Paul J. Hanly, Jr.

As a named shareholder of Simmons Hanly Conroy, Mr. Hanly is an experienced trial lawyer and litigator who has litigated, managed and tried numerous complex jury cases throughout the United States in virtually all areas of civil litigation for more than 30 years. He is renowned for his exhaustive trial preparation, imaginative trial strategies, nearly photographic memory of the contents of documents and tightly controlled and disarmingly-effective cross-examinations.

For the first 20 years of his career, Mr. Hanly was a national trial counsel and coordinating and settlement counsel to the world’s largest, vertically-integrated asbestos company in its asbestos products liability cases; in that capacity he oversaw more than 100 local law firms and handled hundreds of thousands of cases.

In the last decade, Mr. Hanly has represented plaintiffs exclusively in a variety of mass tort and other complex civil cases and played a leading role in the settlement of thousands of pharmaceutical cases, resulting in recoveries for the firm’s clients in excess of $300 million. Between 2008 and 2010, Mr. Hanly was lead counsel to a small, publicly-traded company in its antitrust suit against an industry giant, resulting in a settlement of $32 million for the company and a $10.5 million contingency fee for counsel.

Between 2010 and 2013, Mr. Hanly spent substantial time on two high-profile cases: the first, Chambers v. Merrill Lynch, was a class action on behalf of Merrill financial advisors claiming lost deferred compensation benefits, resulting in a $20 million dollar settlement and a separate payment by the defendants of more than $5 million in attorneys’ fees; the second, Jean-Charles v. Perlitz, was a set of consolidated actions on behalf of 24 indigent Haitian boys, who were sexually abused by a now-convicted pedophile, against the Society of Jesus, Fairfield University and others for negligent supervision of the pedophile, resulting in a $12 million settlement.

Representative cases include:

• Chambers v. Merrill Lynch, 10 CV 07109 (AJN) (S.D.N.Y. 2013) (class action on behalf of more than 1,100 former Merrill financial advisors alleging lost deferred compensation benefits; settlement of more than $20 million)
• Jean-Charles v. Perlitz, 3:11-CV-00614-RNC (D. Conn. 2013) (consolidated actions on behalf of 24 Haitian nationals alleging negligent supervision on part of Connecticut-based defendants of convicted pedophile, resulting in sexual abuse; settlement of $12 million)
• In re DePuy Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2244 (N.D. Tex. Jan. 9, 2012) (Chair of Plaintiffs’ Discovery Committee)
• CFTC v. Walsh et. al., 09-CV-01749 (GBD) (S.D.N.Y.) (lead counsel to Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System (IPERS) on its $250 million claim in $1 billion Ponzi scheme litigation involving Westridge Capital and its principals)
• Synergetics USA, Inc. v. Alcon Laboratories, Inc. and Alcon, Inc., 2008-cv-3669 (DLC) (S.D.N.Y.) (lead counsel in plaintiff’s contingency fee antitrust suit; settlement of $32 million and fee of $10.5 million)
• Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel and member of Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in MDL 1570, In re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001 (S.D.N.Y.) (Anti-terrorism Act actions against financial sponsors of terrorism)
• Member of Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, In re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, No. 21 MC 97 (S.D.N.Y.) (consolidated 9/11 negligence actions against airlines and airport security companies)
• Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel and member of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee appointed by court in MDL 1699 to assist coordination of federal MDL with New York state litigation proceedings, In re Bextra and Celebrex Products Liability Litigation (N.D. Cal.)
• Member of Plaintiffs’ Coordinating Committee, In re Bextra Litigation (state-wide coordinated proceedings, Supreme Court, New York County)
• Member of Plaintiffs’ Coordinating Committee in MDL 1598, In re Ephedra Products Liability Litigation (S.D.N.Y.)
• Owens-Illinois, Inc. v. T & N Ltd., 191 F.R.D. 522 (E.D. Tex. 2000) (successful vacation of $1.66 billion default judgment)
• Chase Manhattan Bank v. T & N plc, 1997 WL 221203 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 28, 1997), aff’d, 162 F.3d 1147 (2d Cir. 1998) (successful defense of largest asbestos property damage case ever tried in U.S.) (trial profiled in “Chase’s Case Turns to Dust,” The American Lawyer (May 1996))
• Meyer v. Schneider (Supreme Court, New York County, 1998) (jury verdict of $4.8 million on behalf of pedestrian struck by automobile)
• Schlaifer Nance & Co., Inc. v. Estate of Andy Warhol, 927 F. Supp. 650 (S.D.N.Y. 1996), aff’d, 119 F.3d 91 (2d Cir. 1997), subsequent proceedings, 7 F. Supp. 2d 364 (S.D.N.Y. 1998), rev’d, 194 F.3d 323 (2d Cir. 1999) (successful defense of RICO, fraud and copyright claims)
• Warhol Foundation v. Federal Insurance Co., 189 F.3d 208 (2d Cir. 1999) (successful recovery of insurance coverage for plaintiff)
• Artwear, Inc. v. Hughes (Estate of Andy Warhol), 615 N.Y.S.2d 689 (App. Div. 1st Dep’t 1994) (successful defense of fraud claims)
• Prospect Group, Inc. v. Kirby, 1992 WL 400732 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 23, 1992) (successful prosecution of complex breach of contract claims)
• Sundbom v. Erik Riebling Mfg. Co., (S.D.N.Y. 1991) (national record jury verdict of $4.5 million on behalf of woodworker who lost four fingers in defective woodworking machine accident).