Elizabeth P. Kessler (Liza)
Partner
Columbus
Tel: 1.614.281.3852
Fax: 1.614.461.4198
Email:
ekessler@jonesday.com
Profile
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Experience
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Liza Kessler practices primarily in the area of product liability. She also has experience with employment claims and antitrust matters.
Liza's significant litigation experiences include representation of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in complex product liability cases, including medical recoupment suits by the various state attorneys general and as a member of the defense team in the Ironworkers case, a product liability class action of various unions that resulted in a complete jury defense verdict. She has been trial counsel for R.J. Reynolds in cases in California, Florida, and New York. Her trial representation includes a Sacramento jury trial entitled Lucier v. Philip Morris, et al. (2003), which resulted in a complete defense verdict on all claims after a four-month trial. In the years preceding the Lucier trial, plaintiffs had won six straight jury verdicts in tobacco product liability trials on the West Coast, each with punitive damages ranging from tens of millions to billions of dollars.
Most recently, she was trial counsel for R.J. Reynolds in Rose v. American Tobacco Co. (2005), the first smoking and health case to be tried in Manhattan. After a six-week trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of R.J. Reynolds. Apart from the smoking and health litigation, Liza's product liability experience includes representations relating to paints and chemicals. That experience includes defending The Sherwin-Williams Company in public nuisance suits brought by various Ohio governmental entities. Liza was also lead defense counsel in a case alleging birth defects in an employee's offspring from a chemical workplace exposure that resulted in a complete defense summary judgment verdict. She also serves as lead defense counsel for one of the world's largest clinical laboratories in cases pending in state and federal courts throughout the United States.
She is a member of the Ohio Bar and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Liza is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, is a Fellow of the Columbus Bar Foundation, and participates as a mentor at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Liza's community involvement includes currently serving on the board of trustees for Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio, a reproductive health care provider and educator, as immediate past chair of the board. She is a Franklin County Commissioner appointee to the board of trustees for Veterans Memorial, serving as vice president of the board and as chair of the Audit Committee, and is a member of the board of trustees for Diamond Hill Funds, an equity and fixed income fund complex with over two billion in assets under management. She is also a member of the board of the Wexner Center Foundation, a private, nonprofit partner of The Ohio State University board of trustees established to advance the interests of the Wexner Center for the Arts.
Admitted
Ohio
Education
University of Michigan (B.G.S. 1990); The Ohio State University (National Moot Court Team; J.D. 1993)