NEWARK/NEW YORK
mtanenbaum@tktrial.com
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Michael A. Tanenbaum

Co-Chair/Partner

A founding partner of Tanenbaum Keale, Mike Tanenbaum’s accomplished private practice focuses on product liability with a particular emphasis on serving as national, regional and local counsel in pharmaceutical, medical device, roofing products, environmental and toxic tort litigation. His comprehensive litigation service to clients is enhanced by his deep experience providing resolution counsel services in contentious, complex multidistrict litigation matters.

For decades, Mr. Tanenbaum has handled matters from inception through trial and appeal for clients of all sizes, including corporations such as Boston Scientific, Bristol Myers Squibb Company, ViacomCBS, ExxonMobil Corporation, General Electric Company, Clairol, Inc., Hoover Treated Wood Products and Foster Wheeler, LLC.

Mr. Tanenbaum has a proven track record evaluating risk and exposure and developing complementary litigation and resolution strategies designed to achieve the litigation and business goals of clients at each stage of any litigation, including pre-litigation risk avoidance. He approaches each matter with a trial lawyer’s eye and an appreciation and understanding of how to influence the trajectory of a litigation to meet a client’s goals, whether the goal is resolution or the defense of the client’s product, brand and reputation at trial. This has made him a go-to resource for clients in a wide range of industries including automotive, power systems, construction, mining, pharmaceutical products, medical devices and more.

Mr. Tanenbaum’s national experience handling and managing litigation equips him with unique insight into product liability risk that clients have sought during due diligence and their assessment and valuation of litigation risk when considering acquisitions.

Prior to founding Tanenbaum Keale LLP, Mr. Tanenbaum was a partner with McCarter & English LLP and Sedgwick LLP, where he also served as chair of the firm from 2007 to 2015.

Bar Admissions
• New Jersey
• New York
• Florida

Court Admissions
• United States Supreme Court
• Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

  • MDL Lead Counsel — Mr. Tanenbaum’s experience in this important and high-profile role includes successful litigation and ultimately, resolution, often after bellwether trials in matters involving pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter medications, medical devices, asbestos and more. Appointment of lead counsel in an MDL serves as one of the most important events in the course of the complex and often lengthy litigation process for the increasingly common circumstance where cases pending in different districts but share a common factual question are consolidated for pretrial handling before a single federal district court. Mr. Tanenbaum utilizes his proven collaborative ability to efficiently coordinate discovery, motion practice and trial, when necessary. This often involves tracking and managing data about thousands, and often tens of thousands, of individual claims to meet financial reporting (e.g. Sarbanes-Oxley), business and insurance requirements.
  • Class Action Lead Counsel — In venues around the globe, Mr. Tanenbaum has achieved notable results in this role for clients facing claims involving medical devices, construction products and pharmaceuticals. His decades of experience allow him to assist clients in evaluating the nature of the claims being asserted, the financial and business risks associated with those claims and likely litigation trajectories based on the laws that will be applied to those claims whether in the United States or elsewhere. With this foundation, Mr. Tanenbaum counsels clients concerning their litigation and, where appropriate, resolution options and works with them to either defend against certification or negotiate resolution.
  • Risk Assessment – Given his extensive knowledge of product risk, Mr. Tanenbaum often provides risk assessment advice to clients during their due diligence efforts in advance of acquisitions as well as private equity groups looking at acquisitions. Utilizing his decades of in-the-trenches litigation experience, he helps clients make informed decisions related to investment opportunities based on the unique curated risk profile presented by each acquisition.
  • New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 2009 – Present
    • Executive Committee, 2014 – Present
    • Chair of Audit Committee, 2012 – Present
  • Atlantic Health System
    • Board of Directors (2001 – 2010)
    • Audit Committee Chair
  • Overlook Foundation, 2012-2018
    • Past Chair, 2016-2017
  • James M. Strother Award, Inside Counsel, 2013
  • Litigation Star, Benchmark Litigation, 2019-present
  • New York Trailblazer, New York Law Journal, 2019
  • Best Lawyers in America, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, 2006-present
  • New Jersey Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2006-present
  • "As Zantac Litigation Accelerates, MDL Data Collection Is Key," Law360, April 2020
  • "How Cos. Can Prepare For Heartburn Drug Cancer Claims," Law360, February 2020
  • “Post-Settlement Considerations: The Devil is in the Details,” Mass Tort Judicial Forum at HB Litigation Conferences, April 2018
  • “Boutique Firms Gain Momentum in the Legal Industry,” The Mid-Market Report, March 2018
  • “Chapter 25 – Privilege in a Global Product Economy,” Product Liability Litigation: Current Law, Strategies and Best Practices, Practising Law Institute Treatise, 2nd Edition October 2009
  • “The Changing World of Causation,” 2008 Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel Winter Meeting, February 2008
  • “Current Legal Trends in New York Asbestos Litigation,” American Chemistry Council’s Tort Litigation Group, November 2005
  • J.D., Boston University School of Law (1981)
    • cum laude
  • A.B., Princeton University (1978)
    • magna cum laude