Mark S. Cheffo, co-chair of Dechert’s global litigation practice, has extensive experience serving as national coordinating and trial counsel in complex product liability, insurance and mass torts litigation. He acts for corporations and individuals in the pharmaceutical, medical device manufacturing, bioengineering, insurance and industrial products industries, amongst others. Mr. Cheffo has also handled numerous toxic and environmental exposure suits.
Mr. Cheffo has taken part in several trial teams in high-profile pharmaceutical litigation, managing all stages of a dispute from negotiation, through pre-trial proceedings to trial. In addition to defending expert and company witness depositions, Mr. Cheffo has briefed and conducted numerous Daubert and Frye challenges. He has also briefed and argued dispositive motions and appeals in state and federal courts throughout the United States. Mr. Cheffo also has considerable experience conducting arbitrations and mediations relating to disputes.
Widely recognized as a leader in the field, Mr. Cheffo holds a Band 1 ranking from Chambers USA and is acknowledged as a top lawyer by The Legal 500 U.S. for product liability and mass torts matters. He earned the title of “Litigator of the Week” from The American Lawyer for representing GSK and Saint-Gobain. In 2023, he was named a Global Elite Thought Leader for Life Sciences – Product Liability by Who’s Who Legal and received the Life Sciences Lawyer of the Year award at the Who’s Who Legal Awards 2020. BTI Consulting Group listed Mr. Cheffo as a Client Service All-Star and Product Liability Attorney of the Year by LMG Life Sciences in 2022. He was chosen as one of Law360‘s MVPs of the Year in the Product Liability category in 2019 and 2020. Mr. Cheffo is part of a product liability team that has garnered numerous accolades over the past two decades, including Law360‘s Practice Group of the Year for Product Liability in 2018 and 2019, and New York Law Journal‘s Litigation Department of the Year for Product Liability in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Mr. Cheffo maintains an active pro bono practice, assisting clients in a variety of matters. Most notably, he obtained a judgment of more than US$1.7 million for liability and legal fees on behalf of 11 restaurant workers in New York’s Chinatown. He also obtained a jury verdict in a defamation case and obtained a directed verdict in a case brought by three plaintiffs who had been shot while in prison.
Prior to joining Dechert, Mr. Cheffo was co-chair of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan’s global product liability and mass torts practice.