Maria Katina Karos Partner, Dallas, Texas Complex Litigation Life Sciences Commercial Litigation Environmental and Toxic Tort Product Liability Maria Katina Karos 469.227.8200 tel 469.227.8004 fax maria.karos@sedgwicklaw.com Current Scope of Practice Maria Karos is an accomplished trial attorney, known for her creative strategies and ability to effectively communicate with juries. She has successfully handled litigation matters in state and federal court for more than 20 years, and currently acts as national trial counsel and regional counsel for multiple clients. She focuses her practice on high-stakes catastrophic injury cases and complex business litigation matters. As national trial counsel for several clients, she has defended them in trial not only in her home state of Texas but also in Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and West Virginia. She is also regional counsel for several clients in litigation in Texas. Her vast experience in commercial litigation includes, in part, successfully representing clients in oil and gas litigation over royalty interests, drilling negligence and catastrophic injury; franchise and business disputes; proprietary and trade secret litigation; commercial landlord-tenant disputes; and contract and Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act claims. Litigation / Trial Matters Toxic Tort Litigation After several years as a successful commercial litigator, Ms. Karos began representing several companies in toxic tort litigation in Texas. Her clients quickly realized that her trial skills could be utilized in jurisdictions far beyond her home state. Since 1995, she has been national trial counsel for several clients in jurisdictions around the country. She has tried more than 30 cases from coast to coast and her client demands continue to place her in the most challenging cases in the country. Asbestos: She represented a company whose former refractory division, at one time, sold a number of asbestos-containing products. She defends a major building products manufacturer who once made asbestoscontaining products. Likewise she and her team defend an international energy equipment company in trials in numerous states, primarily in the Northeast. In most cases tried to verdict, the plaintiffs have a rare form of incurable cancer most notably caused by asbestos exposure.
Silica and Chemical Exposures: Successfully defended several companies that sold industrial products that contained silica sand, kaolin clay, aplite, alumina, and related industrial minerals for the glass, foundry, building products and ceramics who were sued by persons who were exposed to these products and who contracted silicosis or other respiratory diseases. Breast Implant Litigation: Successful defense of a corporate joint venture member of a breast implant manufacturer in numerous multi-plaintiff lawsuits filed by women who had breast implants and allegedly suffered from increased risk of cancer, auto-immune disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, and other physical, mental and emotional aliments. The joint venture defendant was eventually dismissed from these lawsuits by various courts in Texas or plaintiffs' attorneys simply dismissed the client after receiving briefing from Ms. Karos and the attorneys representing the corporate joint venture defendant on the lack of legal merit of the claims against it. Class Action Litigation Ms. Karos has extensive experience in defending class action lawsuits. She has represented many companies defending against potential classes seeking damages for personal injuries, business and economic loss and statutory damage claims. Mass Tort: Ms. Karos has defended class action cases for clients who have manufactured, sold or distributed products alleged to cause personal injuries, including respiratory impairment, cognitive deprivation, cancer, nervous disorders, chronic fatigue, various auto-immune deficiency diseases and other illnesses. Software Defective Design and Allegedly Deceptive Trade Practices: Ms. Karos headed a team of attorneys who defended software designers and manufacturers against accusations that their software products were defectively designed, released to the public with knowledge of the defects, and was done so with the knowledge and intent to harm the consumers of the products. Telephone Consumer Protection Act: Ms. Karos and her team of attorneys successfully defended a client in a proposed nationwide class action of recipients of unsolicited facsimiles in a relatively new area in the law where the statute presented numerous certification and constitutional issues. Commercial Litigation Ms. Karos has continually enjoyed representing clients in a vast array of business disputes and her clients appreciate her business acumen and litigation savvy. Her engagements have included a wide range of strategies from pre-litigation mediation, intensive litigation and when called for, trial. She has tried dozens of cases to verdict and defended those clients on appeal as well. A few significant cases are highlighted below. Successfully defended at trial multiple Chicago apparel companies sued for breach of contract. An individual who worked for the predecessor corporation brought suit against Ms. Karos' clients for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, quantum meruit and other contractual claims. After deliberating for 10 minutes, the jury returned a take-nothing judgment for Ms. Karos' clients.
