Eric Lasker is prized by clients and colleagues for his ability to quickly get to the heart of complex legal matters. He has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to collect, identify and distill vast amounts of technical information into strategic priorities and key substantive themes around which to develop and implement sophisticated medical causation and science-based defenses. Mission-focused and a quick study, Eric is seasoned in all stages of litigation and is often hired by clients for his devotion to their broader business and legal interests, as much as for the technical experience he brings to the case.

Recognized by Law360 as a Product Liability MVP, Eric litigates a wide variety of complex civil matters with a focus on toxic torts, environmental litigation, and pharmaceutical products liability. He has successfully litigated bet-the-company disputes involving Daubert challenges, the federal preemption defense, and environmental natural resource damages claims. Eric has represented his clients’ interests as lead counsel in multi-district litigation, mass torts, jury trials and bench proceedings, and in oral argument in multiple federal courts of appeal and state supreme courts. He represents clients in matters arising both in the United States and abroad, under both domestic and international law, in matters involving sensitive national security issues, and in meetings with both U.S. and foreign government officials.

Eric’s prowess in high-stakes litigation matters was heralded by The American Lawyer in identifying him as “Litigator of the Week.” He also was featured on the Bloomberg News program “Rainmakers” for his work securing a complete victory for firm client, DynCorp International, in defense of its work as a contractor to the U.S. Department of State in support of the joint United States-Colombia war-on-drugs initiative known as “Plan Colombia.”

With significant experience defending against all matter of legal claims involving FDA-regulated and EPA-regulated products and alleged toxins and environmental contaminants, Eric has represented clients in toxics/environmental matters involving herbicides, asbestos, lead, nonionizing radiation, arsenic, and chemical solvents, and in pharmaceutical products liability claims involving:

  • antipsychotic medications
  • obstetrical drugs
  • antifungals
  • antiepileptics
  • contact and intraocular lenses
  • cough/cold medicines

He assists clients in due diligence investigations that relate to environmental and toxics liabilities, in product stewardship efforts, and through an active amicus practice on behalf of various industry organizations. Eric also played a prominent role in helping to establish asbestos defendants’ rights to insurance non-products coverage that secured one of the seminal judicial opinions recognizing the existence of such coverage, litigation efforts that resulted in securing several hundreds of millions of dollars in asbestos non-products insurance recoveries.

Known for his skilled writing, Eric has been the recipient of the George Yancey Memorial Award and the Burton Award for excellence in legal writing and is often requested to speak and publish on issues of interest to his clients.  He is co-author of Defending Daubert: It’s Time to Amend Federal Rule of Evidence 702, which triggered the FRE Advisory Committee’s consideration of potential amendments to FRE 702. In 2018, Eric participated in a roundtable discussion on the potential amendment sponsored by the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Rules of Evidence. In 2022, he testified before the Committee again in support of the proposed amendment, which was then unanimously approved by the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure and which will go into effect December 1, 2023.

Education

Yale Law School (J.D.,1990, Coker Fellow) University of Pennsylvania (B.A., 1987, summa cum laude)

Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • United States Supreme Court
  • United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth, and District of Columbia Circuits
  • United States District Courts for the District of Columbia, and the Northern District of Illinois

Accolades

  • “Eric Lasker is a go-to litigator. He is thorough and well-prepared and has great experience.”
    –Client | Chambers USA
  • “His counsel is much appreciated and trusted.”
    –Client | Chambers USA
  • “We love Eric Lasker here. He is super responsive and helpful. He’s just so knowledgeable.”
    –Client | Chambers USA
  • “Joe Hollingsworth and Eric Lasker only do litigation and are highly experienced. They become experts of the issues, learning the history and background. They serve you very well in the litigation space.”
    –Client | Chambers USA
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, 2024, 2025
  • Who’s Who Legal Life Sciences and Product Liability, 2015–2024
  • Super Lawyers, Class Action, 2014, 2017–2020, 2022-2024
  • AV Preeminent Lawyer by ALM Media and Martindale-Hubbell, 2002–2024
  • Burton Distinguished Legal Writing Award, 2014
  • Law360 Product Liability MVP, 2013
  • The American Lawyer “Litigator of the Week,” 2013
  • George Yancy Memorial Award, 2012 (for excellence in writing)

Memberships

  • Defense Research Institute (DRI), Member, 2006 – Present
  • International Association of Defense Counsel, Member, 2009 – Present
    • Rule 702 Sustainability Committee, Chair, 2023 – Present
    • Continuing Legal Education Committee Chair, 2018
    • Toxics & Hazardous Substances Committee, Chair, 2011–2013
  • Lawyers for Civil Justice, Member, 2020
  • LJN’s Product Liability Law & Strategy Newsletter, Board of Editors, 2010–2012

Insights & Events

Firm partner Eric Lasker was featured in the Defense Research Institute’s webinar, “Upcoming Amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 – What Changes Are Coming and How You Can Use the Rule Now.”  Eric is a…
Following up on his successful eight-year campaign to secure an amendment to FRE 702, Mr. Lasker will be heading up the IADC’s new and ongoing effort to educate attorneys, courts, and litigants about the new rule; to protect jurors from unreliable expert testimony; and to promote the use of sound science in the courtroom.
The Firm congratulates fifteen attorneys named as 2023 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars for Washington, DC. The annual publication lists the top five percent of attorneys in each state, as chosen by their peers through a…
In February 2015, Hollingsworth LLP filed an industry coalition amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari in Gibson v. American Cyanamid. Gibson arises out of a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling in 2005 whereby…
Hollingsworth LLP has been leading the fight for strict standards for expert admissibility for thirty years, dating back before the United States Supreme Court’s seminal holding in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579…
On March 4, 2009, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that plaintiff Diana Levine could sue the drugmaker Wyeth for injuries she suffered after receiving the antinausea drug Phenergan. Click here to view the opinion.  The medicine…

In the final installment, authors Joe Hollingsworth and Eric Lasker, discuss causation opinions premised on clinical practice, and how defense counsel can effectively use Daubert to exclude causation testimony that rests upon anecdotal case reports and clinical reasoning; Michigan Defense Quarterly (April 2007)

Daubert in Toxic Tort Litigation (part 2 of 3)

publication | January 29, 2007

Written by Joe Hollingsworth and Eric Lasker, the second article explains how defense counsel can assist courts in properly applying the Daubert requirements to various categories of scientific evidence often cited by plaintiffs' experts in support of general causation opinions.  Michigan Defense Quarterly (January 2007).

Daubert in Toxic Tort Litigation (part 1 of 3)

publication | October 25, 2006

Throwing Out Junk Science:  The first article of this 3-part series discusses the legal standards for admissibility of medical causation expert testimony following the Michigan Supreme Court's adoption of the federal Daubert requirements of reliance and relevance. Michigan Defense Quarterly (October 2006) (Joe G. Hollingsworth and Eric G. Lasker).

Cases