Cheryl A. Possenti

Cheryl A. Possenti

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Cheryl 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.

Cheryl 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. Cheryl 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. She is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Honors
  • Selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition
  • Selected for inclusion in New York Super Lawyers
Professional Affiliations
  • DRI, Product Liability Committee and Children's Products Specialized Litigation Group Chair
  • New York State Bar Association, Torts, Insurance and Compensation Law Section
  • Bar Association of Erie County; Negligence Committee and Health Law Committee
  • Western New York Trial Lawyers Association
  • Society of Product Licensors Committed to Excellence Board of Directors
Admitted to Practice
  • New York
  • U.S. District Courts for the Western and Northern Districts of New York
Civic Activities
  • Spaulding Lake Homeowners Association, Past President
Education
  • 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)
Publications/Presentations
  • Moderator, “Consumer Product Safety Commission Database,” Defense Research Institute Product Liability Seminar, Children’s Products Panel Counsel Meeting, April 5, 2011
  • Presenter, "Minimizing Potential Product Liability Risks from Drug and Device Recalls," American Conference Institute, Summit on Drug and Device Product Recalls, March 2011
  • Presenter, "Social Media and Consumer Product Incident Databases: Navigating Your Legal Practice and Your Clients through the Sea of Social Discourse," American Bar Association Conference Institute, Women in Product Liability Regional CLE Workshop, November 2010
  • Presenter, "CPSIA Updates and Building Sustainable Systems to Manage the 2011 Searchable Consumer Product Incident Database," Society of Product Licensors Committed to Excellence (SPLiCE) Licensors Workshop, October 2010
  • Presenter, "CPSC Searchable Consumer Incident Database," Society of Product Licensors Committed to Excellence (SPLiCE) Licensors Workshop, September 2009
  • Co-Author, "CPSC Power Expands: Legislation Brings Change to Consumer Products Industry," USLAW Magazine, Spring/Summer 2009
    • Presenter, "Life Cycle of a Lead Paint Recall," Defense Research Institute Product Liability Seminar, Children's Products Specialized Litigation Group, April 2009
    • Co-Author, "Through Regulations and in Court: The 2008 CPSIA Starts to Take Shape," For The Defense, Defense Research Institute, April 2009
    • Co-Author, "Negotiating the Landscape of Increased Penalties under CPSIA," For The Defense, Defense Research Institute, February 2009
    • Co-Author, "The New CPSC Public Database of Incidents," For The Defense, Defense Research Institute, December 2008
    • Co-Author, "The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008: Preparing for the Unknown and the Unknowable," For The Defense, Defense Research Institute, October 2008
    • Presenter, "Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008," Product Responsibility Panel, Society of Product Licensors Committed to Excellence (SPLiCE) Licensors Workshop, September 2008
    • Co-Author, "Product Recalls Stir Public Sentiment," USLAW Magazine, Spring/Summer 2008
    • 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, Defense Research Institute Children's Products Specialized Litigation Group Session and the Children's Products Panel Counsel Session at Defense Research Institute'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 Criteria 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

     

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