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Michael Hoenig has extensive experience in products liability and complex litigation. He has served as national, regional and local defense counsel for a number of foreign and domestic motor vehicle companies, including all phases of product litigation; settlement negotiations in complex or catastrophic injury cases; class actions; regulation matters; warnings issued; and preventive counseling. He headed major litigation groups engaged in product liability defense from the inception of claims through trials and appeals.

For decades, Mr. Hoenig has litigated cases presenting traditional and frontier issues in products liability and complex litigation and has written and lectured extensively on these subjects. He has been a Lecturer and Panelist in CLE programs for New York Judges on Judicial ‘Gatekeeping’ of Scientific Evidence and Expert Testimony and other topics.

In November 2010, Mr. Hoenig was appointed Special Counsel in the World Trade Center Litigation by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein (SDNY) to advise, as a neutral, hundreds of plaintiffs who declined to communicate with their attorneys regarding whether they would opt-in or opt-out of the proposed settlement. Mr. Hoenig’s team of seven litigators, co-headed by Natalie Lefkowitz, completed their project on an emergency basis, resulting in plaintiffs’ decisions that made the settlement effective. See In re World Trade Center Disaster Site Litigation, 762 F. Supp. 2d 631, 650 and Appendices (SDNY 2010).

Practice Areas

Representative Matters

  • National co-supervising products liability defense counsel for major automobile manufacturers.
  • Regional New York metropolitan products liability defense counsel for domestic automobile manufacturers.

Publications

  • Books

    • Products Liability: Substantive, Procedural and Policy Issues (PLAC Foundation 1992).

  • Book Chapters

    • “The Law of Manufacturing and Design Defect Liability,” Vol. 1, Products Liability In New York: Strategy and Practice, Chapter 1 (N.Y. State Bar Association, 2019 Revision).
    • “Gatekeeping: Reliability of Expert Testimony Under Daubert (and Frye),” Vol. 2, Preparing For And Trying The Civil Lawsuit (N.Y. State Bar Association, 2019 Revision).

  • New York Law Journal Columns

    • “Complex Litigation,” a regular, monthly column in N.Y. Law Journal.
    • Earlier, authored the monthly “Products Liability” column, a regular feature of N.Y. Law Journal.
    • Articles in the hundreds of columns focus upon past and recent developments in substantive, procedural and appellate law in federal and state courts; class actions; litigation practice; trial tactics and techniques; policy and ethical issues; and methods for professional improvement.
    • The NYLJ articles are too numerous to list here individually. Many are also accessible on LEXIS and Westlaw.

  • Law Review Articles

    • M. Hoenig & L. Brown, Arbitration and Class Action Waivers Under Concepcion: Reason and Reasonableness Deflect Strident Attacks, 68 Ark. L. Rev. 669—730 (2015).
    • Earlier law review articles focused on product liability, design and warnings law, automobile crashworthiness and other topics.

Affiliations + Recognition

  • Member, American Bar Association
  • Member, New York State Bar Association
  • Member, New York County Lawyers Association
  • Sustaining Member, The Product Liability Advisory Council (PLAC)
  • Member, PLAC Amicus Curiae Case Selection Committee
  • Super Lawyers Selection, 2006—2019, As Top-Rated New York Products Liability Attorney
  • Highest rating from Martindale-Hubbell (AV Rating) 
  • Appointed Special Counsel in the World Trade Center Litigation by Judge Alvin Hellerstein (S.D.N.Y.)
  • Served for years as Arbitrator in Small Claims Court, Queens County, N.Y.
  • Articles Editor of the St. John’s Law Review and an Editor of its Biannual Survey of New York Practice.

Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker and panelist on Experts’ Evidence topics at CLE programs for New York State Judges held at various venues in New York.
  • Lecturer on defense trial tactics (Federal Publications Programs) held at various venues in the United States.
  • Speaker and panelist at PLAC seminar education programs.

News + Insights

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