NEW YORK
dvega@tktrial.com
(973) 820-1136
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Dennis E. Vega

Partner

Dennis Vega focuses his private practice in the area of product liability, regularly representing clients in complex, high-stakes litigation. This includes a successful track record of outcomes for clients in maritime, wrongful death, personal injury and premises liability matters in state and federal courts.

Through his product liability experience, Mr. Vega also developed and continues to hone his proven ability to handle mass tort and other forms of multiparty and multidistrict litigation. He regularly serves as local, regional and national counsel in environmental, toxic tort, health care, automotive and asbestos matters and has represented global industrial equipment manufacturers, distributors and contractors in the power, oil, chemical, railroad and automotive industries.

In addition, Mr. Vega proactively counsels corporate clients and scientists on selecting products suitable for laboratory testing to develop sophisticated exposure modeling for litigation and trial purposes. His noted defense work includes coordinating with distinguished scientific and medical expert witnesses and serving as lead counsel in various state and federal coordinated proceedings, including New York City Asbestos Litigation (NYCAL).

Mr. Vega has also represented leading New York-area teaching hospitals and public hospitals, as well as their affiliated doctors and other health care practitioners.

While attending law school, Mr. Vega served as executive editor of the Cardozo Women’s Law Journal and represented the school on its trial team in national competitions. He began his career at the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, where he earned assignment to the Trial Bureau and investigated, prosecuted and tried several capital cases. He is fluent in Spanish.

Bar Admissions
• New York

Court Admissions
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

  • Successfully defended depositions and then successfully moved for dismissal in a wrongful death product liability lawsuit, thwarting plaintiff’s attempt to pierce “corporate veil.”
  • Successfully used U.S. Supreme Court precedent related to maritime products in a shipyard setting to depose plaintiff’s expert witness, leading federal court to grant summary judgment to the firm’s client.
  • Served as lead counsel in a premises liability matter involving alleged benzene exposure. After the client received a multimillion-dollar demand, Vega successfully negotiated a favorable settlement for the client based on proposed summary judgment and Daubert motions.
  • Obtained a successful settlement in a toxic tort product liability matter stemming from alleged failure to warn claims of a product manufactured in the 1970s.
  • Successfully defended an equipment manufacturer in federal court against claims of liability for harms arising from a product the client did not manufacture, nor supply (Bare Metal Defense).
  • Successfully defended a manufacturer in federal court. Client was found not liable for design defect or failure to warn of dangers caused by products incorporated into its equipment that it did not manufacture or distribute (Bare Metal Defense).
  • Successfully argued in federal court that maritime/admiralty jurisdiction applies to U.S. Navy sailors.
  • Achieved a full defense verdict after jury trial for a major manufacturing client in federal court in a product liability matter.
  • Successfully argued for denial of plaintiff's motion for remand based on government contractor defense.
  • Hispanic National Bar Association
  • New York Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2023

  • "Do All Parties Appearing at a Remote Deposition Consent to Its Recording?" New York Law Journal, December 2021
  • "Lasting Litigations Trends of COVID-19” CLE panel, Hispanic National Bar Association/Vision in Action Annual Convention, September 2021
  • "Assessing Changes to The Jones Act Litigation Landscape," Law360, March 2018
  • "The Red Flags Indicating You Have Retained a Bad Expert,” Hispanic National Bar Association/Vision in Action Annual Convention, September 2016
  • "The Basics of Deposing the Navy or Shipbuilding Plaintiff," DALS, June 2016
  • "Complex Litigation: Preparing and Defending the High Stakes Case," Hispanic National Bar Association Corporate Counsel Conference, March 2012
  • "U.S. Navy and Equipment Cases — What is the Current State of the Law?" Perrin Conferences, December 2011
  • "A Discussion of Other Cancers, Other Causes and What the Future Holds," DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, November 2011
  • "Effective Collaboration with Outside Counsel in Complex Litigation," Hispanic National Bar Association Corporate Counsel Conference, March 2011
  • J.D., Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (1997)
  • B.A., Queens College — CUNY (1994)
    • With honors