Attorneys
PETER M. DURNEY
Partner
Phone: (617) 482-8100
Email: PDurney@CornellGollub.com
Fax: (617) 482-3917
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Peter M. Durney, is an AV® Preeminent Rated™ attorney, who began his career as in-house counsel with GE’s product liability insurance division, and then joined Cornell & Gollub in 1982. Since becoming a partner in the firm in 1987, he has represented hundreds of domestic and foreign corporations and individuals in the state and federal courts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont. Mr. Durney also assists major corporate clients in litigation elsewhere in the United States.
Concentration
Class Actions
Commercial Litigation
General Litigation/Personal Injury
Product Liability
Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Litigation
Automotive and Marine Litigation
Professional Malpractice
Mass Torts
Appeals
Professional & Community Involvement
Massachusetts Bar Association (Civil Litigation Section)
Maine State Bar Association
New Hampshire State Bar Association
Federal Bar Association
Maine Trial Lawyers Association
Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association
Defense Research Institute (Medical Liability and Health Care Law, and Product Liability committees)
Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (Corporate Counsel and Trial Masters Program committees)
International Association for Insurance Law, U.S. Chapter
American Board of Trial Advocates, National Board Representative and Past President
Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc
International Association of Defense Counsel, (Defense Counsel Journal Board of Editors, Insurance and Reinsurance, Product Liability, Professional Liability, and Toxic and Hazardous Substances committees)
Diversity Law Institute
Trial Law Institute
Publications
The Perils of Prescribing Medication and the Goldilocks Principle: Defending Related Claims of Malpractice, IADC Defense Counsel Journal, Vol. 86, No. 4, October 2019
Hospital Liability, Independent Physician Groups, and Captive Insurance, PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY DEFENSE QUARTERLY, Vol. 9, Issue 3 (Summer 2017)
Retaining and Disclosing Expert Witnesses: A Global Perspective, IADC Defense Counsel Journal, Vol. 83, No.1, January 2016
California’s Recent $70+ Million Asbestos Verdict an Outlier Amidst National Trends, Toxic Torts Newsletter, The Defense Research Institute, Vol. 18, Issue 1, March 20, 2015
Negotiated Risk Agreements In Assisted Living Facilities, For the Defense- Medical Liability and Health Care Law, August 2013
A High Level View of the Current Debate Regarding Off-Label Speech, In-House Defense Quarterly, Fall 2012
Fending Off the Use of a Rule 12(f) Motion to Strike Affirmative Defenses, Defense Counsel Journal, Vol. 79, No.4, October 2012
The Rules on Removal in Multiple-Party Cases: A Reprise, American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Mass Torts Litigation Committee Newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 4, Summer 2012
Inactive Asbestos Dockets: A Case for Preserving Important Discovery , Toxic Torts Newsletter, The Defense Research Institute, Volume 14, Issue 1, May 18, 2011
Bifurcating Discovery for Early Summary Judgment in Class Actions,
IADC Defense Counsel Journal, Vol. 78, No. 2, April 2011
Understanding Time Limits on Removing Multiparty Cases to Federal Court, American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Mass Torts Litigation Committee Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 3, Summer 2009
- reprinted, Appellate Practice Journal, Vol. 29, No. 2, Winter 2010
- reprinted, Committee on Pretrial Practice & Discovery Newsletter, Vol. 18, No. 2, Winter 2010
Preserving Objections to Jury Instructions: Speak Now, or Forever Hold Your Peace, Federal Bar Association, Federal Litigation Section Sidebar, Vol. 9, No. 2, Summer 2009
A Few Fundamental and Practical Tips: Product Testing for Use at Trial, For the Defense, December 2006, Vol.48, No.12
Awards
Awarded “Lawyer of the Year” for 2018 by the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association
Senior Fellow: Litigation Counsel of America, The Trial Lawyer Honorary Society
Named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in the area of General Litigation and/or Business Litigation every year since 2005(as published in Boston Magazine)
Named a New England Super Lawyer in the area of Personal Injury Defense: Products <em>annually<em> since 2007 (as published in Boston Magazine)
Education
J.D., Suffolk University Law School, 1980; Phi Delta Phi
B.A., Boston College, 1976 (cum laude)
Institute of European Studies, La Sorbonne Paris, France (1974-1975)
Admitted to Practice
Massachusetts
Maine
New Hampshire
U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
U.S. District Court, District of Maine
U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire
U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
Supreme Court of the United States