Elizabeth Runyan Geise
Areas of Practice
Elizabeth Geise, a partner in the firm’s Litigation Department, specializes in litigating and counseling in several areas, primarily toxic torts, environmental law and insurance coverage disputes. Ms. Geise has practiced before state and federal trial and appellate courts and administrative agencies around the country.
Work for Clients
Ms. Geise has represented several corporations – including some based primarily outside the United States – on a variety of toxic tort matters, including those arising out of exposure to asbestos and uranium. Her work has involved litigating on toxic tort issues in state and federal courts, as well as strategic planning concerning how corporations should deal with large-scale toxic tort problems, especially those that involve diseases with long latency periods.
Ms. Geise has worked for several years as national coordinating counsel for a major building materials manufacturer that is a defendant in thousands of asbestos personal injury lawsuits. In this role, she supervises local counsel throughout the United States and is responsible for the overall defense of the litigation, as well as coordinating and maintaining a consistent litigation strategy on a nationwide basis. In these cases, Ms. Geise manages the discovery, defends or takes depositions, works with experts in many fields, helps develop defense strategy, and participates at trials. Also in the field of asbestos litigation, Ms. Geise was part of a team of Goodwin Procter lawyers that represented the Center for Claims Resolution in its efforts to settle the thousands of pending and future personal injury asbestos claims in the Georgine/Amchem nationwide settlement class action.
In Rainer v. Union Carbide Corp., 402 F.3d 608 (6th Cir. 2005), Ms. Geise and her colleagues defended...more » Ms. Geise has represented several corporations – including some based primarily outside the United States – on a variety of toxic tort matters, including those arising out of exposure to asbestos and uranium. Her work has involved litigating on toxic tort issues in state and federal courts, as well as strategic planning concerning how corporations should deal with large-scale toxic tort problems, especially those that involve diseases with long latency periods.
Ms. Geise has worked for several years as national coordinating counsel for a major building materials manufacturer that is a defendant in thousands of asbestos personal injury lawsuits. In this role, she supervises local counsel throughout the United States and is responsible for the overall defense of the litigation, as well as coordinating and maintaining a consistent litigation strategy on a nationwide basis. In these cases, Ms. Geise manages the discovery, defends or takes depositions, works with experts in many fields, helps develop defense strategy, and participates at trials. Also in the field of asbestos litigation, Ms. Geise was part of a team of Goodwin Procter lawyers that represented the Center for Claims Resolution in its efforts to settle the thousands of pending and future personal injury asbestos claims in the Georgine/Amchem nationwide settlement class action.
In Rainer v. Union Carbide Corp., 402 F.3d 608 (6th Cir. 2005), Ms. Geise and her colleagues defended General Electric in a medical monitoring class action lawsuit in which plaintiffs claimed injuries due to exposure to plutonium and other transuranic substances from work at a government-owned uranium enrichment plant. After almost five years of discovery and motion practice, the district court granted summary judgment for GE, which was affirmed by the Sixth Circuit followed by the Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari.
Ms. Geise has advised and represented corporations in connection with obtaining insurance coverage for toxic tort and environmental matters, and in connection with environmental matters generally, including issues arising under the Clean Water Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and related state statutes. She has also conducted “toxic tort” due diligence on behalf of clients seeking to buy target companies that are vulnerable to such litigation. In this role, she advises clients concerning potential future tort claims, successor liability, insurance coverage, and similar issues. less »
Professional Activities
Ms. Geise is a member of the Defense Research Institute and the American Bar Association. She also serves in a pro bono capacity as counsel to the Board of Trustees of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland.
Publications/Presentations
Ms. Geise is the author or co-author of several publications concerning asbestos and toxic tort litigation, including “Asbestos Reform in the United States,” presented at C5’s 3rd International Asbestos Claims & Liabilities Conference in January 2007. She has also recently conducted various “webinars” on toxic tort issues, before groups such as the Association of Corporate Counsel and others.
While attending law school, Ms. Geise served as a note editor for the Harvard Law Review.
Professional Experience
Ms. Geise was a partner at Shea & Gardner prior to its combination with Goodwin Procter in 2004. Before her work with Shea & Gardner, she clerked for the Honorable Benjamin Kaplan of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Bar and Court Admissions
Ms. Geise is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and Maryland. She is also admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Sixth, Seventh, and District of Columbia Circuits.
Education
J.D., Harvard Law School, 1980 (magna cum laude)
A.B., University of Michigan, 1977 (with high distinction and high honors in history, Phi Beta Kappa)
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