Robert J. Drakulich is a trial lawyer and partner at THE DRAKULICH FIRM, APLC, with offices in San Diego, California and Reno, Nevada. Mr. Drakulich’s primary practice is in the areas of product liability, personal injury, medical device / pharmaceutical drug mass torts, class actions, nursing home abuse, airplane/helicopter crash, business litigation, and mesothelioma/asbestos cases. Mr. Drakulich is licensed to practice law in California, Nevada, Minnesota, and Washington D.C. and has an appellate practice in the Ninth and Second Circuit.
Mr. Drakulich has actively participated as a member of the trial team on several multi-million-dollar cases. Together with his father, Mr. Drakulich has helped attain hundreds of millions of dollars for the firm’s mass tort clients. In addition to his work on the firm’s mass tort practice, Mr. Drakulich has also helped secure substantial verdicts and settlements on behalf of the firm’s single event cases, collectively resulting in over 40 million dollars.
Mr. Drakulich has been honored to be an invited speaker at over twenty legal seminars across the country, including the last five years at the prestigious Annual Class Action / Complex Litigation Symposium held in New Orleans, Louisiana regarding the topics of federal preemption, the intersection of science and law, and the new standards for personal jurisdiction. Mr. Drakulich has also been an invited speaker at numerous HarrisMartin MDL Conferences, including in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Napa, Chicago, Seattle, St. Louis, New York, and Washington D.C., speaking on emerging tort litigation and other specialized topics in complex litigation.
Mr. Drakulich is grateful for the awards and distinctions that he has received throughout his career, including: the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 under 40, Super Lawyers Rising Star in both California and Nevada, AVVO’s highest rating of “Superb” (10.0 out of 10), and America’s Top 100 Attorneys Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mr. Drakulich graduated (cum laude) from the University of San Diego School of Law. Before entering law school, Mr. Drakulich was a high school teacher, tennis coach and a working artist. He graduated (cum laude) with a B.A. degree from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Mr. Drakulich endeavors to employ his creative skills and teaching background in law. Much like art, when handling a client’s case, Mr. Drakulich looks at it from every angle, reduces it to the simplest form and tries to think of the most compelling method to convey it to an audience.
Bar Admissions
• The State of Nevada
• The State of California
• The State of Minnesota
• The District of Columbia in Washington D.C.
• U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Education
• J.D., cum laude, University of San Diego, School of Law (2010)
• B.A., cum laude, University of California, Santa Barbara (2004)
Speaking Engagements
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: ‘Bet-the-Company’ Mass Tort Litigation, Current Activity and Developing Trends, (postponed due to Covid-19), San Francisco, CA, 2020
• Invited Speaker at 19th Annual Class Action/Complex Litigation Symposium re: on a panel discussing the topic of Game Changing Rules as well as a panel discussing the topic of Managing MDLs and Mass Torts with the Assistance of Special Masters – New Orleans, LA, 2019
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: The Significance of Proposed Rule Changes in MDL Procedures & Valsartan, presenting on a panel regarding the Rule 30(b)(6) Proposed Changes as well as a panel regarding Personal Jurisdiction in the Post-BMS World – Miami, FL, 2019
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: Critical Developments in Mass Torts, MDLs, and Game-Changing Jurisprudence re: the topic of Instructive Guidance for Navigating Today’s Mass Tort Landscape II, including ESI (Artificial Intelligence/Predictive Coding, Digital Production, Litigation Funding, Proposed Disclosure Requirements and Ethical Rules – New Orleans, LA, 2019
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: An Analysis of Today’s Mass Tort Landscape, presenting on Bellwether Selection Process, Mock Trials and Focus Groups – Washington D.C., 2019
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: Current Mass Torts from E-Discovery Through Exit Strategies – Navigating “Game-Changing” Dynamics, presenting on Recent Developments in Game Changing Dynamics including Jurisdiction, Preemption, Daubert, as well as presenting on Interacting with Special Masters & Complex Litigation: Ethical Conundrums – New York, NY, 2018
