Biography

Brian P. Voke, a Senior Shareholder of Campbell Campbell Edwards & Conroy Professional Corporation, focuses his practice on civil litigation and the defense of products liability, transportation, officers and directors, professional liability, negligence and insurance coverage matters in New England. One of the firm's principal trial attorneys, he has tried cases in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Georgia. He serves as trial counsel for Ford, Werner Co., FedEx, Tyco, Home Depot, Laidlaw Transit and other major corporations. He is also trial counsel for a variety of insurers, including AIG, Allianz, AON, CNA and Great American.

Mr. Voke earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School and graduated magna cum laude from Boston College with a B.S. in Accounting. He is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, the federal district court in Connecticut and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Mr. Voke is a past president of the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers' Association. He is a faculty member for the 36th Annual IADC Trial Academy at Stanford Law School. He also serves on the IADC's Product Liability Committee. Mr. Voke chaired a one week product liability program for the People's Insurance Company of China in Guong Dong, China, in 2006. He is currently the Massachusetts Representative to the Defense Research Institute; he chaired the Scaffolding, Cranes & Aerial Devices Specialized Litigation Group of DRI's Product Liability Committee for 8 years. Mr. Voke is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association's Civil Litigation section and the American Bar Association, where he serves on the Products, General Liability and Consumer Law Committee of the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association's Civil Litigation Section and the Maine, Rhode Island and New Hampshire Bar Associations.

Mr. Voke wrote a chapter entitled Practical Consideration in the Use of Demonstrative Evidence for the Defense Research Institute publication, Winning the Defense Verdict, in 1999. He is also the author of Sources of Proof In Toxic Tort Cases, which appeared in the January 1994 edition of the IADC's Defense Counsel Journal and Ethical Considerations in Alternative Fee Agreements for the Defense Lawyer, which he presented at ABA TIPS's Emerging Issues in Motor Vehicle Product Liability Litigation program in April 2000.

Representative Jury Trial Verdicts

Benoit v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., Norfolk Superior Court, Norfolk, Massachusetts
11 trial days
Issue:  Brain damage allegedly caused by goods negligently loaded onto tractor
Result:  Defense Verdict

Bartolomeo v. Lynn Ladder & Scaffolding Co., Inc., Worcester Superior Court, Worcester, Massachusetts
8 trial days
Issue: Blindness allegedly caused by defective ladder
Result: Defense Verdict

Berarducci v. Ford Motor Company, United States District Court, District of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut
7 trial days
Issue: Crush injuries allegedly caused by defective transmission
Result: Defense Verdict

Royce v. Ford Motor Company, Hillsborough Superior Court, Southern Division, Nashua, New Hampshire
9 trial days
Issue: Death allegedly caused by defective transmission controls
Result: Defense Verdict

Ramcharran v. Carint, United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts
8 trial days
Issue: Degloving injury to hand crushed in printing press
Result: Defense Verdict

Hollis v. Ford Motor Company, United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts
8 trial days
Issue: Crush injuries allegedly caused by defective transmission controls
Result: Defense Verdict

Johnson v. National Sea Products Limited, United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts
13 trial days
Issue: Crushed hip allegedly caused by improperly packaged goods
Result: Defense Verdict

Saracen v. Figgie International, Inc., United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts
3 trial days
Issue: Major damage to hotel allegedly caused by defective sprinkler system
Result: Defense Verdict

Hoffman v. Ford Motor Company, Norfolk Superior Court, Norfolk, Massachusetts
6 trial days
Issue: Personal injuries allegedly caused by defective seatback
Result: Defense Verdict

In addition, Mr. Voke's reported cases include Schubert v. Nissan Motor Corp. in U.S.A., 148 F.3d 25 (1st Cir. 1998); Johnson v. National Sea Products, Ltd., 35 F. 3d 626 (1st Cir. 1994); Morrell v. Precise Engineering, Inc., 36 Mass. App. Ct. 935 (1994); Ramcharran v. Carraro Graphic Equipment, Inc., 823 F. Supp 63 (D.Mass. 1993); and Boston Helicopter Charter, Inc. v. Agusta Aviation Corp., 767 F. Supp. 363 (D.Mass. 1991).

Curriculum Vitae

Professional:

Senior Shareholder. Trial counsel in the Boston and Providence offices of Campbell Campbell Edwards & Conroy Professional Corporation, a nationally recognized law firm dedicated to the litigation of complex, high stakes cases throughout the United States. Mr. Voke concentrates his practice on the defense of products liability, transportation, officers and directors, professional liability, negligence and insurance coverage matters. Mr. Voke has earned an AV rating by Martindale Hubbell.

Education:

1980		B.A., magna cum laude, Boston College
1984		J.D., Vanderbilt University School of Law

Bar Admissions:

1985		Massachusetts and U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
1986		Maine
1987		New Hampshire and U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire
1988		U.S. District Court, District of Maine
1993		Rhode Island
1994		U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
1995		U.S. District Court, District of Rhode Island
1998		U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut

Publications:

Ethical Considerations in Alternative Fee Agreements for the Defense Lawyer, Emerging Issues in Motor Vehicle Product Liability Litigation, ABA TIPS (April, 2000)

Practical Consideration in the Use of Demonstrative Evidence, Winning the Defense Verdict, Defense Research Institute (1999)

Sources of Proof In Toxic Tort Cases, 61 Def. Couns. J. 45 (January 1994).

Professional Offices and Appointments:

American Bar Association

Member, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section

Member, Products, General Liability and Consumer Law Committee

Defense Research Institute

State Representative, Massachusetts

Member, Product Liability Committee, 1985 - present

     Past Chair, Scaffolding, Cranes & Aerial Devices Specialized Litigation Group

International Association of Defense Counsel

Faculty Member, IADC 36th Annual Trial Academy, Stanford Law School, Stanford, California, July 26 - August 1, 2008

Member, Product Liability Committee

Maine State Bar Association

Massachusetts Bar Association

Member, Civil Litigation Section

Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association

President, 2000-2001

Board of Directors, 1990-1999, 2005-present

New Hampshire Bar Association

Rhode Island Bar Association

Description of Practice:

Product Liability:

Transportation

Directors and Officers

Professional Liability

Negligence

Insurance Coverage