Everyday, Americans face legal challenges related to physical injury or financial loss from unsafe or defective products, unfair evictions, construction defects, deceptive debt collection practices and more. In a vast majority of these cases, whether wealthy or not, people have either no, or a limited ability to vindicate their rights in court. The inability to afford an attorney, the routine use of so-called “adhesion contracts” which may limit or prevent a judge from hearing a case, and court rules which prevent or create roadblocks to obtaining justice are just some of the topics we explored.
PANELISTS
Mark Cuker, Esq. is one of the Nation’s foremost environmental litigation attorneys. Mark has represented hundreds of citizen groups in his long career, including in Toms River, New Jersey, home to one of the county’s most notorious Superfund Sites and the subject of the Pulitzer Prize winning book, Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation which featured his work. Currently, Mark represents over 500 independent pharmacies in lawsuits against pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) over unfair business practices and below cost reimbursements.
Leah Nicholls is Director of Public Justice’s Access to Justice Project which focuses on ensuring the civil court system is an equitable tool for justice instead of an obstacle. Leah has briefed, argued, and won cases in state and federal appellate courts across the country and spoken at numerous national conferences on topics such as arbitration, class certification, standing, court secrecy, preemption, and consumer protection.
Francis Greenburger is the founder and president of the Greenburger Center for Justice, founder, chief executive officer and guiding force behind Time Equities Inc., Chairman of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, Inc., and founder and principal benefactor of Omi International Arts Center. Among other board positions, Francis serves as Chairman of NY Edge, the largest provider of after school programs in NYC’s public school system.
MODERATORS
Valerie Watnick is Professor and Chair of the Department of Law at the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College. Professor Watnick has written multiple law review articles on the regulation of toxic substances to protect human health under the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, and the regulation of pesticides under the Food Quality Protection Act (“FQPA”) and the Fungicide, Rodenticide, Insecticide Act (“FIFRA”). She has written extensively about industrial animal agriculture, climate change and more humane animal farming practices.
Robert Wagner is an Associate Professor and Deputy Chair of the Department of Law at the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College. He has written about corporations, suits against corporations and criminal and securities law. He is a graduate of Cornell Law School and holds and MBA from Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