• Invited Speaker at 18th Annual Class Action/Complex Litigation Symposium re: the topic of Vanishing MDLs and Procedural Modifications – New Orleans, LA, 2018
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: The Mass Tort Litigation Landscape – A Critical Analysis, presenting on Complex Litigation: Ethical Conundrums, including Aggregate Settlements, Technology Skills, Reasonable Cyber Security Steps, Social Media, Litigating Outside the Court, the Chilling Impacts of Blogs and Identification of Alleged “Judicial Hell Holes” – Napa, CA, 2018
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: ‘Bet-the-Company’ Mass Tort Litigation, presenting on Ethics Associated with Complex Litigation, including Aggregate Settlements, Competing Allegiances, Loyalties Owed to the Court, and Developing Social Media Rules – Chicago, IL, 2018
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: Opioid, Equifax & Talcum Powder, presenting on the Jurisdictional Landscape Post-SCOTUS Bristol-Myers Decision – St. Louis, MO, 2017
• Invited Speaker at 17th Annual Class Action/Complex Litigation Symposium re: the topic of Recent Preemption Activity; Drugs, Devices, & Generics – New Orleans, LA, 2017
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: Personal Jurisdiction and PPI Litigation Agenda, on a panel discussing BMS – Personal Jurisdiction: How Did We Get Here, Where Are We Now and What Do We Do Next? With Plaintiff and Defense Perspectives – Marina Del Rey – Los Angeles, CA, 2017
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference, on a panel discussing State of Preemption in Drug Cases: Levine, Mensing and Beyond – Seattle, WA, 2016
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: ‘Bet-the-Company’ Mass Tort Litigation, on a panel discussing Complex Litigation Gumbo including: Preemption, Deposing CEOs and Addressing Apex Defenses, Spoliation, Satellite Testimony at Trial, and Confidentiality and the Associated De-Designation of Documents – Chicago, IL, 2016
• Invited Speaker at 16th Annual Class Action/Complex Litigation Symposium re: the topic of Recent Preemption Activity; Drugs, Devices, & Generics – New Orleans, LA, 2016
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: Morcellator, Fluoroquinolone (FLQ) and Invokana Litigation re: the topic of INFUSE – New York, NY, 2015
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: Zofran, Bard IVC and Zimmer Persona Knee Litigation re: the topic of Medtronic Infuse Litigation Update – San Francisco, CA, 2015
• Invited Speaker at HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: Xarelto, Morcellators and Emerging Torts re: the topic of INFUSE Bone Graft – San Diego, CA, 2015
• Invited Speaker at 15th Annual Class Action/Complex Litigation Symposium re: the Intersection of Science and Law – New Orleans, LA, 2015
• Invited Speaker at 14th Annual Class Action/Complex Litigation Symposium re: the topic of Recent Preemption Activity; Drugs, Devices, & Generics – New Orleans, LA, 2014
Representative Cases
• As lead trial counsel, Mr. Drakulich successfully represented one of the largest plaintiff law firms in the country in a hundred-million-dollar fraud case. Mr. Drakulich won the case in the District of Nevada as well as a second action filed in the Southern District of New York. Finally, Mr. Drakulich won the appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
• As lead trial counsel, Mr. Drakulich successfully represented the family of a man who had a modular artificial hip implanted that disarticulated (i.e. came apart at the modular joint) on three different occasions, which led to multiple revision surgeries that caused a severe infection and ultimately his death. A month before trial, this case reached a confidential settlement.
• As lead trial counsel, Mr. Drakulich successfully represented a railroad engineer who suffered a mild traumatic brain injury (which injury was disputed) in a slip and fall case. At the end of the case, the jury returned a gross verdict of three quarters of a million dollars, which was over 10 times the final settlement offer made by the Defendant before trial.
• As lead trial counsel, Mr. Drakulich successfully represented the family of a disabled man who was living in a a skilled nursing facility who developed stage four bedsores leading to an infection, uncontrolled weight loss, an above the knee leg amputation, and tragically his death. Two months before trial, this case reached a confidential settlement.
