With over 25 years of complex litigation experience, Derek has spent his career seeking justice on behalf of individuals and families who have been taken advantage of by the greed and intentional conduct of large corporations and injured by defective products, dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, and medical devices. He currently focuses his practice on representing survivors of sexual abuse against religious and other institutions that allowed it to take place.
Derek is known for his compassion to clients and his passion for pursuing justice. He has been a leader in the legal field, notable for being one of the first attorneys to file suit on behalf of families who lost a child, spouse or parent to suicide as a result of psychotropic medication and one of the first to file a suit against investigators, sponsors and institutional review boards for conducting unethical human clinical trials.
Derek has served in numerous Court-appointed leadership positions in other pharmaceutical and medical device litigations. He has been appointed as Co-Liaison Counsel in multiple state and federal courts, including Risperdal and Paxil in Philadelphia, Levaquin in New Jersey, and Zimmer Durom Hip Cup Products Liability Litigation MDL 2158.
A sought-after speaker at conferences sponsored by the American Association for Justice, the American Bar Association, Harris Martin, Mass Torts Made Perfect and the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, Derek has lectured on issues ranging from federal preemption of drug products, antidepressants and suicide, antibiotics and tendon ruptures, pelvic mesh injuries, Onglyza and heart failure, Metal-on-Metal hip device failures, Proton Pump Inhibitors and kidney disease, Risperdal and gynecomastia, Zimmer Nexgen Knee failures, and clinical trials, bioethics and pharmaceutical litigation and policy. Most recently, he has been a featured speaker on the topics of Childhood sexual abuse and damages. He is former co-chair of multiple AAJ Litigation Groups and has testified before the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drug Advisory Committee regarding the risk of suicide and antidepressants. He has counseled many clients who have themselves testified before the FDA’s subcommittees regarding the deadly risks of ADHD drugs and antidepressants for children and adolescents. Derek has also been featured in multiple documentaries concerning psychotropic medication and has been quoted in numerous articles on the issues of health care reform and the risks of psychotropic medication.
Derek has argued several notable cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and the New Jersey Supreme Court, involving insurance coverage and federal preemption of pharmaceutical drugs, including, Colaccico v. GSK, et al. (3d Cir. 2008); 401 Fourth St. v. Investors Ins. Group, (Pa. 2005); Information Spectrum v. The Hartford, (N.J. 2004); and Sylvania Gardens v. Hartford Ins. Co., (3d Cir. 2001).
Prior to joining ACTS, Derek served as managing partner for a mass tort firm for over a decade, representing thousands of individuals in class and collective employment and consumer actions and mass tort pharmaceutical and medical device litigations.
Derek is a 1993 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and 1996 graduate of Temple University School of Law. While at Temple, he clerked for the Hon. Norma L. Shapiro in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and served as co-chair of Temple’s Women’s Law Caucus. Derek also led Temple’s National Trial Team to a regional championship and was awarded the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association Award for Trial Advocacy.
Derek lives in suburban Philadelphia and has spent much of his free time over the last decade coaching girls’ soccer, basketball, and softball for his three daughters.
Derek has also served as a board member for his local synagogue and a non-profit dedicated to informed consent and parental rights, and he has been active in raising awareness and money for breast cancer research. He is an avid Philadelphia sports fan and enjoys playing tennis and basketball- especially with his girls.
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