Edward Hartley is a partner in Walsworth’s San Francisco office, where he represents a variety of clients, including product manufacturers and suppliers, premises owners, and contractors, in asbestos and toxic tort litigation. He handles all aspects of the litigation process, including developing case strategy, taking and defending fact and expert witness depositions, preparing and arguing motions, and representing clients at trial.
Ed has more than 36 years of experience working on a wide range of civil litigation matters involving personal injury, property damage, environmental compliance, professional negligence, construction, and homeowner association law. He has tried multiple cases to verdict and has briefed and argued several cases before the California Court of Appeal.
- Secured several defense verdicts on behalf of a drywall joint compound manufacturer in various wrongful death mesothelioma cases.
- Obtained a favorable verdict for a product manufacturer defendant in a personal injury mesothelioma case after the jury found that the client’s product was not defective and the client was not negligent.
- Secured a nonsuit at trial as to plaintiff’s claims for punitive damages, negligence, strict liability failure to warn, and intentional failure to warn on behalf of a gasket and packing supplier defendant in a wrongful death mesothelioma case involving a career Navy machinist mate.
- Successfully represented a manufacturer of decorative ceiling texture before the California Court of Appeal in a personal injury lung cancer case where the jury verdict initially entered against the client was ultimately overturned by the Court on the grounds that the trial court improperly barred the client’s primary liability expert from testifying at trial.
- Obtained a directed verdict in favor of a manufacturer of drywall joint compound in a wrongful death lung cancer case after the case was tried twice to hung juries. The verdict was also ultimately upheld on appeal in a published opinion.
- Secured a dismissal for a client in a living lung cancer case during trial based on industrial hygiene testimony indicating there was no evidence the plaintiff was actually exposed to the client’s product.
Ed and his wife Cecilia live in the small town of Clayton, California. They are the proud parents of two and the proud grandparents of seven. Ed and Cecilia devote countless hours to community and church service. In their spare time they also help manage one of the largest bocce leagues in the country, with 180 teams and 1,800 players.