John Henderson is a board-certified civil trial lawyer with extensive experience in complex, multiparty litigation. He is a co-chair of the firm’s Toxic Tort, Environmental & Energy practice and focuses in the areas of product liability and mass torts. John’s practice also includes litigation and trials involving business torts, corporate issues, construction claims and contract disputes. Given John’s extensive background in trying cases, he was invited to be a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates.
In addition to serving as trial counsel, John has acted as national or regional coordinating counsel for various companies engaged in large numbers of product liability or toxic exposure cases involving friction materials, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. In the mass torts area, he has served as a member of his clients’ national science teams responsible for preparing cross examination materials and key defense experts. Clients facing mass tort litigation benefit not only from John’s substantial scientific knowledge across a range of medical disciplines, but also from his skills as a seasoned trial attorney. In the commercial area, John has served as regional counsel for clients on business dispute issues, including franchise/distributor and business tort matters.
John is among a select group of attorneys trained in crisis communications and media relations, and is experienced in dealing with the media on behalf of companies involved in high-profile litigation.
Areas of Focus
Toxic Tort and Product Liability
John has experience with toxic tort and product liability cases involving a wide range of products and substances, including medical devices such as breast implants, TMJ implants and Norplant; pharmaceuticals such as fen-phen, L-tryptophan and PPA (phenylpropanolamine); substances such as asbestos, benzene, DBCP, formaldehyde and PCBs; and products such as tires, automotive component parts and tools. As part of his mass tort experience, John has been responsible for the development, presentation, cross-examination and Daubert challenge of scientific experts in epidemiology, immunology, neurology, pathology, rheumatology, risk assessment and toxicology. Many of his engagements have involved large-scale, document-intensive cases requiring the use of electronic databases.
Among his current representations, John serves as regional trial counsel and coordinating counsel for a major chemical company in product liability and premises liability cases involving asbestos, formaldehyde and benzene. He is a member of an auto manufacturing client’s national science team for all of its asbestos litigation, briefing the company’s individual trial lawyers on scientific issues, cross-examining the plaintiffs’ scientific witnesses, and preparing the client’s scientific experts for depositions and trials. He also serves on national trial teams for clients involved in asbestos litigation, trying their cases in Texas and working with local counsel in other jurisdictions. In addition, John currently handles individual product liability matters for clients in the tool and equipment, automotive component, and pharmaceutical industries.