Education & Affiliations
Biography
Michael Cahalane is an attorney and partner in Cetrulo LLP’s Boston office. He concentrates his practice in products liability, pharmaceutical litigation, toxic torts, asbestos litigation, premises litigation, mass torts, commercial disputes, and litigation management. Mike regularly litigates cases filed in state and federal courts throughout New England. His clients include both Fortune 500 companies and small family-run businesses in a wide variety of industrial and commercial sectors including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, energy, aviation and aerospace, building materials, industrial equipment and piping, automotive, and retail/distribution.
Additionally, Mike serves on multiple National Coordinating Counsel teams managing mass tort litigation in jurisdictions across the country. In this capacity, he directs all aspects of the client’s defense including discovery strategy, preparation and defense of corporate representative witnesses, motion practice, trial preparation, and settlement negotiations. Mike has experience counseling corporate clients regarding compliance with OSHA and other regulations as well as litigation risks, including during the due diligence phase of proposed acquisitions.
Mike performs charitable work through the Boston Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyers Project and the Rian Immigrant Center.
Honors & Awards
- Massachusetts Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
- Martindale-Hubbell® AV-Preeminent™ Peer Rated
- Certified Litigation Management Professional (CLMP), Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 2018
Publications
- Bargaining, Bottom Lines, and BATNA: Re-Learning the Skill of Negotiation, Federal Bar Association, The Federal Lawyer Magazine, forthcoming July/August 2020.
- Stripped Bare: The Supreme Court’s Decision in Air & Liquid Systems v. DeVries Signals the End for the Bare-Metal Defense, Federal Bar Association, The Federal Lawyer Magazine, September/October 2019.
- Dust in the Wind: Can Missouri’s $4 Billion Talc Verdict Survive Fourteenth Amendment Scrutiny? Federal Bar Association, The Federal Lawyer Magazine, May/June 2019.
- Protecting the “House”: Secrets for a Successful Defense Team, For The Defense Magazine, January 2018.
- A Tale of Two Tort Regimes: Medical Monitoring Claims in New York and Massachusetts, Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association, MassDLA Newsletter, November 2015.
- Mercury Rising? The Impact of Michigan v. EPA on Industry and the Environment, Federal Bar Association, Corporate Articles, Summer 2015.
- Past Is Prologue: Still No Service for Cell Phone Radiation Litigation, For The Defense Magazine, December 2011.
- Contributing Author, Product Liability Case Law Update, Presented at 2010 DRI Product Liability Conference, April 2010.
Recent speaking engagements:
- The “Reverse Reptile”: The Defense, Pitfalls, and Alternatives, Defense Lawyers Asbestos Symposium, Boston, Massachusetts (November 2019)
- The Reptile Questions: Examples and Suggested Responses, Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar, New Orleans, Louisiana (June 2019)
- Cybersecurity: What Every In-House Counsel Needs to Know (and Outside Counsel Should Tell Them), Federal Bar Association, Online Webinar, Moderator (January 2018)
- The Discovery Side Show: How to Keep the Litigation Spotlight on the Main Event, Claims Litigation Management (CLM), Online Webinar, (April 2019)
- Secrets for a Successful Defense Team, Asbestos Medicine Seminar, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 2017)
- Risks, Trends and Best Practices in Cybersecurity and Data Protection, Boston, Massachusetts (September 2017)
- National Counsel Roundtable: Expectations of Counsel, Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar, Las Vegas, Nevada (June 2016)
- Masterminding Your Litigation Strategy, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Boston, Massachusetts (February 2016)
