Mass Tort Lawyers Look to Master ‘Art’ of Litigation in Pandemic

Mass tort lawyers “face specific day-to-day challenges during the pandemic because they usually rely more heavily on in-person contact for gathering critical information while developing those complex cases,” said Jennifer Altman, a Pillsbury Litigation partner who handles mass tort cases.

Being a mass tort attorney means using court appearances to make cases to judges and with juries and preparing cross-examinations to try to poke holes in opponents’ evidence.

“Part of what we do is an art and part of it is a science,” said Altman, who works on both the defense and plaintiff sides.

“The art part is reading someone’s body language during depositions, hearings and trials," Altman added. “And you’re not going to get that on a Zoom call in the same way if you were physically in a room with them.”

Is their foot jiggling? Are they nervous? “You’re trained to observe all of their body language,” Altman concluded.

“You’re still going to have companies that are fighting with each other over major things,” said Pillsbury Litigation partner Markenzy Lapointe. “There may have been a slight lull for some, but a lot of us remain very busy.”