Biography

With over 30 years of front-line litigation experience, Hall R. Marston brings a deep and diverse range of skills to the service of the firm’s clients. With more than 22 jury trials, 100 plus appellate matters, and over 30 published opinions which have molded significant elements of the nation’s jurisprudence, Mr. Marston’s practice encompasses a broad sweep of general civil litigation, including products liability, professional liability and healthcare, employment, complex business litigation, corporate and partnership disputes, surety and insurance coverage disputes. As a Certified Appellate Specialist, by the California State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization, Mr. Marston continues to help shape decisional authority in a wide array of practice areas.

Products Liability

From the outset of his practice to the present, Mr. Marston has had the privilege of participating in some of the major episodes of mass tort litigation regarding pharmaceuticals and medical devices. He has represented defendants in the diethylstilbestrol (“DES”), Dalkon Shield, DPT and polio vaccine, TMJ Teflon implant, Bendectin, and breast implant litigation. In this field, Mr. Marston has had perhaps the most impact in developing the law before the nation’s appellate courts in this challenging environment for manufacturers and distributors:

• Daubert v. Merrell Dow: Mr. Marston represented the manufacturer of Bendectin, the only FDA approved therapy for morning sickness, in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established the trial court’s obligation to act as a “gatekeeper” to exclude unreliable expert testimony. 
• Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories: The DES litigation posed an intriguing challenge to the California Supreme Court concerning under what circumstances would the children of women who could not identify the manufacturer of an anti-miscarriage therapy be allowed to proceed in the pursuit of a products liability claim.  Mr. Marston represented the manufacturer who took the lead in advocating the industry’s position regarding “market-share liability,” and this opinion is the landmark on the subject.
• Merrell Dow v. Havner: While Daubert spoke to the admissibility of expert testimony under the Federal Rules of Evidence, many state courts of last resort focused on fashioning like rules, following the lead of the U.S. Supreme Court. In this case, Mr. Marston, again representing the manufacturer of Bendectin, urged that the Texas Supreme Court adopt the rationale of Daubert, and overturn a $33 million dollar verdict which was based on unreliable “meta-analysis” of epidemiological data on congenital birth defects and in vitro animal studies. The Texas high court agreed, reversed the judgment, and ordered that judgment be entered in favor of the manufacturer.
• Toole v. McClintock: At the beginning of the nationwide breast implant litigation, the manufacturers were reeling from a wave of bad publicity and adverse verdicts. In this case, where Mr. Marston represented appellant Baxter Healthcare Corporation, the 11th Circuit reversed a multi-million judgment, which helped turn the tide against a swell of judgments in plaintiffs favor.
  

One of the first appeals in California of a breast implant case was handled by Mr. Marston, resulting in the affirmance of a judgment in favor of his client. Mr. Marston also successfully represented the manufacturer of the leading anti-anxiety therapy when the California Court of Appeal affirmed a judgment following a jury trial for the defendant. Mr. Marston also represented the parent corporation of a major breast implant manufacturer in proceedings around the country concerning whether the parent was a proper party-defendant in those cases.  He is a member of the firm’s product liability practice group.

Mr. Marston has also represented the defense in mass tort litigation involving tobacco (including a published California appellate opinion on the controversial limitations/revival statute), asbestos, benzene exposure litigation, as well handling suits involving heavy machinery, hand held small tools, and environmental contamination.  After preparing a summary judgment motion for a manufacturer of a wood-working table router on the grounds of post-sale modifications, the plaintiff accepted a settlement from Mr. Marston’s client of less than one tenth of further costs of defense.

Other Litigation Experience

Mr. Marston is a member of the firm's Professional Liability, Employment and Labor, Healthcare, Appellate, and Commercial practice groups.  Before appellate courts, he has participated in cases resulting in published opinions in each of these areas.  At the trial court level, he has tried or handled litigation in each area as well, and has also handled many matters in anti-competitive tort litigation.

Publications and Presentations

Mr. Marston was selected by the Appellate Courts Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association to co-author, at the request of the California Courts of Appeal, Second Appellate District, a publication entitled Basic Civil Appellate Practice for the Court of Appeal in the Second District (2003), which serves as a guide for the novice appellate practitioner and lay people for advocacy in that appellate district.

Mr. Marston served as a consultant and editor of the conversion and common carrier chapters in Bancroft-Whitney's California Civil Practice, Torts (1992). Most recently, Mr. Marston’s article “'Suggestive Palma' Notice, Dilemma Resolved” was published in The Daily Journal (2010). He is a contributor to Sedgwick’s Appellate Strategist blog.

Memberships & Honors

Mr. Marston is a Certified Specialist, Appellate Law, and The State Bar of California Office of Legal Specialization. 

Mr. Marston has lectured before the Defense Research Institute, where he serves as a member of the appellate practice committee, the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, the California Continuing Education of Bar, and at the New York University School of Law.  He is member of the Defense Research Institute and the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Appellate Courts Committee, and the America Business Trial Lawyers Association.

Mr. Marston is an active member of the community, and is an elder and deacon of the Presbyterian Church USA, Brentwood Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles, California.  Mr. Marston is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.