Title: Attorney
Company: Sills, Cummis & Gross P.C.
Location: Newark, New Jersey, United States
James Tyrrell, Attorney at Sills, Cummis & Gross P.C., has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Lawyers for dedication, achievements, and leadership in liability litigation.
After obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service in 1971, summa cum laude, from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, one of the world’s leading international affairs schools, Mr. Tyrrell continued his education with a Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1974 from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was admitted to the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey in 1974 and the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York in 1976.
Currently, as a member of leading corporate law firm Sills, Cummis & Gross P.C., based in New York and New Jersey, Mr. Tyrrell specializes in product liability cases and mass torts. He regularly acts for clients in high-stakes litigation with a focus on product liability, class actions, intellectual property, antitrust and commercial litigation. His high-profile cases have included leading the defense of New York City in over 13,000 lawsuits alleging injuries resulting from the cleanup of the World Trade Center site following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. He has also served as lead trial counsel in cases involving Deepwater Horizon (SEACOR), Y2K (Lucent/AT&T), construction (Madison Square Garden) and black lung (Johns Hopkins); and Agent Orange (Monsanto).
Prior to joining Sills, Cummis & Gross P.C., Mr. Tyrrell was recruited by recruitment by Latham & Watkins to join Michael Chertoff, later Secretary of Homeland Security, in starting a New Jersey office for the firm. Mr. Tyrrell became the Managing Partner of that office and Co-Chair of Latham’s Global Product Liability and Mass Tort Practice Group. In addition, he assisted Patton Boggs, the leading political law firm based in Washington, in opening offices in New York and New Jersey. Mr. Tyrrell subsequently became a member of Patton Boggs’ executive committee, the regional managing partner of its New York and New Jersey offices, and global chair of the firm’s product liability and mass tort practice. Patton Boggs was named by NJ Biz, based upon the vote of its employees, as one of the five best places to work in New Jersey and in 2013, it won first place among all large employers in the State.
Mr. Tyrrell’s numerous professional recognitions include: Best Lawyers in America (2007-2020); Chambers USA, New Jersey Litigation; Product Liability (2006-2019); Lawdragon 500 -Leading Lawyers in America; Super Lawyers, New Jersey, Class Action (2005-2019); Super Lawyers, “Master of Disaster,” (2007); New Jersey Law Journal’s 2013 and 2015 Litigation Department of the Year -Products Liability & Mass Tort; American Lawyer, Lawyer of the Week (Sept. 2011).
The first member of his family to go to college Mr. Tyrrell knew that he wanted to be a lawyer in grammar school and became an enthusiastic public speaker, competing in high school for the National Debate Championship, later debating for Georgetown, and he later excelled as the top speaker at the Harvard Law School Moot Court competition. It made Mr. Tyrell realize that, in his words, he “was better with his mouth than his hands.” In the near future, he is thinking of publishing a book and is considering mediation and arbitration as new career paths.
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