When companies need a tough, experienced advocate in high-stakes litigation, they rely on Elizabeth O’Neill.
Elizabeth has defended companies in complex cases across the country involving asbestos, aviation, constitutional torts, contracts, legal malpractice, premises liability and product liability. She acts as local, regional, and national counsel, establishing and implementing defenses from case inception through appeal. Her extensive experience enables her to create strategic plans encompassing a wide variety of litigation tactics to meet client objectives. Having taken many cases to trial and through appeal, each action Elizabeth takes in litigation fits into the plan for achieving the client’s ultimate goals.
Complex medical, scientific and engineering issues are often at the core of litigation matters Elizabeth handles. In the toxic tort litigation arena, she has defended clients against claims for exposure to asbestos, formaldehyde, silica, beryllium and toluene. She has represented manufacturers of a wide variety of products, including table saws, camping equipment, lawn care tools, and aviation products.
A regular speaker on professionalism topics, Elizabeth has represented law firms and professionals in malpractice cases in Georgia for more than 15 years. Her litigation experience includes representing clients in trials in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Presentations
- How to Try a Case From Your IPad, Trial Attorneys of America, 2017 Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois (June 2017)
- Winning Over the Jury in Aviation Cases: Opening/Closing statements ant Creating a Theme‚ Effectively Communicating With Your Jury and Using Experts to make Your Case, American Conference Institute 5th Annual Forum on Aviation Claims & Litigation, Chicago, Illinois (May 2013)
- Proven Strategies for Winning Litigation in Aviation Cases: Managing E-Discovery, the Use of Experts and Effective Jury Communication, American Conference Institute 4th Annual Forum on Defending and Managing Aviation Litigation, Boston, Massachusetts (June 2012)
- Social Media: It’s Changing Everything, ALFA International: EPLI & Professional Liability Seminar, New York, New York (June 2012)
- Hot Topics in Legal Malpractice: 2011 Case Update - The Good, the Bad, & The Ugly, Atlanta Bar Association (December 2011)
- Ethical Do’s and Don’ts: A Primer on the Basics, Defense Research Institute (June 2004)
Professional Activities
- Defense Research Institute
- Georgia Defense Lawyers Association
- American Bar Association
- Atlanta Bar Association
- State Bar of California, State Bar of Georgia
- Illinois State Bar Association
- The Mississippi Bar
- New York State Bar Association
- State Bar of Texas
- West Virginia Bar
- State Bar of Wisconsin
Honors and Awards
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America (BL Rankings), Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants and Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants, 2023 - Present
- Selected to the North Carolina Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters) in Professional Liability, Personal Injury – Products, 2005, 2011 – 2012
Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Obtained three defense verdicts in asbestos trials in South Carolina.
- Obtained a defense verdict in a mesothelioma case in Baltimore City, Maryland. It was the first defense verdict in a mesothelioma case in that jurisdiction in more than ten years and more than two dozen trials.
- Obtained a defense verdict in Phase I of a reverse bifurcated trial in Philadelphia involving a living mesothelioma plaintiff. She also obtained a defense verdict in a living mesothelioma case in Minnesota.
- Obtained the dismissal of plaintiffs’ asbestos verdicts and orders for new trial from the Ninth Circuit sitting en banc in 2014 and from the Georgia Supreme Court in 2016.
- Obtained a defense verdict in a Georgia product liability case involving claims of defective design and manufacture.
- Obtained two favorable rulings in a legal malpractice case from the Georgia Court of Appeals further clarifying the limited circumstances in which a dissatisfied client may sue its lawyer.
