Tara Hanley

Biography

Tara has nearly 20 years of experience defending clients in complex litigation in which engineering, medical, scientific and other technical issues are of particular significance. She focuses her practice on the defense of product liability actions, including those involving pharmaceutical products, the defense of negligence actions, the defense of toxic tort and environmental actions, the defense and prosecution of intellectual property claims, the defense of government agency actions against product manufacturers and suppliers, and certain types of commercial litigation actions.

Tara has a national practice and has defended cases pending throughout the United States. She is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers in the Field of Products Liability and is one of only two attorneys in Dallas, Texas and four attorneys in all of Texas listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers in the Field of Product Liability. Tara has been AV rated by the Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory every year since 1999. At the time that she was initially awarded the AV rating, Tara was the youngest associate at the major Texas law firm at which she practiced prior to founding Markland Hanley to receive this honor.

Tara’s practice includes the defense of mass torts and catastrophic injury and death cases. She has a wide range of experience defending clients in Texas, as well as in cases pending throughout the United States, involving product liability, including pharmaceutical product liability, wrongful death, toxic torts, mass torts, environmental exposures, technology matters, premises liability, deceptive trade practices, warranty claims, and commercial contract claims.

Tara is particularly interested in representing clients in the most advanced and highly technical industries, such as the pharmaceutical industry, the biotechnologically and biogenetically engineered products industries, the computer and computer chips industries, the electronics industry, and industries providing and utilizing nano particles and nano technology.

Prior to founding Markland Hanley, Tara practiced for 14 years with the law firm of Vinson & Elkins LLP.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE*

Representative Pharmaceutical, Toxic Tort, and Mass Tort Experience

• Represented major pharmaceutical manufacturer in multiple suits arising from the use of a prescription anti-obesity (anorectic) medication alleged to have caused an increased risk of valvular heart disease and pulmonary hypertension, particularly in women. The law firm at which Tara practiced at the time of this mass tort and MDL litigation served as regional counsel for the manufacturer of the medication, and Tara was among the attorneys principally involved in its defense. Over 50,000 product liability lawsuits were filed, and estimates of total liability ran as high as $ 14 billion
• Assisted in the defense of a products liability claim against a pharmaceutical manufacturer in which it was alleged that a seven year old boy died due to ingestion of a pharmaceutical product. The case was disposed of through the client providing a $200,000 memorial contribution in memory of the deceased child
• Assisted in the defense of a potential products liability lawsuit against a pharmaceutical manufacturer in which the injured party alleged that she contracted hantavirus through ingestion of the pharmaceutical manufacturer’s product. After the defense persuaded the potential plaintiff to undergo a testing process conducted by one of the world’s leading authorities on hantavirus, which testing process led to the conclusion that the injured party was, in fact, not suffering from hantavirus, no lawsuit was filed
• Defended numerous toxic tort cases involving silica and asbestos containing products
• Assisted in obtaining voluntary dismissal of claims against a major vehicle manufacturer in a series of cases filed by a prominent plaintiff’s law firm in Orange County, Texas and Hidalgo County, Texas, in which injuries from diesel fuel exposure were alleged
• Defended mass tort cases involving alleged exposures to hazardous wastes emitted from hazardous waste disposal facility
• Represented major tire manufacturer in high profile mass tort personal injury litigation involving tires which were recalled in a national recall program. Suits arising from rollover accidentswere filed in multiple Texas jurisdictions. A number of the suits were brought by foreign nationals and arose from accidents occurring in foreign venues, which presented significant forum non conveniens and venue issues
• Assisted in the defense of cases involving injuries arising from the application of hair preparations and solutions
• Represented clients in cases involving alleged exposures to asbestos, benzene, carbon monoxide, diesel exhaust, aromatic hydrocarbons, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, silica, vinyl chloride monomer, and a wide variety of hazardous wastes
• Defended cases involving multiple chemical sensitivities
• Assisted in the defense of a major death case involving toxicity of burning materials
• Experience in toxic torts includes experience in cases dealing with workplace exposures, accidental releases, and hazardous waste disposal cases
• Developed extensive knowledge of disease processes and injuries, including back and spinal cord injuries, cancers, neurologic injuries, heart valve disease, primary pulmonary hypertension, adult respiratory distress syndrome, mixed connective tissues disorders, autoimmune disease, silicosis, and asbestosis

