Lauren M. Michals
Counsel

Practice Areas

Experience

Lauren Michals’ practice focuses on commercial litigation in state and federal court with an emphasis on toxic tort, product liability and environmental litigation. She has represented clients in class actions and consolidated multi-district litigation and has served as local and national counsel in mass tort product liability cases involving medical devices, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, and asbestos-containing products.

Representative Matters

• National and local counsel breast implant litigation for several defendants, defending claims related to systemic and local injury.
• Defense and counseling in numerous Proposition 65 matters brought by both private litigants and the State of California involving foods, dietary supplements, and a variety of consumer products.
• Defense of CERCLA claims brought by the State of California against a large battery manufacturer.
• Defense of claims, including false advertising, asserted by the State of California involving the sale of water treatment devices.
• Private anti-trust litigation involving the computer industry.
• Defense of premises liability claims related to toxic exposure.
• Defense of claims arising out of the use of diet drugs.
• Defense of product liability personal injury claims related to minimally invasive surgical platform.

Publications

• “The Duty to Report Malpractice by Trial Counsel”, Defense Research Institute, November 2009, Lauren Michals and David Tennant
• “Children’s Products: The CPSIA, CA’s Phthalate Regulation, and Proposition 65: Living in Harmony?”, Law Journal Newsletters, Products Liability, Law & Strategy, Volume 29, Number 4, November 2009, Lauren M. Michals and Alexandra Epand
• California Environmental Common Law, California Environmental and Natural Resource Law Handbook, 12 ed., Government Institutes, Rockville, Maryland, 2004.
• No Slam Dunk: Federal Law May Not Pre-empt Proposition 65. San Francisco Daily Journal. 1997.

Presentations

• Proposition 65: Acrylamide in Foods, SNAXPO 2003, International Snack Food Association National Meeting, San Francisco, CA. 2003.
• Clinical Trials: Product Liability Pitfalls and How to Minimize the Risk, Medtech Insight Conference, Investment in Innovation: A Preview of Early Stage Medical Companies, San Francisco, CA. 2002.

Admissions

Lauren is admitted to practice in California

Education

University of Chicago Law School, J.D.
University of California, Santa Barbara, M.A.
University of Michigan, B.A., with honors