MICHAEL LISAK serves as counsel in the Chicago office. Prior to joining Sidley in 2008, he was a partner and trial attorney at a law firm in Baltimore. Michael has substantial national experience in mass and toxic torts as well as various types of product liability as well as general litigation, including trying cases. His practice has included serving as both national and regional counsel in several mass tort multidistrict and related state litigation and class actions, as well as more traditional individualized lawsuits. He is also involved in defending “whistle-blower” allegations concerning pharmaceutical sales and marketing practices. Michael is a co-founder of Sidley’s Nanotechnology group and is also involved in hydraulic fracturing litigation development efforts.
Throughout his career, Michael has distinguished himself in identifying, interviewing, retaining, deposing and presenting experts for trial, depositions, during class certification proceedings, and for Daubert/Frye motions. These fields have included industrial hygiene, endocrinology, cardiology, pulmonology, oncology, mammography, epidemiology, gynecology, virology, infectious disease, dermatology, hematology, hepatology, nephrology, neurology, pathology, rheumatology, FDA drug approval and labeling, allergy, economics, damages, forensic accounting and orthopedic surgery. He has also taken and coordinated the depositions of defendants’ and plaintiffs’ experts across the United States within these and other fields.
Michael has personally conducted and supervised other lawyers during all forms of pre-trial discovery and motion practice. In that regard, he has drafted and successfully argued numerous pre-trial motions, including motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment and Daubert/Frye motions; interviewed hundreds of company employees; designed and supervised multi-million page document collections and production efforts; arbitrated and mediated personal injury claims; prepared cases for trial, including all aspects of oral and written discovery; and negotiated and resolved numerous orders and discovery disputes with plaintiffs’ attorneys across the country. His depositions of experts, plaintiffs, prescribers and treaters are used by defense attorneys across litigations for motions and training purposes. Michael has also been involved in pre-litigation risk assessments concerning prescription medications.
Michael graduated with Departmental Honors from The Johns Hopkins University in 1991, and with Honors from The Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1995 where he completed a Certificate in the Environmental and Energy Law Program. He is a Member of the Illinois, Maryland (inactive) and District of Columbia (inactive) state and federal bars as well as the Defense Research Institute. Michael co-authored two papers concerning nanotechnology - “Nanotechnology Manufacturers’ Duty to Warn and Potential Affirmative Defenses” published by The Bureau of National Affairs as well as “Mitigating Risk in Mass Nano Torts” published by Law360 on February 1, 2012. He is also the co-author of “Discovery of Electronic Databases Prepared for Purposes of Litigation Management,” Litigation Ghostbusters: “Who Ya Gonna Call,” Exorcising Ghosts & Goblins from Your High-Stakes Litigation, The Network of Trial Law Firms, Inc., October 1998.