Sharon L. Caffrey is co-head of the Products Liability and Toxic Torts division of Duane Morris' Trial Practice Group. Ms. Caffrey concentrates her practice in the areas of mass tort, products liability and toxic tort litigation. Ms. Caffrey has served as the national coordinating counsel for Pliva, Inc. in its PPA litigation. She is also one of two science defense coordinators and one of a handful of national trial counsel for Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation in their asbestos litigation and is regularly assigned to handle their asbestos trials around the country. Ms. Caffrey has significant trial experience, including extensive experience as MDL counsel in both asbestos and PPA litigation.

Ms. Caffrey's extensive trial experience also includes trying dozens of cases to verdict. One third of her verdicts have been in medical malpractice cases involving a wide range of issues. The remaining trials have included a variety of mass tort cases and other health effects defense cases.

Ms. Caffrey has chaired the Mealey's conference on "Email, Discovery and Retention Policies," is a frequent speaker on the topic of eDiscovery issues and is a member of the firm's eDiscovery Initiative.

Ms. Caffrey is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She has spoken at the Mealey's Asbestos Litigation Seminar and the American Conference Institute Asbestos Litigation Seminar. Ms. Caffrey is vice chair of the Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Committee of the American Bar Association and also is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association as well as the Committee on Women in the Profession of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Ms. Caffrey also chairs Duane Morris' Women's Initiative and co-chaired the first Lexis-Nexis conference on Advancing Women in the Profession. In addition, Ms. Caffrey is a member of Duane Morris' Diversity Committee.

A former judicial clerk to the Honorable Dominick J. Ferrelli, JSC and the Honorable Anthony P. Tunney, JSC of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Ms. Caffrey is a 1987 graduate of Widener University School of Law and a graduate of American University.

Areas Of Practice

Mass Torts and Products Liability
Health Effects Litigation

Representative Matters

National science defense coordinator for two Fortune 100 companies in toxic tort litigation. Involves expert development and oversight, trial preparation, coordination and strategy. Includes strategic oversight of numerous matters in 2007 and 2008.
Handled Frye hearing for two Fortune 100 companies challenging the admissibility of plaintiffs' experts methodology in toxic tort litigation in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in February 2008.
Tried medical negligence matter for individual in Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas in 2008; resulted in one of the largest verdicts in Montgomery County for a plaintiff in a medical negligence matter.
Served as national coordinating counsel for a pharmaceutical company in its PPA diet and pharmaceutical products liability litigation. Representation includes responsibility for over 250 direct claims and approximately 540 contractual indemnity claims, oversight of local counsel in 18 states, oversight of federal Multi-District Litigation, and the development of corporate and expert witnesses.
Member of the national asbestos defense team for Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation and a member of their national trial team. Included trying significant case to verdict in the Superior Court of Delaware in 2007.
Served as national counsel for Borinquen Insulation in its asbestos litigation in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Representation involved approximately 500 cases spanning a period of about eight years.

Professional Activities

American Bar Association
- Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section
-- Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Committee
--- Vice-Chair, 2005-2007
New Jersey State Bar Association
Philadelphia Bar Association
- Committee on Women in the Profession
Camden County Bar Association
Chair, Duane Morris Women's Initiative
National Association of Women Lawyers
- Program Committee, 2007
- Survey Committee, 2007
- Leadership Summit, 2007
National Association of Women Judges
- Friends Committee, 2007
Camden Inn of the American Inns of Court
-Barrister, 1995-1997

Admissions

New Jersey
Pennsylvania
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Supreme Court of the United States
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Supreme Court of New Jersey

