evidence linking those claimed injuries and damage to the spraying operations. Arias, et al. v. DynCorp, et al., 928 F. Supp.2d 10, 2013 WL 821168 (D.D.C. Feb. 19, 2013). Mr. Lasker subsequently defended those victories before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Arias v. DynCorp, 752 F.3d 1011 (D.C. Cir. 2014). In 2017, he secured a complete defense verdict in a jury trial of six test plaintiffs' remaining emotional distress claims.

Mr. Lasker has significant experience defending against all matter of legal claims involving FDA-regulated and EPA-regulated products and alleged toxins and environmental contaminants. He has represented clients in pharmaceutical products liability claims involving antipsychotic medications, obstetrical drugs, antifungals, antiepileptics, contact and intraocular lenses, and cough/cold medicines, and in toxics/environmental matters involving herbicides, asbestos, lead, nonionizing radiation, arsenic, and chemical solvents. He has represented clients in matters arising both in the United States and abroad, and in matters arising under both domestic and international law. Mr. Lasker's practice also includes matters involving sensitive national security issues, and he has represented his clients’ interests in meetings with both U.S. and foreign government officials. He has extensive expertise in developing and implementing sophisticated medical causation and science-based defenses, and he has successfully litigated issues involving Daubert, the federal preemption defense, and natural resource damages claims. See New Mexico v. General Electric, 467 F.3d 1223 (10th Cir. 2006). He also assists clients in due diligence investigations as relates to environmental and toxics liabilities and through an active amicus practice on behalf of various industry organizations, including the United States Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and the American Coatings Association, among others.

Mr. Lasker played a prominent role in helping to establish asbestos defendants’ rights to insurance non-products coverage through a successful amicus effort that secured one of the seminal judicial opinions recognizing the existence of such coverage, litigation efforts resulting in securing several hundreds of millions of dollars in asbestos non-products insurance recoveries, and oral presentations and publications on issues involving non-products coverage. He has also defended personal injury claims in asbestos litigation, advancing medical causation defenses as the asbestos litigation has extended to tertiary and even more remotely-situated corporate defendants.

In 2018, Mr. Lasker participated in a roundtable discussion on a potential amendment to FRE 702 sponsored by the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Rules of Evidence and he testified again before the Committee in 2022 in support of the current proposed amendment, which then was unanimously approved by the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure and which will go into effect December 2023.

Mr. Lasker is frequently requested to speak and publish on issues of interest to his clients. He is the recipient of the 2012 George Yancey Memorial Award and the 2014 Burton Award for excellence in legal writing.

Mr. Lasker is recognized in Who's Who Legal 2023 as one of the highest ranking lawyers for Product Liability Defence. He is named in the 2023 Washington, DC edition of Super Lawyers for Class Action Defense and as an AV Preeminent Lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell. He previously served as the Chair of the International Association of Defense Counsel Toxics & Hazardous Substances Committee and on the Board of Editors of LJN's Product Liability Law & Strategy newsletter. He is a long-standing member of the Defense Research Institute.

Publications

Firm Contributes Chapter on Opioid Litigation and Daubert to Karch’s Drug Abuse Handbook, Third Edition

Eric Lasker, Robert Johnston, Tamara Barago, and Kathryn Jensen, Authors.

Messrs. Lasker and Johnston also served as Section Editors on this compendium long considered the quintessential text addressing the pharmacological, medical, and legal aspects of drugs, and informing the forensic community of the latest scientific advances and emergent practices.

"Fight for the Forum": How to push back on plaintiff forum shopping

Eric Lasker and Brett Covington for IADC's Defense Counsel Journal.

Oklahoma Opioid Ruling: Another Instance of Improper Judicial Governance through Public Nuisance Litigation

By Eric Lasker for Washington Legal Foundation's Legal Backgrounder

Old and New Targets: IARC Releases its 2020-2024 Priority List for Evaluation

For IADC Committee Newsletter, by Eric G. Lasker and John M. Kalas

It is Time to Amend Federal Rule of Evidence 702

The article is co-authored by partner Eric G. Lasker and published in the IADC Committee Newsletter.

Firm partner Eric Lasker joins GMU Professor David Bernstein in article calling to amend to Federal Rule of Evidence Rule 702.

