Group

For decades, Dickstein Shapiro’s Complex Dispute Resolution (CDR) Practice has guided major national and international companies through high-profile mass litigation matters, as well as more discrete disputes. The firm provides strategic advice to assist clients in developing and implementing creative, cost-effective resolution plans in matters ranging from prominent mass tort and large multistate commercial litigation to more circumscribed projects, such as those designed to forestall or limit litigation, maximize funding sources, or resolve a single important case through mediation or other means.

The firm’s CDR Practice draws upon the depth and experience of multiple practice areas, including extensive litigation capabilities in both private suits and government investigations, a nationally recognized insurance coverage practice, decades of class action and mass tort bankruptcy experience, and insights gained through public service for federal courts and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Our CDR attorneys have years of experience handling sensitive matters. One of the leaders of the CDR Practice served as Deputy Special Master for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 and was responsible for the overall design and implementation of the congressionally created program, which distributed more than $7 billion to the terrorist attack victims and families. In addition, several CDR attorneys have served as court-appointed neutrals responsible for negotiating and implementing complex settlements, including the “Agent Orange” product liability litigation and mass asbestos cases.

Our attorneys have been at the cutting edge in developing creative solutions to mass tort problems—for example, devising the multi-step class resolution of the Dow Corning breast implant litigation, negotiating “model” real property statewide class settlements, playing instrumental roles in a number of asbestos bankruptcy cases involving untested issues of law, and developing a “blind funding” approach crucial to the settlement of highly complex class litigation against the pharmaceutical industry. In total, our attorneys have negotiated the resolution of disputes involving more than one million claims and potential exposure measured in several billions of dollars.