David C. Allen is the partner in charge of the Los Angeles office and a member of the firmwide management committee.
Mr. Allen focuses on product liability and toxic tort litigation. His product liability practice has included the defense of claims of defective design and manufacturing involving automobiles, drugs, lawn mowers, continuous arc welders, tractor-trailers, diesel generators and, most recently, containers of radioactive wastes. His toxic tort practice focuses on claims arising out of occupational and environmental exposure to many substances, including chlorinated solvents and other volatile organic compounds, 1,4 dioxane, tricresyl phosphate, isocyanates, chlorine, sulfur dioxide, benzene, gasoline and polymer chemicals.
Mr. Allen has been trial counsel for corporations in the chemical, petrochemical and other manufacturing industries. Many of the cases involved complex scientific and medical questions, as well as patented manufacturing processes. He served as trial co-counsel for a joint defense group in the multiplaintiff case Kennedy v. Mobay Corp., 579 A.2d 1191 (Md.App. 1991), aff'd per curiam, 601 A.2d 123 (1992), a jury trial that established the knowledgeable user defense in the state of Maryland. In Peter v. Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corp., 903 F.2d 935 (3rd Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1067 (1991), an occupational lung disease case, Mr. Allen developed the argument that prevailed on appeal.
Mr. Allen was lead counsel for a joint defense group in Gelman Sciences, Inc. v. The Dow Chemical Company, 508 N.W.2d 142 (Mich.App. 1993). He defended allegations of liability arising from the chemical industry's Product Stewardship and Responsible Care programs. In 1994, after settlement of a class action arising out of a large chlorine leak in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Mr. Allen served as lead counsel in a jury trial of the opt-out claims. Most recently, Mr. Allen handled another chlorine exposure case in Orlando, Florida.
Mr. Allen earned his B.A. with honors from Providence College in 1981 and his J.D. in 1984 from the George Washington University, where he was a member of The George Washington Law Review. He is a member of the California, Virginia and District of Columbia Bars and is admitted to practice before a number of federal courts.