HarrisMartin's Webinar Series: Midwest Asbestos Litigation Speaker Profiles

Assistant Managing Partner Amy E. Garrett brings more than 20 years of litigation experience to her leadership role on the asbestos management team at Simmons Hanly Conroy. Her work has helped secure millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements on behalf of individuals and families suffering from asbestos-related diseases, such as mesothelioma.

Brenda G. Baum focuses her practice on mass tort lawsuits involving products liability. Since 2001, she has represented both product manufacturers and premises defendants in thousands of cases pending in some of the most plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions in Illinois and Missouri, in addition to overseeing cases filed in other plaintiff-oriented jurisdictions such as California, Louisiana, and others.

Hon. Stobbs is an Associate Judge on the Illinois Third Judicial Circuit Court, Madison County. He was assigned to asbestos docket on October 28, 2013. He is the third asbestos judge since 2010. He has served as an associate judge since June 2006. Prior to his appointment as Associate Judge, he was elected and served three terms as a Madison County board member where, among other committee assignments, he was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Jill M. Felkins is a Shareholder in the firm's Chicago office. Ms. Felkins is a trial and appellate attorney who devotes her practice to defending clients in the areas of products liability, premises liability, consumer claims, including FDCPA and TCPA matters, construction negligence, personal injury, class action, toxic tort, environmental litigation, transportation, and trucking.

Eric P. Hall focuses his practice on trials involving complex business litigation matters including toxic torts, product liability, and personal injury.

Sara is one of the partners leading the firm’s defense of toxic tort and asbestos personal injury matters. Her clients include industrial equipment manufacturers, consumer product manufacturers, premises owners, and aircraft component manufacturers. In addition to taking a lead role in key depositions of plaintiffs, fact witnesses and experts, Sara works with her clients to proactively manage litigation claims in a manner that addresses each client’s key concerns. Her strong background in medical issues benefits her clients in the assessment of injury claims and the critical evaluation of expert issues.

Attorney Bill Kohlburn serves as Of Counsel at Simmons Hanly Conroy. With nearly 30 years of legal experience, he concentrates his practice on appeals, motions and defendant discovery. He attended the University of Illinois and graduated from Washington University School of Law in 1987.

Chris T. Layloff was raised in the steel town of Granite City, Illinois. He graduated from Saint Louis University with a dual-degree in finance and economics in 2005, and received his J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law in 2008. Following law school, Mr. Layloff worked in many areas of practice, with nearly 100% of his cases involving injured plaintiffs.

Katie M. Pritchard is an attorney in Foley & Mansfield’s Edwardsville office, where she focuses her practice in toxic tort and mass tort litigation defense.

Allyson Romani is a long-time practitioner of plaintiff's litigation. Before pursuing law, Allyson worked as a marketing director for a large engineering firm. This experience has taught her how to best appeal to a wide audience, which is a valuable asset when convincing a court that her clients were victims of serious mistreatment.

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, John was a teacher, whitewater rafting manager, and director of a graduate-level Americorps program before attending law school. During his studies at Saint Louis University, John penned a winning federal appellate brief while interning at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.