Michael B. Sena has over 35 years of experience in toxic tort defense, products liability, and commercial litigation. He has tried over forty (40) cases in the state and federal courts in New York, New Jersey, and other states as well. He currently represents several major companies in the paint and coatings industry, including Rust-Oleum Corporation, DAP Products Inc., Tremco Incorporated and Stonhard Corporation in products liability actions throughout New York. He recently successfully defended Rust-Oleum in a commercial licensing agreement dispute and obtained a very favorable verdict in the United States District Court, District of Massachusetts. He has litigated a wide range of other types of products liability cases, including construction defects, chemical burns, fires, explosions, mechanical products, and other toxic exposures, such as benzene, lead, and other substances. He has developed the law on federal preemption of state warning claims in the State of New York, an important defense in the products field. He also presently represents several defendants in asbestos litigation, including automotive, equipment and product manufacturers. He has served as regional trial counsel for Owens-Corning Fiberglas in its mass tort asbestos litigation in New York (both personal injury and property damage) and was involved in the defense of 5,000 personal injury cases and multi-million dollar property damage cases. He successfully defended Owens-Corning in 22 consolidated asbestos cases in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and obtained defense verdicts in all 22 cases, the largest group of defense verdicts ever returned in asbestos litigation. He was also involved in other large mass asbestos consolidations involving 500+ personal injury cases and had instituted a national program to expand the base of asbestos litigation in an effort to minimize the share of liability for the client. He has also tried numerous other complex asbestos and toxic tort cases on medical and liability issues.
He has written extensively on lead paint and successor liability and has lectured to several insurance groups and others on toxic tort litigation.
Practice Areas
Representative Matters
- Cipollone v. Aramark Healthcare Support Servs. LLC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28109 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 2, 2012)
- Structure Tone, Inc. v. Universal Services Group, Ltd., 87 A.D.3d 909 (1st Dept. 2011)
- Smolowitz v. Sherwin-Williams Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70404 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 22, 2008)
- Mustafa v. Halkin Tool, Ltd., 2007 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 23096 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 29, 2007)
- State Farm Ins. Co. v. Kop-Coat, Inc., 2006 U.S. App. Lexis 12977 (2d Cir. 2006)
- Monique Moreau v. RPM, Inc., et al., 20 A.D.3d 456 (2d Dept. 2005)
- Milanese v. Rust-Oleum Corp., 244 F.3d 104 (2d Cir. 2001)
- Georgia –Pacific Corporation v. Multimark’s Int., Ltd., 265 A.D.2d 109 (1st Dept. 2000)
- Turner-Schraeter v. Brighton Travel Bureau, Inc., 258 A.D.2d 393 (1st Dept. 1999)
- Sharoni, Ltd. V. Honeywell, Inc., 206 A.D.2d 462 (2d Dept. 1994)
- In Re Joint Eastern and Southern District Asbestos Litigation (Cluster 12), 762 F. Supp. 519 (S.D.N.Y. 1991)
- World Trade Knitting Mills, Inc. v. Lido Knitting Mills, 154 A.D.2d 99 (2d Dept. 1990)
- Willis v. Westin Hotel, Co., et al., 884 F.2d 1556 (2d Cir. 1989)
- Scalone v. Celotex, Corp., 718 F. Supp. 215 (S.D.N.Y. 1989)
- Freddy Liz v. William Zinsser & Co., 253 A.D.2d 413 (2d Dept. 1998)
- Payne v. J.K.C. Realty, Inc., 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9287 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 16, 1987)
Publications
- Successor Liability Under New York Products Liability Law, N.Y.L.J. 10/31/07
- Sorting Out the Complexities of Lead Paint Poisoning Cases, 4 Journal of Affordable Housing 169 (1995)
- Lead Paint Litigation in New York, 66 N.Y.S.B.J. 112 (1984)