Represented a number of high-profile commercial landlords in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in commercial landlord/tenant disputes. Ms. Karos orchestrated commercial lock-outs of tenants, tried forcible entry and detainer actions, sought property damages suffered by Landlords and successfully defended large damage counterclaims brought by former tenants at trial. Represented insurance companies at trial in several breach of contract, and other contractual remedies including fraud, fraudulent inducement and Texas Deceptive Trade Practices actions brought by policy holders against the companies. Ms. Karos and her team exonerated their clients at trial or on appeal. Represented at trial an international multi-million dollar company in the business of customized printed circuit board assemblies seeking recovery of costs associated with excess inventory arising from a $6.5 million business relationship. Both companies sued each other on numerous theories including breach of written and oral contracts, fraud, fraudulent inducement, economic duress, and declaratory judgments. Although the jury found the companies liable on certain theories of recovery, that liability was legally excused and Ms. Karos' client was absolved of payment of more than a half million dollars in damages. Represented a debtor, a large diversified building materials company, in a bankruptcy adversary proceeding wherein the debtor case was the largest filed bankruptcy at the time in the Northern District of Texas. In the adversary proceeding that arose from the bankruptcy, the debtor was sued by a French cement manufacturer for deed reformation of a contaminated waste site adjacent to the largest cement manufacturing plant in the United States. The plant, located in Michigan, had been sold by the debtor to the French company years before. Successfully represented commercial contractors in various matters from contract disputes with owners and subcontractors, defense of defective design claims and construction defect cases. In each case, although prepared to try the cases to a jury, Ms. Karos and her team were able to successfully achieve a resolution of the claims. Successful representation of an international franchise company s termination of a master franchise securing a judgment in excess of $1 million and defeating all claims against it for failure to disclose under the Federal Trade Commission Regulations and fraud in federal court. She similarly successfully defended the company in several lawsuits in breach of contract litigation in Texas. Representation at trial of an international oil and gas company when sued for multi-millions of dollars on loss of well claims asserted by a drilling operator and land and royalty owners. After years of litigation culminating in jury selection, Ms. Karos and her team were able to negotiate a beneficial resolution of all claims brought by all parties. In unrelated litigation, Ms. Karos and her team defended and oil rig component part manufacturer in a catastrophic wrongful death case that successfully resolved short of trial. Representation of a commercial land investor in a federal court jury trial who sued for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract involving a limited partnership s investment in undeveloped commercial property. At trial, Ms. Karos defeated all claims against her client and ultimately appealed the jury verdict to the United States Supreme Court.
Affiliations, Activities and Accomplishments Ms. Karos is admitted to practice in Texas (1990), Alabama (1991) and Pennsylvania (2012). She is a member of the United States Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas. She is a member of the State Bars of Texas, Alabama and Pennsylvania. She is a member of the American Bar Association and active in the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), where she is a member of the Diversity, the Toxic and Hazardous Substances, and Products Liability committees. Ms. Karos co-chaired the Regional IADC Meeting and Program, The Perks and Perils of Social Media in the Courtroom in April 2012. She is also a member of the National Association for Women Lawyers and the Dallas Bar Association. Ms. Karos was a Barrister in the Patrick E. Higginbotham Inn of Court. Ms. Karos was recognized as A Texas Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly, October 2004. Ms. Karos is proud to have been the founder of the first ballet program at a Dallas-area Boys and Girls Club. Presentations and Publications Ms. Karos lectures on a variety of litigation topics, including trial strategies, voir dire and jury selection. Her publications and presentations include: Sedgwick University Programs 2012 Don t Be an Amateur: Use of Social Media in Discovery and Trial, (Lecturer) 2012 Mediation by Fire, (Lecturer) 2012 The Art of Jury Selection, (Lecturer) 2009-2011 Trial Academy, (Faculty) 2009 Succession Planning, (Lecturer) 2009 Introduction to Sedgwick University. (Dean, Sedgwick University) Legal Organization/Associations 2009 Trial Graphics and Demonstratives: Let Them See What You Mean and Remember, Perrin Asbestos Litigation Conference (Lecturer) 2006 The State of Litigation in Texas, Lexis Nexis Mealy Conference (Lecturer) 2004 Voir Dire and Jury Selection Issues, Texas State Bar CLE, The Ultimate Trial Notebook: Family Law (Lecturer)
2004 ewomen Network, Make it Legal (Legal checkups for your business are just as important as medical checkups with your doctor) 2004 Real Simple, What Does That Mean? The gestures people make with their eyes and bodies may say more than what comes out of their mouths. Eighteen body-language basics. (Quoted as an expert) 2003 Industryweek.com, Order of the Torts: Despite company plans to settle asbestos claims, business continues to seek federal civil-suit limits. The States, however, may have the final word. (Quoted as an expert) 2003 Make It Legal, Entrepreneur Magazine (Legal tips on how to maintain a healthy business) 2002 Selected by D Magazine as one of the Best Lawyers Under 40 in Dallas (More than 5,000 of the city s attorneys were asked to recommend their peers in more than 20 areas of practice. More than 2,500 licensed attorneys cast their ballots. (D Magazine reviewed the winners carefully before finalizing the list of 101 selected attorneys.) Education Ms. Karos earned her J.D. (1990) from the Cumberland School of Law. She received her B.A. in Economics (1986) from Randolph-Macon Woman s College.