Respecting his clients’ business realities and objectives, Anthony Goldner takes a proactive approach to resolving litigation with maximum cost effectiveness. With a primary focus on defending product liability, toxic tort and general liability matters, Anthony has handled – and successfully disposed of – numerous claims against clients in the manufacturing, medical products, construction, trucking and transportation industries. He also has a strong background in obstetric medical malpractice and other types of medical malpractice cases both in his current practice and his prior work at plaintiffs’ firms.
As the lead attorney in the Chicago office’s toxic tort practice, Anthony has supervised thousands of asbestos, mold, benzene, carbon monoxide and welding rod cases and continues to represent clients in these matters. He has a growing practice in construction and premises liability and currently supervises the Chicago office's defense of a prominent Illinois road construction company in personal injury and property damage claims. Anthony also represents a number of clients in commercial disputes over vendor contracts and other types of business agreements.
Areas of Focus
Toxic Tort
Anthony is responsible for supervising the day-to-day management of the Chicago office’s toxic tort defense practice, which has handled thousands of asbestos, mold, benzene, carbon monoxide and welding rod cases during the past several years. In 2015, Anthony obtained a defense verdict after a month-long trial on behalf of a residential property brokerage alleged to have fraudulently and negligently sold a nearly million-dollar home infested with “toxic” mold. He previously successfully defended a multimillion-dollar mold personal injury case brought by several employees of a prominent Chicago law firm against a premises owner and landlord. Anthony has obtained summary judgment and dismissal of thousands of asbestos cases in Cook and Madison counties in Illinois on behalf of the firm’s appliance, heavy equipment, recreational products, automotive, motorcycle, trucking, general contractor and shipbuilder clients.
Anthony is the author or co-author of several articles and alerts concerning significant developments in Illinois case law that affected asbestos litigation, and has been quoted in legal journals regarding such developments. In addition, he has spoken on emerging issues in asbestos litigation to insurers, insureds and outside counsel. Anthony is the treasurer of FETTI (-Forum for Environmental and Toxic Tort Issues), an organization composed of professionals from insurance, industry and law firms; he also helps to organize and run FETTI’s annual conference.
Product Liability
In the product liability area, Anthony defends U.S., Japanese, Korean and German manufacturers of industrial machinery, medical devices and pharmaceuticals, and construction, aviation and recreational equipment, among other products.
Anthony’s medical products experience includes the defense of manufacturers of spinal hardware, implants, grafts, wheelchairs and syringes, as well as manufacturers of brand and generic pharmaceuticals, in single-plaintiff and mass tort litigation in state and federal courts. In addition, he has tried numerous medical malpractice cases as lead or co-counsel in Illinois and Wisconsin courts.
General Liability
Anthony has extensive experience representing clients in the construction, trucking and transportation industries in general and premises liability cases involving personal injury and wrongful death claims. Throughout his career, Anthony has defended general contractors, project managers and premises owners in construction personal injury claims and has vast experience with a large body of Illinois case law in the construction and premises liability areas.
In the transportation area, Anthony has experience with wrongful death lawsuits arising from rail crossing incidents, including claims brought against national and local passenger rail services as well as municipalities that had oversight of crossing signals or the design of railroad intersections. In addition, Anthony has represented aircraft companies and their subsidiaries in wrongful death product liability cases arising from aviation crashes, and has represented a flight services business in cargo loss and personal injury cases involving accidents at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.