Plaintiffs' lawyers now practice nationally as Herman, Mathis, Casey, Kitchens & Gerel

In an effort to gain financial clout and flexibility in major class action suits and other complex litigation, San Diego-based Casey, Gerry, Reed & Schenk has helped engineer a national "super-firm" specializing in high-profile consumer actions against corporate defendants.

The Atlanta-based venture - a limited liability partnership now called Herman, Mathis, Casey, Kitchens & Gerel - comprises five individual law firms, and is believed to be the first of its kind among firms focusing on plaintiff representations. Herman Mathis handles large scale, multi-state litigation and has offices in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, California, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Massachusetts..

According to Edward Konieczny, managing partner of Herman Mathis, the firms involved include: Casey Gerry Reed & Schenk of San Diego; Ashcraft & Gerel of Washington, D.C.; Herman, Herman, Katz & Cotlar of New Orleans; Mathis & Adams of Savannah and Atlanta, Ga.; and Kitchens & Ellis of Jackson, Miss. Each firm has signed a partnership agreement that requires it to refer all large-scale cases to Herman Mathis for consideration.

According to Casey Gerry senior partner David Casey Jr., the partnering firms all continue to maintain their individual local practices.

"We've developed a tremendous amount of good will in San Diego during our more than 50 years of practice here,", said Casey, whose father David Casey Sr. launched the firm in 1947. "There are plenty of clients here who continue to need our help and support."

Partnership tackles complex, multi-state litigation

According to Casey, the partnership represents a unique opportunity to expand the scope of representation, while retaining the flexibility of a smaller firm. "We are increasingly seeing individuals and smaller clients going up against huge corporations represented by 1,000-lawyer firms," said Casey, who is president-elect of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the world's largest trial bar.

"In any litigation where you're facing such a formidable adversary, you need allies."

So far, Herman Mathis has taken on two of the hottest mass torts: pharmaceutical litigation and victims of the Bataan Death March, a ground-breaking suit filed against Japanese conglomerates that allegedly used American and Filipino prisoners of war as slave labor during World War II.

The firm's first major class action suit involved representing these former POWs, among them World War II veteran Lester Tenney, a La Jolla resident and retired San Diego State University professor who survived the infamous 60-mile Bataan Death March, and was forced into labor by a Japanese mining corporation.





Temporary alliances not effective

Casey, who specializes in serious personal injury, wrongful death and business and consumer fraud cases, said plaintiff law firms often find it necessary to temporarily join forces to pool their resources and tackle complex, multiparty litigation, but such alliances usually last for just one or two cases.

However, he said, "joining forces for a single case does not create an incentive to develop a solid infrastructure or consistent image."

In addition, temporary alliances may result in infighting over designated roles and organizational issues, detracting from the attorneys' abilities to focus on the case at hand.

"Our firm's structure eliminates those external issues, allowing us to devote ourselves fully to the case," Casey said.

The merger is unique in the world of plaintiffs' law, where lawyers typically shun joining large, national firms.

"Trial lawyers have tremendous egos and like running their own shop," Casey said. "But we've all spent the last 15 or 20 years trying to keep the civil justice system open to consumers. All the attorneys involved have been in the trenches together, and there is a great deal of respect and trust here to build on."

Super-firm boasts extensive trial experience

Most importantly, the partners in Herman Mathis are first-rate litigators with many years of trial experience.

"Collectively, we have successfully sued pharmaceutical companies, the tobacco industry, the asbestos industry and Exxon in the Alaska Oil Spill Litigation," Casey said.

By joining forces on a permanent basis, Casey said, "we now have a formidable team with the resources and wherewithal to undertake large-scale litigation without having to build a new coalition each time. T the same time, each member firm is free to pursue its smaller projects in complete independence. The venture offers the best of both worlds."

Ed Konieczny agrees. For him, the advantages are clear. "We launched Herman Mathis after determining that there's a real need for a firm that is national in scope, with financial clout and a permanent infrastructure," he said.

"We are thrilled to have all the partners on board, and are confident that their expertise and courtroom experience will prove invaluable as we continue to tackle major consumer actions."