HarrisMartin's MDL Conference: Fantasy Sports, Volkswagen, Porsche, and Pharmaceutical Litigation Speaker Profiles

Hunter J. Shkolnik concentrates his area of practice to the trial of significant personal injury cases primarily in the area of drug, automobile, heavy truck and aviation related product liability actions. He leads the discovery and trial teams of various mass tort pharmaceutical and medical device litigations for the firm.

Ervin A. Gonzalez is board certified as a specialist in civil trial law (personal injury and wrongful death cases) and business litigation law by The Florida Bar and The National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is a partner and personal injury lawyer in Coral Gables, Florida.

Distinguished Honors and Positions
Ervin is a former Governor of The Florida Bar, and he has served on its executive committee and long range planning committee. Ervin is a former member of the National Board of Trustees of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) and an elected member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He is Past President of the Dade County Bar Association, Past President of the Dade County Trial Lawyers Association and a former Director of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. He also served as a member and Subcommittee Chairman for the Florida Bar’s Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure. In 2009, Ervin was appointed by a Federal Judge to serve on the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee for Chinese Drywall Litigation, and, in 2010, was again appointed by a Federal Judge to serve on the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee for the BP Oil Spill Litigation. He is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law – Juris Doctor, 1985, cum laude.

Personal Injury Attorney with a Winning Record of Success
Ervin has 32 verdicts of at least one million dollars or more, including a $65.1 million verdict in a wrongful death case and the highest award in a Federal Tort Claims Act – a $61 million award for medical malpractice. He has settled numerous multimillion-dollar cases throughout his career, including a $100 million settlement with SCI Corporation for the desecration of graves in a Jewish cemetery. He obtained a $3.6 million verdict for a Miami police officer who sustained serious head injuries in a hit and run accident committed by a drunk driver. Many of his verdicts have ranked in the top verdicts in America.

Neil D. Overholtz specializes in pharmaceutical litigation, and has successfully handled thousands of defective drug and medical device cases, including fen-phen, Rezulin, Baycol, Bextra/Celebrex, Vioxx, Medtronic Defibrillators, and Guidant Defibrillators.

Recently, Mr. Overholtz has the distinction of having been appointed as national counsel on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committees for several federal products liability MDL’s (Mullti-District litigations), including the Trasylol MDL pending in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, before the Honorable Judge Middlebrooks, the Viagra MDL in the District Court in Minnesota, before the Honorable Judge Magnuson, as well as the Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Lead Wire MDL before United States District Court Judge Richard Kyle. Additionally, Mr. Overholtz has served as co-lead counsel in the In Re America Online, Inc Version 5.0 Software Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1341 (S.D. Fla), helping to negotiate a cash settlement for affected AOL members in excess of $15 Million as well as significant injunctive relief.

Mr. Overholtz has also recently served as co-chair of the Defective Medtronic Pacemakers and Defibrillators MDL discovery committee, and lead the firm’s efforts in national litigation, which resulted in a settlement of over $100 Million dollars. United States District Judge James Rosenbaum appointed Mr. Overholtz, to serve 25 of the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee Fee Committee. Mr. Overholtz also served a key role on the Guidant Defibrillators and Pacemakers MDL, which resulted in a settlement of over $200 Million dollars.

In the Guidant MDL, Mr. Overholtz was appointed by the federal court as chair of the Guidant National Settlement Allocation Plan Committee, and was appointed to serve as a member of the Settlement Allocation Committee. He is also co-chair of the AAJ Bausch & Lomb Contact Lens Solution Litigation Group. Mr. Overholtz limits his practice to the areas of: pharmaceutical litigation, medical device litigation, consumer class actions, medical malpractice, wrongful death and personal injury; and is currently involved in the following matters: Avandia, Trasylol Heart Surgery Drug cases, Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Lead Wires, Viagra NAION Vision Loss Cases, Bausch & Lomb ReNu Contact Lens Solution, and Medical Malpractice claims.

Roger has spent his entire 32 year career representing seriously injured individuals, including railroad employees and victims of dangerous products and defective pharmaceutical drugs. He has litigated cases in more than a dozen states, both in state and federal courts.

Roger has a national reputation as a leader in pharmaceutical litigations. Roger is acting as Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel in the Multidistrict Litigation In re: Yasmin and Yaz (Drospirenone) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2100), having been appointed by Judge David Herndon of the Southern District of Illinois. Roger is Co-Lead Counsel in the Multidistrict Litigation In re: Pradaxa (Dabigatran) Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2385), having been appointed by Judge Herndon, as well as Lead Counsel in the Multidistrict Litigation In re: NuvaRing Products Liability Litigation (MDL 1964), having been appointed by Judge Rodney Sippel of the Eastern District of Missouri. Roger has served on the discovery committee and as a member of the bellwether trial team in the Multidistrict Litigation In re: Ortho Evra Products Liability Litigation (MDL 1742), having been appointed by Judge David A. Katz of the Northern District of Ohio. Roger has also served as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Multidistrict Litigation In re: Gadolinium Based Contrast Agents Products Liability Litigation (MDL 1909), having been appointed by Judge Dan A. Polster of the Northern District of Ohio.