Eric K. Falk, a partner in the firm’s Pittsburgh office, will moderate a panel at the DRI Toxic Tort Seminar in New Orleans on March 17, 2016.  The panel is titled “When the Public Does Not Believe the Science” and will include: Dr. Dennis Paustenbach, a scientist with Cardno ChemRisk LLC; Jayne O’Donnell, health reporter for USA Today; and Jeff Steir, a social media specialist who works on scientific issues for the National Center for Public Policy Research.  The session will explore mass media, social media, scientific education, and other social pressures that result in the individuals—including jurors—being skeptical of science simply because it is science.

Eric focuses his practice on defending companies in toxic tort litigation. He is currently a member of the DRI Toxic Tort Committee and is a former chair of the DRI Industrywide Litigation Committee. He received his J.D. in 1984 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and his B.S. with Honors in 1981 from the American University in Washington, D.C. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and West Virginia as well as the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of West Virginia, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was selected as a 2013 Top Rated Lawyer in Mass Torts by Martindale-Hubbell, and he has been rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell from 2005 to 2016.