Full Profile
Anthony (Tony) J. Sbarra, Jr. is a trial attorney who focuses his practice on products liability and toxic torts. Tony defends manufacturers of automobiles; light, medium and heavy trucks; construction equipment; farm/agricultural equipment and other products in products liability cases. He also defends toxic tort actions, particularly those involving asbestos. Tony serves as lead examining counsel in multiple lay and expert depositions throughout the country and conducts numerous direct and cross-examinations of epidemiologists, industrial hygienists, pathologists, naval historians and practitioners of occupational medicine, among others.
Tony frequently counsels major motor vehicle manufacturers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and has tried asbestos in New England and New York. His pro bono work involves representing attorneys seeking readmission to the Bar. His experience defending products liability and toxic tort cases spans over 30 years. He has tried to verdict more than 30 Superior Court and 60 District Court actions, and arbitrated or mediated several hundred cases. Tony also serves as a neutral arbitrator in personal injury cases and has been court appointed as guardian ad litem for persons injured in such cases.
Tony has served as faculty for continuing legal education programs sponsored by preeminent organizations such as the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association, and the American Bar Association. He lectures nationally for DRI and has also spoken on its behalf at the invitation of state local defense organizations throughout the country.
Admissions
- Massachusetts
- Rhode Island
- Connecticut
- US District Courts for the Districts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut
Education
- J.D., Suffolk University Law School, 1988
- B.A., Political Science, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1985
Memberships
- Massachusetts Bar Association
- Past Member, Civil Litigation Section and Trial Practice & Procedure/Court Rules Practice Group
- DRI – Lawyers Representing Business
- National Director
- Special recognition awards for member recruitment (2016 – 2019)
- Board of Directors
- Massachusetts State Representative to DRI
- Massachusetts State Membership Chair • National Membership Committee
- Inaugural Chair of the SMC Sub-Committee
- SMC Liaison for the New England Region
- Vice-Chair of the SLDO Relationship Committee
- DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, main stage presenter (2013 - 2014, 2016, 2020)
- DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, Steering Committee
- DRI Annual Meeting, Steering Committee
- American Bar Association (ABA)
- Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section
- American Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
- Ethics and Professionalism Committee (2017)
- Long Range Planning Committee (2017)
- CLE Board Member (2017)
- Products Liability Chair (2017)
- CLE Board Member (2016)
- Products Liability Chair Elect (2016)
- Ethics and Professionalism Committee (2016)
- American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
- Defense Counsel of Rhode Island
- Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association (MassDLA)
- President (2011 – 2012)
- Board of Directors (1999 – 2017)
Experience
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Plymouth Superior Court where plaintiff, who sustained permanent injuries in motor vehicle accident, alleged that adult defendant negligently supervised operator who was intoxicated at time of accident.
- Obtained summary judgment obtained in Barnstable Superior Court in paraplegia case where plaintiff alleged that professional tree cutting was “inherently dangerous” activity.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Worcester Superior Court where plaintiff alleged that lack of handrail on attic stairs proximately caused fall resulting in permanent back injuries.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Lowell Superior Court where plaintiff alleged that defendant was liable for tree falling on car causing permanent head injuries.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Fall River Superior Court where plaintiff alleged that he was permanently injured when struck from the rear by defendant’s vehicle.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Somerville District Court (jury of six) where plaintiff alleged permanent scarring from dog bite.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Lowell Superior Court on causation after court directed verdict for plaintiff on issue of liability.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Lawrence Superior Court where plaintiff alleged defendant construction company negligently maintained scaffolding system.
- Obtained declaratory judgment action defeated at summary judgment stage in Norfolk Superior Court where homeowner’s carrier declined coverage for social host claim.
- Obtained summary judgment obtained in Plymouth Superior Court in favor of automobile manufacturer in asbestos/mesothelioma case after Special Master recommended denial of motion.
- Obtained summary judgment obtained in Bridgeport Superior Court in favor of naval engine manufacturer due to lack of sufficient expert product identification testimony.
- Secured dismissal of claims obtained in Providence Superior Court in asbestos/mesothelioma case just before jury selection.
- Secured defense verdict where plaintiff sustained permanent facial/eye injuries while constructing a deck at defendant’s home.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Suffolk Superior Court where plaintiff fractured leg while delivering oil to defendant’s home.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Norfolk Superior Court where plaintiff fractured hip when she fell at a donut shop after being bumped by the defendant.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Plymouth Superior Court where plaintiff fractured both hips, requiring surgery, after tripping over a holiday decoration (pumpkin) while delivering packages to the defendant’s home.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Norfolk Superior Court where plaintiff sustained shoulder injuries falling while filling his car with gas at the defendant’s service station.
- Secured verdict of USD 2,400 in dog bite case in Fall River Superior Court. Plaintiff alleges permanent scarring and nerve/leg injuries and demanded USD 100,000. Settlement offer prior to trial was USD 15,000.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Hamden Superior Court where plaintiff fractured leg falling on snow and ice on the defendant’s driveway.
- Secured defense verdict overturning a plaintiff’s award from the District Court in motor vehicle accident case.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Middlesex Superior Court where plaintiff sustained facial and head injuries with resulting vertigo after being hit by a shot-put thrown by the defendant at high school track practice.
- Secured defense verdict where plaintiff sustained wrist injuries after an altercation with her sister-in-law at a family holiday gathering.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Suffolk Superior Court where plaintiff fractured leg when struck by wedding guest while dancing at the defendant’s premises.
- Secured defense verdict obtained in Plymouth Superior Court where plaintiff fractured both feet and legs falling from the defendant’s roof.
- Obtained summary judgment awarded in mesothelioma case where plaintiff through documents, but not testimony, claimed he was exposed to the manufacturer’s brakes allegedly installed in semi-trucks. The brake manufacturer prevailed on argument that “a” supplier was not the same as “the” supplier. This was the first contested summary judgment motion awarded to an asbestos defendant in that particular court in over 20 years.
- Obtained summary judgement award for a minor league baseball team in dispute over construction of new city park. The plaintiff claimed that the team and its owner tortuously interfered with its contracts with the City it was being built in. The case was in the Hartford Superior Court Complex Litigation section and, despite Connecticut’s high summary judgment burden, the defendants were able to illustrate that no such interference occurred as a matter of law.
Presentations
- “These are Not Your Father’s Evidence Battles – Recent and Recurring Disputes Surrounding Genetic Testing and Tissue Digestion,” DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 2021
