HarrisMartin’s New Industrial Toxins Litigation Conference Speaker Profiles

Raphael Metzger received his undergraduate education at Northwestern University and did graduate studies at Indiana University, where he was awarded an M.M., and Johns Hopkins, from which he received a D.M.E. in 1980. After teaching at the Claremont Colleges, he attended Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, completing his J.D. in two years. During this time, he wrote an article that was awarded a national prize in the Nathan Burkan Memorial Copyright Competition.

In 1985, Mr. Metzger began practice as an associate with Perona, Langer, LaTorraca & Beck in Long Beach, litigating securities fraud cases 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 several oil companies, environmental contamination insurance coverage cases, and agency enforcement cases for air pollution, soil pollution, and groundwater contamination.

In 1990, Mr. Metzger was asked to represent his first client suffering toxic injuries -- a woman who had worked at a detergent manufacturing plant and had sustained life-threatening injuries from occupational exposure to caustic and irritant chemicals. Mr. Metzger filed suit for the woman against more than 50 chemical companies, obtaining settlements totaling in seven figures after 10 weeks of trial. Ever since, he has concentrated on litigating toxic tort cases involving occupational diseases. Mr. Metzger has also secured insurance for organ transplants for clients. He considers his greatest success a case in which he negotiated unlimited lifetime medical care for a client who is now the longest-surviving female single-lung transplant recipient in the world.

Mr. Metzger is a member of the California Bar, all federal district courts in the State of California, the federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. He is also a member of various legal organizations and professional societies.

Jim is a Director at Coats Rose, and leads a team of litigators in the toxic tort and environmental practice group. Jim served the U.S. Marines 1971-1972, and upon graduation from law school, he practiced in all fields of law, trying cases in family, criminal, bankruptcy and contract law. He joined Coats Rose in 1985. During his tenure at Coats Rose, he has primarily practiced in the area of toxic tort and environmental litigation but also has tried insurance coverage as well as general liability personal injury cases.

His team has experience in defending clients in all aspects of environmental law. Jim and his team keep up to date on the latest medical, epidemiological and scientific literature by annually attending Defense Research Institute seminars and other seminars dealing with asbestos, benzene and chemical exposures. Jim has hands-on experience in successfully deposing experts regarding work place exposure, industrial hygiene, epidemiology and medical issues as well as pollution and waste discharge issues.

Practice Emphasis
Jim specializes in toxic tort and environmental litigation, representing major manufacturers in various types of toxic tort litigation in Texas and across the country. He currently serves as the National Counsel for a chemical products manufacturer in benzene litigation; regional counsel for a major manufacturer in asbestos litigation; and as Texas counsel for several another clients in silica litigation. He also has significant experience in personal injury suits involving welding rods, mercury, isocyanates, trichlorethylene, coke, oil field fluids, mold, manganese, arsine gas, and hydrogen sulfide. He also represents clients in Superfund (CERCLA) litigation and environmental property damage claims including litigation involving perchlorethylene (dry-cleaning fluids) and the Brio toxic waste site in Harris County, Texas.

During his career, Jim has tried several toxic tort cases to a verdict including: an asbestos suit with a living mesothelioma plaintiff (2000), a benzene suit involving cancer claims (2004), and a traumatic brain injury suit (1995).