Cheryl A. Possenti

Cheryl A. Possenti is a trial lawyer and partner with 25 years of experience in the defense of complex personal injury actions. She specializes in product liability and professional malpractice actions.  In addition to her litigation and trial experience on a statewide and national basis including the defense of class actions, she also has extensive experience in the area of product recalls, mandatory government reporting and related issues arising from dealings with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies.

Ms. Possenti is on the Board of Directors of the Society of Product Licensors Committee to Excellence (SPLiCE).  She is Chair of the Children's Products Specialized Litigation Group of the Defense Research Institute's (DRI) Product Liability Committee.

She serves as counsel to two of the world's foremost makers of toys and children's products, and is national coordinating counsel for certain recalled products. Ms. Possenti appears in the Buffalo Business First as one of the featured Women of Influence, 2003. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law and was a Buffalo Law Review Senior Editor. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany.  Ms. Possenti has been named to New York Super Lawyers 2007.

Direct Dial
716.566.5444
Fax
716.566.5401
E-mail
cpossenti@goldbergsegalla.com
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Practice Areas

• State University of New York at Albany, B.A., 1978
• State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law, J.D., 1982
• Buffalo Law Review, Senior Editor

• New York - All Courts
• United States District Court, Western District of New York
• United States District Court, Northern District of New York

Professional Affiliations

• Defense Research Institute
• New York State Bar Association
• Torts, Insurance and Compensation Law Section 
• Erie County Bar Association
• Negligence Committee
• Health Law Committee
• Western New York Trial Lawyers Association
• Member, Board of Directors, Society of Product Licensors Committed to Excellence

Civic Activities

• Spaulding Lake Homeowners Association, Past President

• Co-Chair, DRI Children's Products Specialized Litigation Group Session and Children's Products Panel Counsel Session at DRI's Annual Product Liability Seminar, February, 2007
• Presenter, "CPSC Investigations-Corporate Handling and Response," Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel Symposium, "Protecting the Corporation in a Hostile Environment:  New Challenges for In-House Counsel, September, 2006
• Presenter and Co-Chair, DRI Children's Products Specialized Litigation Group Session and the Children's Products Panel Counsel Session at DRI's Annual Product Liability Seminar, February, 2006 
• Presenter, "Legal Aspects of Crisis Management," Society of Product Licensors Committed to Excellence (SPLiCE) Licensing Workshop, September, 2005
• Presenter, "Licensor Liability, the Price to Pay when Selling your Company's Good Name Instead of its Products," Defense Research Institute Product Liability Seminar, Children's Products Specialized Litigation Group, February, 2005  
• Presenter, "Age Grading Advice; The Legal Perspective," presented at Toy Industry Association, Inc. 2004 Multi-Discipline Conference, July, 2004
• Presenter, "Head Injury, Parameters in Defending the Juvenile Product Case," DRI Product Liability Conference, February, 2004
• Author, U.S. Product Safety Issues; Chapter 3, International Corporate Legal Guide to Product Liability, 2003 Global Legal Group
• Co-Author, Limiting Products Liability Damages: Your Role as the Seventh Juror, The Practical Litigator, Vol. 2, No. 2, American Law Institute - American Bar Association, March, 1991. This was presented at the Defense Research Institute's 1989 Seminar and was again presented for the January 1998 ALI-ABA course on the Appellate Process.
• Author and Presenter, Punitive Damages, Economic Loss and Hedonic Damages, Defense Research Institute Coursebook Materials, Chapter Q. Ms. Possenti presented this paper before a national audience of defense attorneys and self-insurers as part of a three day Defense Research Institute seminar in New Orleans, February, 1991.
• Co-Author, Cross-Examination of the Technical, Medical Witness," Preparing for and Trying the Civil Lawsuit, Chapter 11, Supplement, New York State Bar Association, 1991
• Author and Presenter, Innovative Techniques for Litigation in the '90's, Document Retention Destruction Systems, Videotaped Reenactment Depositions, Novel Use of Trade Secret and Copyright Law Protection and Other High Dividend Approaches, Defense Research Institute Coursebook materials, Chapter C., Defense Research Institute Seminar, January, 1990
• Co-Author, The Seventh Juror Marches On: Mitigating Damages in the Personal Injury Case, For The Defense, Defense Research Institute, Vol. 31, No. 12, December, 1989

Honors

• Named to New York Super Lawyers 2007