HarrisMartin's Webinar Series: Emerging Toxic Tort Litigation Update Speaker Profiles

Raphael Metzger is the principal of the Metzger Law Group, a boutique firm in Long Beach, California, whose practice is concentrated on litigating occupational toxic tort cases – cases in which workers have sustained toxic injuries from occupational chemical exposure. Under Mr. Metzger’s direction, the firm has obtained numerous settlements/verdicts in seven figures for workers who suffer from occupational cancers – mostly leukemias from benzene exposure.

Mr. Metzger received his undergraduate education at Northwestern University and received a M.M. from Indiana University and a D.M.E. from Johns Hopkins University. After teaching at the Claremont Colleges, he attended Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, completing his J.D. in two years, during which period he wrote an article that was awarded a national prize in the Nathan Burkan Memorial Copyright Competition.

In 1985, Mr. Metzger began practicing law, litigating securities fraud and business tort cases. In 1987 he opened his own office, handling securities fraud and business litigation. Later that year he filed his first environmental case, representing a corporate owner of a Superfund site. On behalf of the company and its principals, Mr. Metzger litigated several environmental cases, including a CERCLA and RCRA case against oil companies, environmental contamination insurance coverage cases, and agency enforcement cases for pollution and contamination.

Jennifer Bonneville is a skilled litigator who regularly appears in federal and state courts across the United States in complex products liability and toxic tort cases, including consumer class actions and multi-plaintiff litigation. Jennifer works with energy companies, manufacturers of specialty consumer and automotive products, industrial and commodity chemicals, pesticides, and medical devices, to defend a diverse array of product and premise based suits in cases involving wrongful death, property damage, personal injury and medical monitoring claims.

Combining her background in business and experience as a six sigma agent with litigation skills and insight, Jennifer works closely with clients to develop and execute legal strategies which consistently lead to favorable outcomes. Jennifer skillfully manages all aspects of litigation including pre-litigation investigation and advice, development and execution of case strategy, preparing and defending corporate witnesses, expert discovery, mediation, trial preparation, post-trial motions and appeals. She also regularly advises clients on Medicare compliance and reporting issues.

Jennifer is committed to giving back to the legal community by volunteering her time to assist the most vulnerable members of society including children, Holocaust survivors, and victims of domestic violence. In 2014, she was recognized as a Los Angeles County "Volunteer of the Year" for her work with the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Domestic Violence Project.

Joseph Thorpe is Chief Executive Officer of International Litigation Services, Inc., “ILS,” a prominent national Plaintiff eDiscovery firm. He has more than 30 years of executive level information technology experience and is an expert on the technical and legal aspects of Plaintiff electronic data discovery.

Pioneering eDiscovery Software for Litigation Management

Mr. Thorpe began his career in the IT industry in 1973 with Wang Laboratories. In 1978, he became the West Coast Director of Wang Laboratories Legal Solutions Group, which provided software and consulting for Wang’s VS Based Imaging Systems for litigation management, as well as for Time & Billing Programs and Case Management. He was responsible for the planning and design that resulted in several leading Los Angeles based law firms’ first steps into automated litigation support via large integrated mini-based computer systems using the Wang VS-IIS technologies. He also attended law school part-time during this period.

Charles “Chuck” Cole is an accomplished technology executive and consultant with extensive experience in business process management (BPM), project management, strategic knowledge management and other roles that optimize use of information and results. Chuck helps Lucid IQ’s clients implement innovative practices and strategies that optimize their effectiveness and value. He came to Lucid IQ from Siegel + Gale in New York where he was Director and CKO for the premier brand consulting firm. As a team leader for Deloitte’s DRT Systems, Chuck consulted on corporate strategic KM and operations. After being posted in Germany with the U.S. Army, he remained in Europe for six years as a lead internet strategies consultant for Healy Communications Services GmbH. His clients have included many major corporations over the years including Allstate, Gartner, AT&T, GMAC, Hughes GmbH, and General Motors International. Chuck is co-founder of the New York chapter of the Knowledge Management Consortium, a Six-Sigma blackbelt, and holds an M.B.A. in Strategy and Knowledge Management from Georgetown University – McDonough School of Business.