Benjamin Rubinstein

Ben defends and counsels clients in individual, class action and governmental lawsuits in US state and federal courts, with a particular focus on product liability, mass tort and consumer fraud litigation. Ben brings valuable global expertise and perspective to his clients by also serving as international coordinating counsel in defending and counseling clients in similar lawsuits filed in multiple jurisdictions outside the United States, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the Philippines and South Korea.

Ben is a litigator, but also a client advisor, and routinely advises companies and investors in various sectors on issues relating to product and ESG liability risks and public communications, including clients in the energy, financial services, food and beverage, mining, technology, and tobacco sectors.

Ben has been named to Legal 500 for Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action (2017-2022), where Ben's clients describe his client service as "exceptional," praise his ability to "couple deep knowledge of science and law with fresh approaches" and commend him for being a "master at working with experts in a whole host of scientific and medical fields." Ben is also ranked as one of nine leading practitioners in Chambers and Partners (2022) for Nationwide Product Liability: Tobacco, where he is commended by clients for “consistently providing exceptional quality, strategic legal advice.”  In addition, Ben was named to Benchmark Litigation's "Under 40 Hot List" for 2017 and 2018.

Ben's experience includes:
 

• British American Tobacco (BAT) in United States v. Philip Morris et al., a civil racketeering (RICO) lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice against the principal US tobacco companies and BAT, in which the government was seeking $280 billion in disgorgement of past profits and various injunctive remedies. BAT was dismissed from the case after a decade of litigation, including a nine-month trial in federal court in Washington, DC, on the grounds that US racketeering laws had no extraterritorial application
• BAT in an antitrust class action in Kansas state court, where plaintiffs alleged an unlawful restraint of trade to fix the price of cigarettes sold in Kansas. Successfully prosecuted BAT's motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiffs' claims
• BAT in coordinating the defense of multibillion dollar claims for healthcare costs by multiple provinces in Canada, and defending similar claims in Brazil, Nigeria and South Korea
• Samsung entities in US product liability litigation involving allegations of exploding batteries in consumer electronic products
• Several clients in the energy, mining and consumer products sectors on ESG/Sustainability issues and climate change-related regulatory and litigation matters in the US and internationally
• Asian technology company in breach of contract dispute with US technology provider involving ITAR export licenses
• Investment management firm in advising on valuation of US product liability settlements and judgments with respect to medical device and asbestos litigation to inform investment decisions
• Insurance company in advising on trends in loss costs across various commercial lines to inform insurance pricing decisions