Education

Widener University School of Law, J.D., 1987

Experience

Duane Morris LLP
-Partner, 2000-Present
-Associate, 1997-1999
Dunn, Haase, Sullivan, Mallon, Cherner & Broadt, Media, PA and Westmont, NJ
-Associate, 1994-1997
Countess and Shelley, Moorestown, New Jersey
-Associate, 1993-1994
Horn, Goldberg, Gorny, Daniels, Paarz, Plackert & Weiss, Voorhees, NJ
-Associate, 1991-1993
McCarter & English, Cherry Hill, NJ
-Associate, 1989-1991
Parker, McCay and Criscuolo, Marlton, NJ
-Associate, 1988-1989
Superior Court of New Jersey,
-Judicial Clerk, Honorable Dominick J. Ferrelli, JSC, and Honorable Anthony P. Tunney, JSC, 1987-1988

Board Memberships

Executive Board, Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel

Civic and Charitable Activities

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training 2008, Nation's Triathlon
North Brandywine Swim League Stroke and Turn Judge, 2007, 2008
YMCA, Central Branch, Wilmington, Delaware
- Board of Governors, 1997-2000
-- Rising Star Award, 1997
- Executive Committee, 1998-1999
- Vice President, Fund Raising, 1997-1999
St. Stephen's Lutheran Church Building Renovation Committee, Wilmington, Delaware
-Chairperson, 1995-1997
Children's House Montessori School
-Advisory Board, 1993-1996
-Silent Auction Chairperson, 1994-1996
Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Burlington County
-Board of Directors, 1989-1990
Chairperson Personnel Committee of St. Stephen's Lutheran Church

Honors and Awards

2004 "Super Lawyer" in Pennsylvania for Class Actions and Mass Tort Litigation
Rising Star Award, YMCA, Central Branch, Wilmington, Delaware

Selected Publications

Co-author, "N.J. Packagers Are Link in Acutrim Liability Chain," Product Liability Law 360 and Health Law 360, July 16, 2008
Author, "Creative Exit Strategy: Limiting Damages When Co-Defendant Files for Bankruptcy," The Legal Intelligencer, June 27, 2007
Co-Author, "MD Charged With Fraud For Failing to Disclose Drug Use Before Operating," Medical Malpractice Law & Strategy, December 1998
Co-Author, "No Duty to Nonpatient Family Members of Therapist's Treatment of Patient," Medical Malpractice Law & Strategy, March 1999
Co-Author, Monthly Column for Medical Malpractice Law & Strategy

Selected Speaking Engagements

Co-chair, "LexisNexis® Women in the Legal Profession Summit: Rainmaking, Negotiating, and Collaborative Development," Philadelphia, September 25, 2007
"Advanced Litigation Issues in E-Discovery," Web cast for FIOS, May 30, 2007
Speaker, "Managing Discovery in the Digital Age," Counsel to Counsel program, September 27, 2006
Panelist, "Unconventional Wisdom on Products Liability Defense," Insurance Society of Philadelphia CLE Seminar, August 11, 2006
Chair, Mealey's E-mail Discovery & Retention Policies Conference, San Francisco, California, May 18, 2006
Speaker, "Emails Run Amok," FIOS Electronic Discovery webcast, January 11, 2006
Speaker, "Sales Coaching," ABA Law Practice Management Section Fall Meeting on Marketing and Technology, October 21, 2005
"Allocating and Shifting Liability," Mealey's Asbestos Premises Liability Conference, December 2004
Speaker, "Forum Shopping: Getting In and Out," American Conference Institute," Asbestos Litigation the Next Generation," October 22, 2001
Speaker, "The New Face of the Litigation: Beyond the Thermal Insulation Manufacturers," Mealey's National Asbestos Litigation Conference, October 8, 2001
Presenter, "Legal Implications of Medical Care," Pennsylvania Association of Medical Assistants, continuing education program, Ardmore, Pennsylvania, November 12, 2000
"Malpractice Issues," Minimizing Regulatory Finds and Litigation in Long-Term Care and Assisted-Living Facilities, New Jersey Center for Health Care Education, Seminar sponsored by Duane, Morris & Heckscher LLP, September 28, 2000
Speaker, "Trial Theme," Pennsylvania Bar Institute Product Liability Litigation Seminar, December 19, 2001