And see Professor Bernstein's OpEd in The Washington Post.

Taking the "Product" Out of Product Liability: Litigation Risks and Business Implications of Innovator and Co-Promoter Liability

By Eric G. Lasker, Stephen A. Klein, and Tamara Fishman Barago for IADC's Defense Counsel Journal.

Texas Supreme Court Rejects "Any Exposure" Causation in Asbestos Litigation

WLF Legal Opinion Letter by Eric Lasker

Fifth Circuit Puts an End to Texas Pharma Plaintiff's California Dreamin'

Partner Eric Lasker's blog post on Washington Legal Foundation's The Legal Pulse

"The quest for the next ‘solvent bystander’ in asbestos litigation: Will Texas resume the search?"

Partner Eric G. Lasker discusses the present state of asbestos litigation in Texas and what could loom on the horizon since the Texas Supreme Court granted review in Bostic v. Georgia-Pacific Corp.

"Prescription Drug Products Liability Litigation and Punitive Damages Preemption "

By Firm partner Eric G. Lasker for IADC's Defense Counsel Journal.

"Preemption of Punitive Damages in Prescription Drug Litigation"

From partner Eric G. Lasker for The Federalist Society's Engage.

Manning the Daubert Gate: A Defense Primer in Response to Milward v. Acuity Specialty Products

Eric G. Lasker, Firm partner, authors article for the April 2012 Defense Counsel Journal.

Daubert Alert: The First Circuit Takes a Step Back in Milward v. Acuity Specialty Products

Hollingsworth LLP partner, Eric G. Lasker, authors article forThe Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. Mr. Lasker was amicus counsel for a coalition of industry associations in support of the Milward petition for writ of certiorari.

There is No Place Like Home: The Defense Against Foreign Environmental Liaiblity Claims in U.S. Court Under the Alien Tort Statute

Partner Eric G. Lasker authors article for International Association of Defense Counsel Toxics & Hazardous Substances Litigation Committee Newsletter.

Pliva, Inc. v. Mensing: Does It Reopen the Door for Targeted Preemption Arguments?

Eric Lasker for LJN's Product Liability Law & Strategy newsletter

U.S. Supreme Court Preemption Trilogy: The Sequel

Eric G. Lasker Washington Legal Foundation’s Legal Backgrounder

The Forum Non Conveniens Decision (Part 2 of 2).

LJN’s Product Liability Law & Strategy (December 2010) (Eric G. Lasker)

The Forum Non Conveniens Decision (Part 1 of 2).

LJN’s Product Liability Law & Strategy (November 2010) (Eric G. Lasker)

Holding Pharma Plaintiffs to Their Pleading Burden: Implications of TWOMBLY and IQBAL

Engage: The Journal of the Federalist Society's Practice Groups (March 2010) (Eric Lasker)

In Re Pepsico Provides Guidance on Arguing Express Preemption

Firm partner Eric Lasker for Washington Legal Foundation’s Legal Backgrounder

Daubert in Natural Resource Damages Litigation

IADC's Toxic and Hazardous Substances Committee Newsletter (August 2008) (Donald W. Fowler and Eric G. Lasker)

Why More Isn't Always Better: State High Court Preempts Consumer Product Liability Suit

Eric Lasker for Washington Legal Foundation's Legal Backgrounder

Building a Fire Wall: Missouri and New Jersey Hold the Line Against Plaintiffs' Efforts to Expand the Law of Public Nuisance (part 1 of 2)

LJN’s Product Liability Law & Strategy (September 2007) (Eric G. Lasker)

"Parting the Watters: Tort Law Preemptions Signals from High Court's Banking Opinion"

Eric Lasker for Washington Legal Foundation's Legal Backgrounder

Federal Court Rejects State AG/Trial Lawyer Effort To Expand “Public Nuisance” Theory

Washington Legal Foundation’s Legal Backgrounder (April 13, 2007) (Donald W. Fowler and Eric G. Lasker)

Daubert in Toxic Tort Litigation (part 3 of 3)

In the final installment, authors Joe Hollingsworth and Eric Lasker, discuss causation opinions premised on clinical practice, and how defense counsel can effectively use Daubert to exclude causation testimony that rests upon anecdotal case reports and clinical reasoning; Michigan Defense Quarterly (April 2007)

Daubert in Toxic Tort Litigation (part 2 of 3)

Written by Joe Hollingsworth and Eric Lasker, the second article explains how defense counsel can assist courts in properly applying the Daubert requirements to various categories of scientific evidence often cited by plaintiffs' experts in support of general causation opinions. Michigan Defense Quarterly (January 2007).

