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Norman J. Watkins

NORMAN J. WATKINS
Member of the Firm

Los Angeles County Office
Sixteenth Floor
888 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles
California 90017

Orange County Office
333 City Boulevard West
Suite 640
Orange, California 92868

(213) 624-8700 or
(714) 937-1010
nwatkins@lynberg.com


Norman J. Watkins

Education:
Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, 1963-1965.
Bachelor of Arts, Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA, 1965-1967.
Juris Doctor, University of Pittsburgh, School of Law, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1971.

Professional Affiliations:
All State and Federal Courts of California and Pennsylvania.
United States Supreme Court.
U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit.
Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, Amicus Committee Co-Chairman, 1988.
American Bar Association (Tort and Insurance Law Sections).
International Association of Defense Counsel.
Defense Research Institute.
American Board of Trial Advocates, Rank: Diplomate.

Professional Experience:
1972 - 1973, Executive Director, Northwestern Pennsylvania Legal Services Association.
1973 - 1979, Deputy Attorney General; Chief of the Civil Litigation Division, Pennsylvania Department of Justice, Civil Litigation Division, jury and bench trials and appeals in both federal and state courts; successful arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States, various Circuit Courts of Appeal and State Supreme and Intermediate Appellate courts.
1979 - Present, Member, Lynberg & Watkins.
Conducted 80-100 Federal and State trials in various state and federal jurisdictions. Argued numerous appeals in both state and federal courts of appeal.
1995 – present, Instructor, National Institute of Trial Advocacy.
Judge, American Board of Trial Advocates trial academy.

Practice Areas:
Civil trials and appeals involving: civil rights, employer liability, toxic tort bad faith defense, professional malpractice, police liability, product liability, construction defect and commercial hauler (trucking) liability.

Publications:
" Kremens v. Bartley, The Case For The State," 27 Hospital and Community Psychiatry 706 (Oct. 1976).
" Defending Multi-Plaintiff Toxic Tort Cases," 26 For the Defense 12 (Dec. 1984).
" Voir Dire: The Defense Perspective”, Advocate, May 1996 (Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles publication); “An Approach to Cross-Examination of an Expert”, For the Defense, May 1997 (Defense Research Institute publication); “Negotiating the Complex Case”, For the Defense, July, 1999 (Defense Research Institute publication).

Reported Cases:
Selected reported decisions (lead counsel):

U.S. Supreme Court —
Kremens v. Bartley, 97 S.Ct. 1709.
Beal v. Doe, 97 S.Ct. 2366.
Secretary of Public Welfare v. Institutionalized Juveniles, 99 S.Ct. 2523.
O'Bannon v. Town Court, 100 S.Ct. 2467 [Retained as Special Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania for Argument and Briefing].
Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Haldermann, 101 S.Ct. 1531 [Retained as Special Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania for Briefing].

Courts of Appeal —
O'Burn v. Shapp, 521 F.2d 142.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Kleppe, 533 F.2d 668.
Erie Human Relations v. Tullio, 493 F.2d 371.
Tulco v. Ciba-Geigy, 191 Cal.App.3d 116.

State Supreme Court —
Pocono Pines Corp. v. Pennsylvania, 464 Pa. 17.
Freach v. Pennsylvania, 354 A.2d 492.

Seminars:
Children's Institutions/Community Care, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University (Princeton, N.J. 1978).
Atlantic States Conference National Association of State Mental Health Directors (Washington, D.C. 1978).
Public Television: "Bad Faith And The Insurance/Litigation Crisis."

Other Professional Activities:
Individually AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Invited Witness, U.S. Senate, Administrative Procedure Act Amendments of 1976, Hearings on S. 3296 before the Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 94th Cong. 2nd Sess. 56, pp. 56-63 (U.S. Government Printing Office).