Other Significant Experience

• Represented major computer manufacturer in class action suit brought on behalf of all purchasers of the manufacturer’s products containing an allegedly defective floppy disk controller chip
• Obtained summary judgment for manufacturer and transporter of industrial products in products liability case pending in Dallas County, Texas suit involving worker who was crushed to death when manufacturer’s product fell from a flatbed trailer during unloading
• Obtained summary judgment for heavy truck manufacturer in wrongful death case pending in Harris County, Texas in which the truck’s left forward drive axle shaft and attached wheels and tires separated from the truck and struck plaintiff’s decedent’s windshield, killing him instantly
• Obtained summary judgment for heavy truck manufacturer in post-collision fuel fed fire case wrongful death case pending in Harris County, Texas
• Obtained summary judgment for heavy truck manufacturer in a case pending in Dallas County, Texas involving loss of the truck’s front wheel which collided with plaintiff’s pickup truck
• Obtained summary judgment for school bus chassis manufacturer in a products liability case pending in Hood County, Texas involving a school bus which ran over and severely injured a school child
• Obtained voluntary dismissal for product manufacturer in a products liability case pending in Tulsa County, Oklahoma involving a tree trimming manlift mounted on a truck chassis in which the manlift collapsed and injured the occupant
• Obtained non-suit of claims arising in products liability case pending in Maverick County, Texas in which brake components flew off a heavy tractor/trailer rig, struck a vehicle, hit the driver and allegedly caused significant brain injury
• Assisted in the defense of a product liability toxic tort case involving inhalation of carbon monoxide with alleged brain and neurological injuries filed in the U.S. District Court, Marshall, Texas, which was settled for $300,000. The plaintiff had been declared totally and permanently disabled by the United States Social Security Administration and by the Texas Worker’s Compensation Commission
• Settled a products liability case filed against manufacturer of container used to hold hot wonton soup which spilled on 5 year old boy leading to severe burn injuries to his genital area for $8,000
• Assisted in the defense of death case involving a farm tractor rollover, filed in Duval County, Texas by a prominent south Texas plaintiff’s lawyer. The case was settled for $350,000
• Assisted in the defense of a post collision fuel fed fire product liability case involving severe burns pending in Yellowstone County, Montana, which was settled for $ 45,000 with little expense to the client
• Obtained settlement and full release of liability with client paying nothing for hot water heater thermostat manufacturer in products liability case involving extensive property damage due to alleged thermostat malfunction and resulting flood
• Obtained $1,200,000 settlement, on the eve of trial, for the plaintiff, a young mother suing on behalf of herself and her toddler, in case in which the child was injured while under the care of the defendant daycare facility and the facility subsequently failed to inform the mother about the child’s accident and injury
• Represented foreign businesses in breach of contract and general business disputes filed in Texas state and federal courts
• Defended clients in cases involving multiple fatalities, quadriplegia, paraplegia, brain damage, amputations, and severe burns
• Represented clients in wrongful death and serious injury cases involving alleged pharmaceutical product defects, crashworthiness, post-collision fuel fed fires, restraints, tire design and manufacture, unexpected acceleration, conspicuity, rollover protection systems, alleged component failures, and a wide variety of allegations regarding the design of automotive and other products and alleged failures to warn
• Represented clients in employment disputes involving alleged wrongful termination, gender discrimination, civil conspiracy, negligent supervision and hiring, and intentional infliction of emotional distress
• Represented clients in suits involving alleged breaches of commercial contracts

Professional Activities and Recognition

• Listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers in the Field of Products Liability
• Listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers in the Field of Products Liability
• AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory since 1999
• Selected for recognition in Who’s Who in American Law
• Member – Defense Research Institute and its Drug And Medical Device Committee, Product Liability Committee, Diversity Committee, and Women and the Law Committee
• Member – American Bar Association, its Section of Litigation, and its Section of Science and Technology Law
• Member – Texas Bar Association
• Author, Dale Markland and Tara Hanley of Markland Hanley Are Creating a Truly Diverse Law Firm For the 21st Century, 2010 (publication pending)
• Guest Corporate Speaker for Navistar, Inc.: U.C.C., Lemon Law, Deceptive Trade Practice, and Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act Claims in Texas, 1998
• Attended: Biotech PrimeróThree day Advanced Bioimmersion Course relating to biotechnical issues, including DNA, genomics, genetic engineering, and cloning, 2008; Annual A. C. I. Drug and Medical Device Litigation Course, 2006 and 2007

Education and Professional Background

• Duke University, B.A. With Honors in Public Policy Studies, 1988
• The London School of Economics and Political Science, visiting student, 1986
• Southern Methodist University School of Law, J.D., 1992; Notes and Comments Editor, Southern Methodist University Law Review 1991-92
• Admitted to practice: Texas, 1992; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas; United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas

* Markland Hanley is a new law firm. Much of the listed experience was gained by Markland Hanley trial lawyers prior to the creation of Markland Hanley.

Prior experience or results do not guarantee similar outcomes in present or future representation.