Schiff Hardin is pleased to announce that Elizabeth Runyan Geise and Valerie E. Ross have joined the firm’s Washington, D.C., office as partners in the Product Liability Group. Prior to joining Schiff Hardin, Ms. Geise served as head of the Litigation Department in Goodwin Procter’s Washington office. Ms. Ross also was a partner in Goodwin Procter’s Washington office.
Robert H. Riley, Schiff Hardin’s chairman and leader of the firm’s Product Liability Group, said, “Betsy Geise and Val Ross practice at the top of their field. They are consummate professionals whose client service orientation matches our own. They will be joining one of our firm’s strongest national practices, rounding out our capabilities and extending our geographic reach. We could not be happier to have them with us, but our clients will be the real beneficiaries of this move.”
Mses. Geise and Ross bring to Schiff Hardin’s Product Liability Group an impressive breadth and depth of experience in complex commercial litigation and counseling, with particular focus on products liability, toxic torts, class actions and insurance coverage disputes. They are especially experienced in representing corporations in product liability and toxic tort matters arising out of exposure to asbestos and uranium. Mses. Geise and Ross also are well-versed in matters involving environmental laws, occupational health laws and product warnings. Both attorneys have practiced before state and federal trial and appellate courts nationwide.
Schiff Hardin’s Product Liability Group has the scale and geographic reach necessary to handle the largest and most complex cases. With the additions of Mses. Geise and Ross, the Group includes more than 30 attorneys throughout the firm’s coast-to-coast offices who have extensive experience in the field.
Established in 1977, Schiff Hardin’s Washington office initially focused on energy and market regulation work, which remain core competencies, but the office has grown substantially in recent years to include a wide range of practices focused on corporate and securities, ERISA compliance and litigation, white collar criminal defense, intellectual property, finance and product liability, among others.
Ms. Geise graduated from Harvard Law School (J.D., magna cum laude, 1980) and University of Michigan (A.B., with high distinction and high honors, 1977). Ms. Ross graduated from the University of Chicago Law School (J.D., with honors, 1991) and Michigan State University (B.S., with high honors, 1988).
