Gary J. Douglas is a nationally renowned trial attorney in New York, NY, and recognized around the country as a trailblazer in the field of Products Liability and environmental toxic torts and has served as lead trial counsel in litigations resulting in settlements and verdicts totaling over $3 Billion in his career thus far. He has scored dozens of million and multi-million dollar verdicts in individual cases as well, including many landmark verdicts such as the first victory in the nation against the automobile industry for a defective airbag that killed a six-year-old boy. He followed that with the first victory in the history of the State of New York against the Tobacco Industry, securing a verdict of $20 Million for the death of a 58-year-old smoker.
Most recently in the Fall of 2015, Mr. Douglas served as co-lead counsel in the first-ever verdict against DuPont for damages due to exposure to the chemical C-8. This was the first trial for over 3,500 cases pending in Federal Court in the Southern District of Ohio, and the jury responded by awarding $1.6 million to plaintiff Carla Bartlett. DuPont polluted the Ohio River for decades with a toxic chemical called C-8. The dumping of C-8 into the Ohio River contaminated 6 water districts and exposed thousands of people to C-8 and its deadly consequences. Ms. Bartlett was the first of over 3,500 plaintiffs to have her case heard by a jury in Ohio.
Known for a wealth of courtroom experience and skills, Mr. Douglas is frequently asked to serve as co-counsel in complex trial cases and has been appointed to serve in key positions in federal multi-district litigations, including recently his appointments as co-chair of the science committee in the Federal court litigations for the drugs Yaz/Yasmin/Ocell, Pradaxa, and Xarelto where he coordinated, managed and developed scientific and medical evidence to support theories of liability and causation. Because of his skills in developing the science and key liability in complex pharmaceutical and environmental toxic tort litigations he has been asked to serve as co-lead counsel in many of these trials. He has served as co-lead or lead trial counsel in the following cases, Fosamax, Ortho Evra, Yaz, Pradaxa, and C-8. Notably, and because of his significant contribution the Yaz and Pradaxa litigations have already settled for over $2 billion and $650 million respectively; he secured the first and largest Fosamax jury verdict for the plaintiff.
Following the work and success on the Ortho Evra and Yaz/Yasmin/Ocella birth control cases, Douglas served as the co-chair of the Science Committee in the Pradaxa Litigation. In this role, he led a team that conducted depositions of critical witnesses for the drug maker, Boehringer Ingelheim and oversaw the review of millions and millions of pages of documents in an effort to prepare cases for victims injured by this dangerous drug for trial. As a result of his efforts, we determined that Boehringer Ingelheim erred in significant clinical trial disclosures to the FDA, which prompted notice to the FDA of their failures, and which also established some of the key liability findings in the case, for which Mr. Douglas was central. In fact, Mr. Douglas was asked to serve as lead trial counsel in the first Pradaxa case that was set by the Court for trial. Approximately 4,000 Pradaxa cases ultimately settled for $650 million days before Mr. Douglas and his team were set to take the deposition of the Boehringer Ingelheim CEO a few months before the first trial.
Mr. Douglas achieved notoriety in 2010 within the pharmaceutical litigation industry when in the span of just a few weeks he obtained back-to-back $8 million dollar verdicts against two pharmaceutical industry giants. In the first, a jury returned a verdict of$8.5 million dollars in a wrongful death case against Ethicon Endo Surgery, Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, after finding that its stomach stapler was defective and the cause of a 36-year old man's untimely death. A few weeks later, a Federal Court jury returned a verdict of$8 million dollars in a products liability case against Merck & Co. to a woman for injuries she sustained to her jaw as a result of its osteoporosis drug Fosamax. Notably, this was the first successful Fosamax trial in the country.
Mr. Douglas has tried hundreds of case and obtained dozens and dozens of million and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements. He is a one of the country's most respected and feared trial attorneys. He routinely appears in Jury Verdict Reporters around the country because of his miraculous verdicts as well as the settlements he secures for his clients.
Mr. Douglas is a past recipient of the Clarence Darrow Award, the prestigious award given to those lawyers who best embody the attributes and skills of the legendary trial attorney and champion of the underdog, Clarence Darrow.
In addition to the above, Mr. Douglas still finds time to keep his skills fresh with complex medical malpractice and catastrophic personal injury cases; which he still tries and for which he routinely secures seven figure results.
Mr. Douglas has been quoted in newspapers across the Country for his outstanding verdicts and has appeared on many local and national television broadcasts for his results, including ABC's Good Morning America, NBC News, CBS News, Fox News and others too numerous to list.
Mr. Douglas was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is admitted and licensed to practice law in the State of New York. In addition, he is admitted to practice in both the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
Mr. Douglas obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the State University at Albany and obtained his Juris Doctor Degree from The Jacob Fuchsberg Law Center of Touro College in New York. He is an active member in numerous legal associations, including New York State Trial Lawyers (NYSTLA) and the America Association of Justice (f/k/a the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.) Mr. Douglas is a former partner and senior trial attorney at Finz & Finz where he represented injured plaintiffs. Mr. Douglas began his legal career and honed his trial skills at the nationally acclaimed Wall Street defense firm of Leahey & Johnson.
Mr. Douglas continues to focus on fighting for the rights of those persons injured by defective products, medical malpractice, and general negligence. He is a court-room fighter whois always ready to take on the giant corporation and give voice to the little people.
