The following is an excerpt from Practice Perspectives: Vault's Guide to Legal Practice Areas.
Jackie Pasek focuses her practice on defending companies in complex product liability and mass tort lawsuits spanning a variety of industries. She has been a team member and trial counsel in more than 20 high-stakes jury trials brought to verdict in federal and state courts throughout the country, including in Ohio, Florida, New Mexico, New York, and Oregon. She also has other significant litigation experience, ranging from wrongful death litigation, multidistrict litigation, and employment and tortious interference actions to insurance recovery cases.
Jackie represents clients in all phases of high-stakes litigation and alternative dispute resolution, from responding to the initial complaint to litigating the case through trial and on appeal. At trial, Jackie has presented opening and closing arguments and conducted direct and cross-examinations of fact and expert witnesses with a vast range of specialties (including historians, economists, psychologists, pulmonologists, oncologists, epidemiologists, and treating physicians).
Jackie is also a leader in the Cleveland community. She is active in the firm’s pro bono practice and is presently serving her second term on the Board of Directors for Children and Family Advocates of Cuyahoga County. Jackie is the co-leader of the Jones Day Cleveland office’s new lawyer group.
The views and opinions set forth herein are the personal views or opinions of the authors; they do not necessarily reflect views or opinions of the law firm with which they are associated.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
My practice at Jones Day is called business and tort litigation. We focus on the defense of clients facing bet-the-company litigation and other high-stakes matters, including multidistrict litigation, class actions, wrongful death litigation, and commercial disputes across a variety of industries such as automotive, aviation, energy, intellectual property, consumer products, pharmaceutical, and medical devices. The business and tort litigation practice works with Jones Day’s other disputes practices like issues and appeals to deliver top results for our clients in all stages of litigation. We have so many talented litigation attorneys at Jones Day, making us one of the top firms that companies turn to for their most challenging litigation. I truly believe that it’s been the ability to work alongside and learn from those standout attorneys that has made me the lawyer I am today.
What types of clients do you represent?
I focus the majority of my practice on defending companies in products liability actions brought by users of those products. Throughout my career, that has meant representing clients in industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to consumer home goods. Outside of the products liability sphere, however, I have represented and advised clients in a wide array of industries from healthcare systems to public utilities and appliance manufacturers.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
The bread and butter of my practice is my work representing clients in products liability jury trials across the country. Over the past decade, I’ve served as a trial team member and chaired counsel in over 15 multiweek products liability jury trials in both federal and state courts. I’ve also recently defended companies in cases involving general negligence and employment-related claims.
How did you choose this practice area?
I’ve always loved writing and public speaking and even considered working as a political speech writer before I made the decision to go to law school. When I learned that a career in litigation meant that I could channel those passions into my day-to-day practice, I suspected it was the right area of the law for me. And then, after I actually had an opportunity to shadow a senior litigator at a few depositions and attend my first trial, I was hooked, and there was no turning back. And with so many exceptional trial lawyers at Jones Day, I had the ability from the very beginning of my career to practice with and learn from the very best litigators in the country.
What is a “typical” day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
No two days are the same in my practice so it’s hard for me to describe a “typical” day. Instead, I’ll describe what a typical week could look like. On Monday, I might spend the day reviewing key documents and background materials in preparation for a deposition of an expert economist, historian, or treating medical provider that I take on Tuesday. Midweek, I could be spending time on the phone or Zoom with clients advising them regarding product recall questions or pending discovery disputes, or I could be reviewing a draft motion for summary judgment due later in the week. And on Friday, I could be appearing (virtually or in person) before a court in a case management conference for a jury trial about to start in the next couple weeks in either federal or state court pretty much anywhere in the United States.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
The best experience is practical experience. Civil litigation clinics, moot court, and appellate advocacy groups and competitions are all excellent on-your-feet training for what I do. I’d also highly recommend taking advantage of local internship opportunities. While in law school, I interned at the Ohio Supreme Court, where I spent most of my time reading and researching arguments in briefs submitted to the court. I also interned at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio. Both of those experiences allowed me to see what litigation—and great legal advocacy—looked like in the real world. What’s more, after I started at Jones Day, I was given opportunity after opportunity to sharpen my litigation and oral advocacy skills, including managing my own pro bono cases from very early in my career (with senior attorney oversight and guidance, of course) as well as taking advantage of firm training initiatives like deposition and motion workshops and multiday mini-trial programs.
What is the most challenging aspect of practicing in this area?
At this point in my life (as a mom to two little girls), the most challenging aspect of my practice is being gone for long stretches at a time for trials. Most of my trials last from three to five weeks, and it’s not usually practical to come home on weekends. But since I typically have only one or two trials a year, good planning and preparing my girls in advance that I’ll be gone (along with some well-timed family visits) have made it manageable for my whole family.
What do you like best about your practice area?
The variety of my job keeps every day in the office interesting, but nothing really compares to standing up and saying, “May it please the court” before I start a critical motion argument or an opening or closing statement. Likewise, the adrenaline rush that comes along with starting a direct or cross-examination—knowing that no matter how well-prepared I am (and we always are), I’m never quite sure how it’s going to go—simply can’t be beat.
As a law student during the interview process, I was looking to work at a top-tier law firm where I would be given actual in-court roles and speaking opportunities early in my career. Jones Day absolutely did that for me. I was a team member on my first jury trial within six months of starting, and now—over a decade and some 20 jury trials later—I’m often called on to be chaired trial counsel in high-stakes litigation.
What are some typical tasks that a junior lawyer would perform in this practice area?
Junior lawyers should be the masters of the facts for any litigation matter they are working on, which means taking the time to learn all the documents and read everything they can (depositions, medical records, expert reports, and supporting materials) with an eye for detail. Senior associates and partners usually have to devote their time and energy to preparing the case for trial and making major strategic decisions, so having reliable junior associates that know the case backwards and forwards when called upon really makes those associates invaluable team members.
What do you feel are the benefits of taking a generalist approach in litigation versus pursuing a more-specialized practice?
I’m never totally comfortable as a generalist litigator. Each case that comes in the door is unique, and there are always new things to learn about whatever industry, product, or claim I’m being asked to litigate. Don’t get me wrong, specializing in certain products or industries can be extremely helpful. Clients value my expertise in a given area or industry, and the institutionalized knowledge that I’ve acquired through working on multiple similar cases allows me to apply what I know to create creative, nuanced arguments. But keeping an open approach to what I’m willing and able to do makes me, in my opinion, a better lawyer as I’m constantly having to learn and stretch my skills.