Biography: Product Liability Defence

Allison M Alcasabas has nearly two decades of experience in defending complex products liability and commercial claims, including lawsuits brought by individual plaintiffs, class action plaintiffs, consumer groups, healthcare providers and governmental entities. Ms Alcasabas has successfully defended complex litigation on both the trial court and appellate court levels in the United States and internationally in jurisdictions such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Ms Alcasabas was head of the products liability department in Chadbourne's London office from 2005-2009, until she returned to the New York office. She has litigated cases in both civil law and common law jurisdictions, and led the teams that obtained case dismissals - including several defense judgments after trial - in countries such as France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland, Russia, Sri Lanka and Israel. Ms Alcasabas also second-chaired the trial team that secured a recent 2011 defence verdict for a British manufacturer in a healthcare recoupment case in Missouri state court involving claims by dozens of hospitals for more than US$450 million in compensatory damages, as well as for punitive relief.

Ms Alcasabas has been recognised for her work in products liability in the 2009 and 2010 editions of The Legal 500 UK, the 2009 edition of Chambers UK, and the 2010 edition of Expert Guides: The Legal Media Group Guides to the World's Leading Lawyers. She also is listed in The International Who's Who of Product Liability Defence Lawyers 2011. A frequent author on products liability topics, Ms Alcasabas is a member of DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar and of the American Bar Association. She co-authored the chapter entitled 'An Overview of Products Liability Law in the United States,' published in the International Product Law Manual (Kluwer Law International, 2010 & 2012).

Ms Alcasabas earned her law degree in 1992 from Cornell Law School, where she served as a staff member and an editor of the Cornell Law Review. She is admitted to practice in the courts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Washington State.

Chadbourne & Parke LLP has a long and successful history in defending products liability cases in a variety of sectors, including pharmaceuticals, tobacco, distilled spirits and electronics. According to The Legal 500 (2010), the firm's products liability practice group is "truly excellent in every respect" and "the best in this area." The practice provides "superb knowledge, advice, responsiveness and value," and exhibits "sound business acumen and commercial sense".