Neil A. Goldberg

Neil A. Goldberg has defended product liability, pharmaceutical, medical device, trucking, toxic tort, and other complex catastrophic cases across the United States for numerous New York Stock Exchange companies. One of Neil’s catastrophic trials arose from the February 2009 crash of Colgan Flight 3407 that resulted in the deaths of 50 people — one of only a few such trials conducted in the United States in the last 30 years.

Neil is past president of the Defense Research Institute (DRI), the largest organization of civil defense attorneys in the United States; past chair of the Products Liability Committees of both the DRI and New York State Bar Association (NYSBA); and past president and chairman of the board of Lawyers for Civil Justice. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Bureau of National Affairs’ (BNA) Product Safety & Liability Reporter. Consistently recognized by Best Lawyers in America in the Personal Injury, Product Liability, and Aviation Law categories, he additionally won the publication’s Product Liability “Lawyer of the Year” Award for Buffalo, New York in 2018. In 2016, Neil was the recipient of the Defense Trial Lawyers Association of Western New York’s Defense Trial Lawyer of the Year Award.

A prolific writer and recognized authority on the defense of complex personal injury cases, Neil has been editor, co-editor, or contributing author for seven books on the subject. He is the co-editor-in-chief of the two-volume treatise Preparing For and Trying the Civil Lawsuit, second edition, published by the New York State Bar Association (2004). He is also editor-in-chief and contributing author to Products Liability in New York, Strategy and Practice, second edition (2012), and editor-in-chief of DRI’s Daubert Compendium. Also a sought-after speaker on the defense of product liability and personal injury actions, Neil has lectured for Lloyds of London, the Defense Research Institute, Practicing Law Institute, the American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, Southern Methodist University and other prestigious organizations throughout North America and Europe.

Industries

Aviation

Honors & Awards

Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating: AV Preeminent

Best Lawyers in America

Aviation Law, 2013–21
Personal Injury — Defendants, 2018–21
Product Liability — Defendants, 2018–21
Lawyer of the Year, Buffalo, Product Liability — Defendants, 2018

Defense Trial Lawyer of the Year, Defense Trial Lawyers Association of Western New York, 2016

The International Who’s Who of Product Liability Defence Lawyers

The International Who’s Who of Insurance & Reinsurance Lawyers

Top Rated Lawyer in Litigation, American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell, 2014

Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition

Upstate New York Super Lawyers, 2007–20

Named one of the Top 50 New York Super Lawyers

Business First‘s Legal Elite of Western New York (Litigation)

Distinguished Alumni Award for Private Practice, SUNY Buffalo Law Alumni Association

Defense Research Institute: Distinguished Service Award

New York State Bar Association: Committee Chair of the Year Award; Distinguished Service Award

Who’s Who in America

Who’s Who in American Law

Who’s Who Legal

Publications & Events

Co-Editor-in-Chief, Preparing for and Trying the Civil Lawsuit, 2d Ed., 2016 Rev., New York State Bar Association; Author, “Cross-Examination of the Technical/Medical Witness”; Co-Author, “Understanding the Attorney-Client Privilege: A Practical Overview and Associated Ethical Rules”
Co-Author, “Fraudulent Misjoinder: Combating Artful Pleadings Designed to Destroy Diversity Jurisdiction,” DRI For the Defense, May 2015
Co-Author, “Through Regulations and in Court: The 2008 CPSIA Starts to Take Shape,” For The Defense, Defense Research Institute, April, 2009
Co-Author, “CPSC Power Expands: Legislation Brings Change to Consumer Products Industry,” USLAW Magazine, Spring/Summer, 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
Co-Author, “Product Recalls Stir Public Sentiment,” USLAW Magazine, Spring/Summer, 2008
Co-Author, “Frye ‘Em: Jury Psychology Can Undermine Plaintiffs’ Expert Witnesses,”For The Defense, Defense Research Institute, December, 2007
Co-Author, “An Emerging Litigation Arena,” For the Defense, Defense Research Institute, December, 2006
Co-Editor-in-Chief, “Preparing For and Trying the Civil Lawsuit,” New York State Bar Association, 2004
Editor-in-Chief and Contributing Author, “Preparing For and Trying the Civil Lawsuit,” 2004 Supplement, New York State Bar Association, 2004
Editor-in-Chief, “The Daubert Compendium,” Defense Research Institute, January, 2003
Editor-in-Chief and Contributing Author, “Preparing For and Trying the Civil Lawsuit,” 2000 Supplement, New York State Bar Association, 2000
Editor and Contributing Author, “Products Liability in New York: Strategy and Practice,” New York State Bar Association, 1997
Co-Author, “Admissibility of Expert Testimony, A State-by-State Compendium,” Defense Research Institute, 1996
Author, “Defenses & Bars, Product Liability Practice Guide,” Matthew Bender
Co-Author, “Finding the Facts in Products Liability Litigation,” For The Defense, Defense Research Institute, October, 1996
Co-Author, “The Hunter, the Ostrich and the Spinmaster,” For The Defense, Defense Research Institute, October, 1994
Editor-in-Chief, “Preparing For and Trying the Civil Lawsuit,” New York State Bar Association, 1987

Presenter, “Challenging Liability in Catastrophic Injury Cases/Defending Against Punitive Damages,” Catastrophic Injury Joint Seminar, Chicago, IL; New York, NY, November 7, 2017
Co-Presenter, “Strategies for Containing Liability Cases and What You Need to Know About Jury Behavior to Do So,” Catastrophic Injury Joint Seminar, Chicago, IL; New York, NY, November 7, 2017
Presenter, “Understanding What Drives Run Away Verdicts,” Catastrophic Injury Joint Seminar, Chicago, IL; New York, NY, November 7, 2017
Co-Presenter, “Lifecycle of a Litigation in a Bad Faith Claim,” Enstar Claims Management Meeting, June 20, 2017
Co-Presenter, “Strategic and Ethical Landscape of Defending Clients Who Have Engaged in Indefensible Conduct,” American Bar Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, August 5, 2016
Presenter, “Lessons Learned: Defending Catastrophic Burn Injuries,” Fighting Fire With Fire, Chicago, June 22, 2016
Presenter, “Developing a Centrist Jury and Defending the Punitive Damages Case,” USLAW Fall 2015 Client Conference, Boston, MA, September 18, 2015
Presenter, “What Professionals Should Know About Managing and Insuring Cyber Liability Risk and Defending Those Professionals in the Event of a Claim,” USLAW Fall Client Conference, Washington, D.C., October 4-6, 2012
Presenter, “The Use of Social Media to Defend the Catastrophic Case,” USLAW Regional Meeting, Dallas, TX, January 2011
Presenter, “Using the New Science of Jury Psychology to Win the Battle of the Experts in High Stakes Litigation,” 22nd Annual Medical Device Defense Seminar, Bend, Oregon, June 2009
Moderator, “Avoiding the Perils of the New CPSIA,” USLAW Network Spring Conference, Charleston, SC, March, 2009
Presenter, “Products Liability from Emerging Markets,” Canadian Defence Lawyers Annual Meeting, Toronto, ON, June, 2008
Presenter, “Avoiding Quality Assurance Breakdowns and Conducting a Swift and Effective Product Recall in the Event They Occur,” American Conference Institute, Las Vegas, Nevada, February, 2008
Participant, American Society for Quality 58th Annual Quality Congress, May, 2004
“Defense Counsel’s Approach to Cross-Examination in the Post-Daubert Era,” For The Defense, Defense Research Institute, June, 1996