Vincent Palmiotto

Full Profile

Vince Palmiotto has been a litigator and trial attorney for twenty years. He focuses his practice on the defense of complex product liability matters, toxic tort and personal injury litigation. He has extensive litigation experience, including significant first-chair trial experience in a variety of jurisdictions.

He has handled cases at both the local level, as well as, on the national level for a wide variety of different product manufacturers. He has experience as national coordinating counsel for a number of companies. In his capacity as national coordinating counsel, he has supervised all aspects of trial strategy and trial preparation. He has developed lay, expert and corporate witnesses to be used in his clients' defenses nationwide. Vince has worked closely with clients to develop cost effective litigation strategies that maximize their chance for success.

Vince began his career as a Judge Advocate in the US Marine Corps.

Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• Ohio
• West Virginia
• Maryland
• District of Columbia
• New York
• Virginia

Education

• J.D., University of Akron School of Law, 1994
• B.A., Armstrong State College, 1991

Memberships

• Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (ATDA)
• Defense Research Institute
• West Virginia Bar Association

Experience

• Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a fiber supplier defendant in a case involving a living mesothelioma plaintiff in Buffalo, New York.

• First chair trial counsel in New York City (NYCAL) jury trial involving a plaintiff who had died of mesothelioma. Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a boiler defendant.
• First chair trial counsel in New York City (NYCAL) jury trial involving a plaintiff who had died of mesothelioma. Obtained a favorable verdict, which required payment that was less that Plaintiff’s demand and last offer on behalf of a boiler defendant. The jury also declined to award a finding of recklessness.
• First chair trial counsel in the Northern District of West Virginia jury trial involving a Plaintiff seeking extra-contractual (bad faith) damages and punitive damages. The jury only awarded covered damaged under the policy and rejected Plaintiff’s claim of extra-contractual damages and punitive damages. 
• Successfully convinced opposing counsel to dismiss a defendant in over 800 asbestos cases.

Presentations

• "Who Tells Your Story? Highlighting the Fallacies in Plaintiff’s Product Identification,” DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, San Diego, California, November 2022

• Co-presenter, “Preparing Defense Expert Witnesses,” DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, San Diego, California, November 2022

• "Punitive Damages and Regulatory Compliance: When a defendant is in compliance with governmental regulations and industry-accepted standards should plaintiffs be able to pursue a claim for punitive damages?” Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 2022 
• “Daubert Challenges: Use and Abuse,” Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar, June 2021
• Co-presenter, "Damage Control: Valuing Economic and Punitive Damages," DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, Boston, Massachusetts, November 2019
• "Plaintiff's New Tactics When Cross-Examining a Corporate Representative at Trial – Implications for Witness Preparation," Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar, New Orleans, Louisiana, June 2019
• "How to Get Companies on the Verdict Sheet in New York: Should Defendants Subpoena Co-Defendants Witnesses for Trial?," Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar, Nashville, Tennessee, June 2018
• "Trial Lawyer Panel," Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar, Nashville, Tennessee, June 2018

Publications

• “Who Tells Your Story: Highlighting the Fallacies in a Plaintiff’s Product Identification,” The Brief Case: DRI Committee News, vol. 2, 2023 
• Co-author, "When a Defendant is in Compliance with Governmental Regulations, and Industry-Accepted Standards, Should Plaintiffs be Able to Pursue a Claim for Punitive Damages?" DRI For the Defense, November & December 2022
• "Maryland Asbestos Mediation Bill Deserved to Fail," Law360, 2019