Name: Eric H. Zagrans
Item: Eric H. Zagrans
Author: eric

Bio

Eric H. Zagrans of Zagrans Law Firm LLC in Elyria, Ohio, is a nationally-known trial and appellate lawyer whose 42 years’ experience in complex business litigation and transactional matters includes service as Associate General Counsel of Ernst & Young, law professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law (teaching federal jurisdiction, civil procedure, evidence and administrative law), and partner at two large (AmLaw 100) national law firms. He has successfully represented clients from Fortune 500 companies to hundreds of thousands of shareholders and policyholders in significant litigation and class actions in 23 federal districts and 19 state jurisdictions throughout the United States. Zagrans’ practice concentrates in the areas of securities, ERISA, accountant and other professional liability, bankruptcy litigation, policyholder rights, director and officer liability, intellectual property, environmental and toxic tort, product liability, antitrust, class action and other “bet the company” complex litigation in the financial services, capital markets, energy, health care and pharmaceuticals sectors.

Zagrans has tried over 40 jury trials and countless bench trials, and his extensive appellate experience includes appearances and oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Second, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Circuits, the Supreme Courts of California and Ohio, and the Ohio Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Eleventh Appellate Districts. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (A.B. 1974) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1977), where he was the national mock trial champion in 1976.

Zagrans has been an active member of the American Law Institute since 1987, and currently participates on its Members’ Consultative Groups for Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation (class actions) and the Restatement of the Law Third – Torts: Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm. The National Chamber Litigation Center, the litigation arm of the United States Chamber of Commerce, appointed Zagrans to its Advisory Committee on Securities Litigation in April 2006. He was board certified as a civil trial specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in 1997. Zagrans has served as an expert in the areas of federal jurisdiction, class actions, attorney liability, accountant liability, attorneys’ fees, environmental rights, and electronic discovery and evidence.

Zagrans is admitted to practice in Ohio (1977), the District of Columbia (1978) and the United States Supreme Court (1981), and is a member of the bars of the United States District Courts for the District of Columbia (1978), District of Maryland (1978), Northern District of Ohio (1978), Southern District of Ohio (2006), Southern District of New York (1990), Eastern District of New York (2002), District of Arizona (1996), Eastern District of Tennessee (1997) and Southern District of Indiana (2006). Zagrans served as a member of the original Advisory Committee on Local Rules for the Northern District of Ohio (1991-94), Law Director for the City of North Ridgeville, Ohio (1999-2004), and law clerk to the Hon. Roszel C. Thomsen, United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and Special Court, Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 (1977-78). Reported cases in which he has been actively involved include:

United States Supreme Court
Grable & Sons Metal Products v. Darue Engineering, 545 U.S. 308 (2005)

DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno, 547 U.S. 332 (2006) (brief on behalf of amici curiae)

Winkelman v. Parma City School District, 550 U.S. 516 (2007) (brief for amici curiae)

Local No. 93 Int’l Ass’n of Firefighters v. City of Cleveland, 478 U.S. 501 (1986)

United States Courts of Appeals
Mikulski v. Centerior Energy Corp., 501 F.3d 555 (6th Cir. 2007) (en banc)

Mikulski v. Centerior Energy Corp., 435 F.3d 666 (6th Cir. 2006)

Keller v. Central Bank of Nigeria, 277 F.3d 811 (6th Cir. 2002)

Rybarczyk v. TRW Inc., 235 F.3d 975 (6th Cir. 2000)

Costantino v. TRW, 13 F.3d 969 (6th Cir. 1994)

In re: Garver, 116 F.3d 176 (6th Cir. 1997)

Simiele v. Cleveland Board of Education, 57 F.3d 1070 (6th Cir. 1995)

City of Cleveland v. Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, 734 F.2d 1157 (6th Cir. 1984), aff’g 538 F. Supp. 1240 (N.D. Ohio 1981) and 538 F. Supp. 1227 (N.D. Ohio 1980)

Record Revolution No. 6 v. City of Parma, Ohio, 709 F.2d 534 (6th Cir. 1983), rev’g 638 F.2d 916 (6th Cir. 1980), and aff’g 492 F. Supp. 1157 (N.D. Ohio 1980)

Phelps v. Sgt. Anderson, 700 F.2d 147 (4th Cir. 1983) (appointed by Fourth Circuit)

Hanna v. Toner, 630 F.2d 442 (6th Cir. 1980) (amicus brief)

Ohio Supreme Court
City of Elyria v. Lorain County Budget Comm., 117 Ohio St.3d 403, 2008-Ohio-940

In re All Kelley & Ferraro Asbestos Cases, 104 Ohio St.3d 605, 2004-Ohio-7104

In re All Kelley & Ferraro Asbestos Cases v. Amchem Products, Inc., 105 Ohio St.3d 287, 2005-Ohio-1650

State ex rel. Committee v. Norris, 99 Ohio St.3d 336, 2003-Ohio-3887

State ex rel. Crobaugh v. White (2001), 91 Ohio St.3d 470

LaCourse v. Fleitz (1986), 28 Ohio St.3d 209 (amicus brief)

Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Marsh (1984), 15 Ohio St.3d 107

California Supreme Court
Navarro v. LaMusga (2004) 32 Cal.4th 1072, 12 Cal.Rptr.3d 356, 88 P.3d 81

Zagrans is the author or co-author of the following articles:

Under Color of What Law: A Reconstructed Model of Section 1983 Liability, 71 Virginia Law Review 499-598 (May 1985)

“Successfully Defending the White-Collar Client,” Best Practices For White Collar Litigation (Inside the Minds Series) (Aspatore Books 2006)

“Civil Rights Actions Against State and Local Governments, Agencies and Officials,” Cleveland Bar Association (1985)

Koykka’s Ohio Appellate Practice, Anderson Publishing Co. (2nd ed. 1988) (co-author)

“Federal Civil Rights Liability of Local Governments and Their Employees Under Section 1983,” Ohio Municipal Law, Chap. 41A, Gotherman and Babbit, ed. 1986 (co-author)

“Liability of Council Members Under 42 U.S.C. 1983,” The Practical Lawyer 83-88 (Mar. 1987)

Contributor: Antitrust Consent Decree Manual, American Bar Association (1980).

Eric H. Zagrans

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