Sean P. Wajert

Sean P. Wajert specializes in complex commercial litigation. For a decade he served as chair of the firm's mass torts and product liability practice group. He has represented companies such as Wyeth, Baxter Healthcare, Innophos, Philip Morris, Amgen, West Pharmaceutical, Firmenich, and Rhodia Inc. in complex litigation throughout the country.

For Wyeth, Mr. Wajert served as trial counsel in numerous diet drug trials. He served as lead counsel for Rhodia in complex commercial litigation arising from the explosion and fire at a New England textile mill, and has represented Philip Morris at class action trials in multiple jurisdictions. Mr. Wajert represented Philip Morris at the first tobacco medical monitoring trial ever, a class action involving 250,000 smokers in the state of West Virginia. His team secured a defense jury verdict. He also served as lead counsel for West in class action claims arising from the alleged release of chemicals from their North Carolina facility. He currently heads the team defending Firmenich in the national diacetyl litigation. He assisted Innophos with a significant international arbitration arising from disputes over a long-term supply agreement. Mr. Wajert has assisted West with a commercial dispute arising over intellectual property rights concerning an important medical device innovation. He has represented multiple clients in putative class actions raising state consumer fraud, unfair or deceptive trade act claims. His products liability experience has also included pharmaceuticals, forklifts, asbestos, PCBs, isocyanates, and other chemicals.

Clients regularly retain Mr. Wajert as a trusted advisor on complex commercial issues. A significant part of his practice involves advising clients in the mergers & acquisitions context on the potential litigation risks they may acquire with their purchase, and ways to mitigate those risks. He also regularly advises clients about litigation risks arising from their entrance into new geographic or product markets. Mr. Wajert also is frequently called upon by clients to monitor ongoing litigation for them, such as that involving welding rods, as plaintiffs threaten to add new classes of defendants. He has advised clients based outside the U.S. on the risks relating to new label regulations. Clients also frequently reach out to Mr. Wajert for advice and counsel regarding emerging tort issues, such as those involving the chemical BPA in food containers, or the potential liability issues related to a new technology for cord blood storage. Mr. Wajert has advised clients in the adhesives industry on formaldehyde exposure issues, emerging science, and the potential impact of events in In Re FEMA Trailer Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1873 (E.D. La.).

Since 2003, Mr. Wajert has been ranked annually among the top product liability lawyers by Chambers USA, a referral guide to leading lawyers in the United States based on the opinions of their peers and clients. Chambers has noted Mr. Wajert’s significant role in the firm’s rapid ascent to prominence in the products liability market, and has praised him as a “calm and organized” lawyer who “continues to deliver high quality work in the pharmaceutical area.” Mr. Wajert has also been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for product liability and mass tort litigation.

In 2010, Mr. Wajert was elected a member of the American Law Institute, the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law. He currently serves as the chair of the Mass Torts & Class Actions subcommittee of the Defense Research Institute. DRI is the voice of the defense bar, a national organization of more than 22,000 defense trial lawyers and corporate counsel. The Products Liability Committee of the DRI includes more than 3,000 members, and offers educational, expert, and informational resources to product liability defense lawyers around the globe.

In 2011, Mr. Wajert was recommended by The Legal 500 (U.S.) for his work in product liability and mass tort defense in the areas of toxic tort and consumer products (including tobacco).

Mr. Wajert is the author of the widely read blog Mass Tort Defense, which focuses on the defense of complex commercial litigation and significant products liability matters.

Education

Harvard University, A.B., 1981, Magna cum laude
University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D., 1994, Cum laude, Order of the Coif, Editor-in-Chief of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review
Fellow, Salzburg Seminar program "Transnational Legal Institutions" (1994) Original Barrister, University of Pennsylvania Law School National "Inn of Court" (1995-1997)

Court Admissions

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Bar Admissions/Qualifications

Pennsylvania

Clerkships

Honorable Arlin M. Adams, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Memberships

Invited Attendee, Working Group on Mass Torts of the Federal Rules Civil Advisory Committee (listed in Final Report Spring, 1999)
American Law Institute
Defense Research Institute

Publications and Lectures