• Mr. Drakulich was one of the core members of the trial team that successfully represented numerous patients who tragically contracted the deadly Hepatitis C virus after getting what they thought would be a routine colonoscopy at a local endoscopy center. The doctors at the endoscopy center were alleged to have recklessly double dipped their needles into extra-large vials of the anesthesia. These extra-large vials were only intended for use of a single patient when he or she had to be sedated overnight. However, it was cheaper to buy (and sell) the extra-large vials than multiple small ones. Patients were seriously harmed as a result. The manufacturer of the anesthesia was alleged to be aware of the doctors’ practice, yet nonetheless continued to sell to them anyway. This led to the largest outbreak of Hepatitis in the history of our country and the primary doctor being criminally prosecuted and convicted.
• Mr. Drakulich was one of the lead lawyers who successfully represented a hotel guest who alleged to have been taken hostage and raped by the hotel’s security guard. Prior to being employed at the hotel, the security guard had posted sexually hostile messages on his publicly accessible social media accounts thereby creating a case of first impression as to the employer’s duties to investigate social media postings. The case settled for a confidential amount prior to the filing of the action.
• Mr. Drakulich was one of the core members of the trial team that successfully represented the families of five highly decorated and distinguished rescue soldiers who, during a nighttime training mission, tragically died in a helicopter crash after striking unmarked power lines. On the eve of trial, this case reached a confidential settlement.
Awards and Distinctions
• America’s Top 100 Attorneys Lifetime Achievement Award
• The National Trial Lawyers – Top 40 under 40 in the State of California (2020)
• The National Trial Lawyers – Top 40 under 40 in the State of California (2019)
• The National Trial Lawyers – Top 40 under 40 in the State of California (2018)
• The National Trial Lawyers – Top 40 under 40 in the State of California (2017)
• Super Lawyers Rising Star – Top Rated Business Litigation Attorney in San Diego, CA (2020)
• Super Lawyers Rising Star – Top Rated Business Litigation Attorney in San Diego, CA (2019)
• Super Lawyers Rising Star – Top Rated Business Litigation Attorney in San Diego, CA (2018)
• Super Lawyers Rising Star – Top Rated Business Litigation Attorney in San Diego, CA (2017)
• Super Lawyers Rising Star – Top Rated Products Liability Attorney in Reno, NV (2020)
• Super Lawyers Rising Star – Top Rated Products Liability Attorney in Reno, NV (2019)
• Super Lawyers Rising Star – Top Rated Products Liability Attorney in Reno, NV (2018)
• Super Lawyers Rising Star – Top Rated Products Liability Attorney in Reno, NV (2017)
• Super Lawyers Rising Star – Top Rated Products Liability Attorney in Reno, NV (2016)
• AVVO Superb Rating (10.0 out of 10) (2020)
• AVVO Superb Rating (10.0 out of 10) (2019)
• AVVO Superb Rating (10.0 out of 10) (2018)
• AVVO Superb Rating (10.0 out of 10) (2017)
• AVVO Superb Rating (10.0 out of 10) (2016)
• AVVO Superb Rating (9.8 out of 10) (2015)
• Certificate of Achievement at TIPS/ABOTA National Trial Academy (2015)
• Outstanding Contributor Award for the California Regulatory Law Reporter (2010)
• CALI Excellence for the Future Awards in Art Law (2009)
• CALI Excellence for the Future Awards in Evidence (2008)
• CALI Excellence for the Future Awards in Torts (2007)
Practice Areas
• Products Liability
• Personal Injury/Wrongful Death
• Mass Torts
• Class Actions
• Defective Medical Devices
• Dangerous Pharmaceutical Drugs
• Mesothelioma / Asbestos
• Car and Trucking Accidents
• Airplane / Helicopter Crashes
• Business Litigation
• Whistleblower / Qui Tam Actions
• Medical Malpractice
• Nursing Home Abuse
• Federal Employer’s Liability Act (FELA)
