Jerome (Jerry) Block is a partner at Levy Konigsberg LLP and specializes in representing people diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma and lung cancer. Jerry is one of the only attorneys in the United States to have won multiple jury verdicts against both the asbestos and tobacco industries.
Jerry tries his cases in courtrooms throughout the country and has successfully defended his jury verdicts on appeal in courts including the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the New York Appellate Division and the Delaware Supreme Court. Jerry’s mastery of the law and rules of evidence have resulted in an extraordinarily high winning percentage at trial and the rare distinction of never having a jury verdict reversed on appeal.
In October 2018, Jerry won a $43.1 million dollar verdict against R.J. Reynolds in Boston on behalf of his client who developed lung cancer from smoking menthol cigarettes and from asbestos exposure from work as a brake mechanic. This was the first lung cancer case tried to verdict in the United States in which the case was litigated all the way through trial against both tobacco and asbestos product companies.
Over the course of his career, Jerry has obtained more than $110 million dollars in jury verdicts, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in pre-trial settlements. Jerry is known for his willingness to take on the most challenging cases, and has won trials against numerous large corporations who made asbestos and/or tobacco products including: American Tobacco Company, Anaconda-Ericsson, Brown & Williamson, Dana Corporation, Exxon-Mobil, Ford Motor Company, Foster-Wheeler, Hobart Brothers, John Crane, Inc., Johnson Controls, Lincoln Electric, National Grid, Okonite, Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, and Spirax Sarco.
Jerry has been an invited speaker at many national conferences where he has given presentations on topics involving asbestos litigation, tobacco litigation and jury trial skills. Jerry served on the national faculty of Emory School of Law’s Trial Techniques Program in May 2007 where he taught jury trial skills including cross-examination.
Prior to joining LK in 2001, Jerry worked at an international law firm where he gained valuable experience representing large corporate defendants in complex, multi-party lawsuits.
A graduate of Emory Law School, Jerry served as the “Notes and Comments” editor of the Emory Law Journal. While at Emory, he received several awards and honors, and was inducted into The Order of the Coif. After completing his law degree, Jerry worked as a two-year law clerk for the Honorable Jean C. Hamilton, who was then Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri.
Jerry lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and three children. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Jerry remains a devoted fan of St. Louis professional sports teams.
Cost
Rate : $$$