Prescription Drug Litigation Pre-emption: A Continuing Status Report From the Defense Perspective

LJN’s Product Liability Law & Strategy (January 2007) (Eric G. Lasker)

Testing Claims of Adverse Drug Effects in the Courtroom, in Drug Abuse Handbook, 2d ed.

DRUG ABUSE HANDBOOK, Steven Karch & Michael Peat, eds., Taylor and Francis/CRC Press, Boca Raton (December 2006) (Joe G. Hollingsworth and Eric G. Lasker)

Prescription Drug Litigation Pre-emption (part 2 of 2)

LJN’s Product Liability Law & Strategy (November 2006) (Eric G. Lasker)

Daubert in Toxic Tort Litigation (part 1 of 3)

Throwing Out Junk Science: The first article of this 3-part series discusses the legal standards for admissibility of medical causation expert testimony following the Michigan Supreme Court's adoption of the federal Daubert requirements of reliance and relevance. Michigan Defense Quarterly (October 2006) (Joe G. Hollingsworth and Eric G. Lasker).

Prescription Drug Litigation Pre-emption; Following the FDA Preamble (part 1 of 2)

LJN’s Product Liability Law & Strategy (October 2006) (Eric G. Lasker)

How Will FDA’s New Label Rule Impact Drug Litigation?

Andrew's Pharmaceutical Litigation Reporter (April 2006) (Eric G. Lasker)

FDA Reaffirms Preemptive Reach Of Prescription Drug Regulations In New Labeling Rule

LexisNexis® Mealey's Emerging Drugs & Devices (February 2, 2006) (Eric G. Lasker)

Federal Preemption and State Anti-"GM" Food Laws

Eric G. Lasker for Washington Legal Foundation's Legal Backgrounder

Partner Eric Lasker quoted in "Agencies Move to Override State Law As Part of Federal Rulemaking Process," in April 6, 2006 issue of BNA's Daily Report for Executives.

Dodging Daubert

Legal Times, Food and Drug Law Supplement (September 19, 2005) (Joe G. Hollingsworth and Eric G. Lasker)

Superfund Law Preempts Contingent Fee Arrangements in Natural Resource Damages Suits

Washington Legal Foundation's Legal Backgrounder (July 15, 2005) (Reprinted in the August 12, 2005, issue of Andrew's Environmental Litigation Reporter (Eric G. Lasker)

FDA Position on Federal Preemption Consistent with Law & Public Health

Eric Lasker for Washington Legal Foundation's Legal Backgrounder (Reprinted in the May 19, 2005, issue of LexisNexis® Mealey's Emerging Drugs & Devices)

The Case Against Differential Diagnosis: Daubert, Medical Causation Testimony, and the Scientific Method

Journal of Health Law (Winter 2004, Volume 37, No. 1) (Joe G. Hollingsworth and Eric G. Lasker)

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.-- An Essential Tool in Natural Resource Damages Litigation

ABA's Superfund and Natural Resource Damages Litigation Committee Newsletter (December 2003, Volume 1, No. 1, page 12) (Eric G. Lasker)

FDA Regulatory Action Does Not Establish Causation-- FDA Borrows a Page from the Parlodel® Litigation

Mealey's Emerging Drugs & Devices (Vol. 8, #19, October 7, 2003) (Eric G. Lasker)

A Winding Brooks: The Eighth Circuit Reverses Course and Carves a Route to Implied Preemption in Prescription Drug Cases

Eric Lasker for DRI Industrywide Liability News

Products Liability Claims: A Litigator's Guide

ABA's The Brief (Winter 2002) (Eric G. Lasker)

The U.S. Supreme Court Expands the Scope of Federal Preemption of Product Liability Claims Involving FDA-Regulated Products