METZGER LAW GROUP - Key Persons
Gill Tellez-Cordova was a client of the Metzger Law Group who worked as a lamp-maker. He cut, sanded, and ground metal parts, working with die grinders, disc grinders, random orbital sanders, and cut-off saws. He developed interstitial pulmonary fibrosis as a result of exposure to airborne metal particles produced and released from the metal parts and from the discs, belts, and wheels used on the grinders, sanders, and saws. In addition to suing the manufacturers of the abrasive materials, the Metzger Law Group sued the manufacturers of the tools that Mr. Tellez-Cordova used because they were specifically designed to be used with abrasive wheels or discs to grind and sand metals, and the injurious exposures resulted from his use of the power tools. The defendants demurred, arguing that they were not liable because the harm (if any) was caused by the abrasive wheels, discs, and belts, and not by their tools. That is, they contended that the complaint failed to state a cause of action because there was no allegation that the tools disintegrated or devolved into toxic dust - only the abrasives and the materials being ground did that. The defendants based their argument on the component parts doctrine - that a manufacturer of a non-defective component part is not liable to one injured by the finished product into which the component part is incorporated. The trial court sustained the demurrer and dismissed the case as to the power tool manufacturers, and the Metzger Law Group appealed on behalf of Mr. Tellez-Cordova. The Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the component parts doctrine did not apply, because the defendants' power tools were not component parts that could be used in a variety of finished products, but were instead manufactured tools which were specifically designed to be used with the abrasive wheels or discs they were used with, for the intended purpose of grinding and sanding metals, that the tools necessarily operated with those wheels or discs, that the wheels and discs were harmless without the power supplied by the tools, and that when the tools were used for the purpose intended by respondents, harmful respirable metallic dust was released into the air. This decision is important because it established that the manufacturer of a machine that is used with toxic chemicals and whose design creates the exposure to such toxic chemicals is liable for resulting toxic injuries just as is the manufacturer of the toxic chemicals that cause the injury.
Jose Hernandez was a client of the Metzger Law Group who inhaled toxic dusts at work daily. The dusts scarred his lungs, causing him to develop interstitial lung disease. On behalf of Mr. Hernandez, the Metzger Law Group sued about 80 companies whose products contained the inorganic chemicals that were found at extremely high concentrations in Mr. Hernandez' lungs. Mr. Hernandez was able to satisfy the pleading requirements established by the California Supreme Court in the Bockrath case to plead medical causation, but the defendants argued that Mr. Hernandez should have to prove a "prima facie" case of medical causation before being allowed to conduct discovery and to proceed with his case. The trial judge agreed with the defendants and stayed all discovery by Mr. Hernandez until he provided such proof. The Metzger Law Group filed a petition for writ of mandate to overturn these orders. The Court of Appeal granted the writ, holding that trial courts may not require a toxic tort plaintiff to prove his case to the satisfaction of the court prior to completion of discovery, because such proof can only be made with the testimony of consulting medical experts, whose opinions are privileged from disclosure under the attorney work product doctrine until they are designated as expert trial witnesses and actually deposed. This case established that toxic tort plaintiffs cannot be treated differently from other plaintiffs who are entitled to obtain discovery and evidence to prove their case, and that trial courts cannot deprive toxic tort plaintiffs of such rights merely because their cases involve complex medical/scientific issues and may be brought against many defendants.
Kathryn Saldana is an associate with the Metzger Law Group, who joined the firm in 2007. Mrs. Saldana works on a variety of matters including toxic tort litigation, Proposition 65 enforcement actions, and human rights abuse cases. She successfully argued an appeal before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Tanohv. Dow Chemical Co., 561 F.3d 945 (9th Cir. 2009), in which the Court accepted the firm's narrow interpretation of what constitutes a "mass action" eligible for removal under the Class Action Fairness Act.
Mrs. Saldana received her undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon in 2004, where she majored in Political Science. In 2007, she received a J.D. from Southwestern Law School, graduating cum laude. Mrs. Saldana completed law school in two years, receiving several awards and honors. She was a member of Law Review and the Moot Court Honors Program. She was awarded First Place Oralist and Writer in the SCALE Moot Court Intramural Competition. She also was awarded First Place and given the honors of Best Oralist in the Final Round at the Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition. Mrs. Saldana was the recipient of the CALI "Excellence for the Future" Awards in Legal Research and Writing, Legal Reasoning, Evidence II, Appellate Advocacy, and Trial Advocacy. She also received the Dean's Merit Award and was listed on the Dean's list throughout law school. Additionally, Mrs. Saldana had the privilege of completing an externship with the Honorable Florence Marie Cooper in the United States District Court.
Kenneth Holdren joined the Metzger Law Group in December 2009 as an associate. Mr. Holdren graduated magna cum laude from Chapman University in 1998 and had a successful career in entertainment before deciding to go to law school. He worked on the development and production of feature films as diverse as Blue Crush, Curious George and Up in the Air.
Mr. Holdren graduated with honors from Southwestern University School of Law in May 2009, completing his legal education in two years. While at Southwestern, Mr. Holdren was a member of the Trial Advocacy Honors Program where he was on the first team of advocates from Southwestern to win the regional National Trial Competition, and advance to nationals. Mr. Holdren also was named outstanding oralist in the SCALE Moot Court Intramural Competition.
Mr. Holdren received CALI Awards in Intellectual Property and Criminal Law, and was selected to be a fellow for the American Board of Trial Advocates after graduation.
Kimberly A. Miller attended UCLA as an undergraduate and obtained her J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law. For more than 25 years, Ms. Miller has handled many complex tort and other litigated matters in federal and state courts, including the representation of severely injured clients, railroad workers under the FELA and seamen under the Jones Act. She was liaison counsel for the Jalisco Cheese Consolidated Cases (bacteria infested cheese injured hundreds of consumers in Los Angeles) and counsel in the Ross Stores case (methane gas caused major explosion in the mid Wilshire area). She has tried numerous cases including the case of Lund v. San Joaquin Valley Railroad which she argued to the California Supreme Court.
Ms. Miller joined the Metzger Law Group in 2007 and was appointed Managing Attorney of the firm in 2009. As Managing Attorney of the firm, Ms. Miller handles all administrative and personnel matters for the firm, in addition to litigating a wide variety of toxic tort cases.
Ms. Miller has for many years been active in public interest and charitable organizations. She participates in many legal pro bono programs to provide legal assistance to the community, including Sojourn House for Battered Women and their children and the Alliance for Children's Rights.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Member of the California Bar
Raphael Metzger is the principal of the Metzger Law Group, a boutique firm in Long Beach, California, whose practice is concentrated on litigating occupational toxic tort cases - cases in which workers have sustained toxic injuries from occupational chemical exposure. Under Mr. Metzger's direction, the firm has obtained numerous settlements/verdicts in seven figures for workers who suffer from occupational cancers - mostly leukemias from benzene exposure.
Mr. Metzger received his undergraduate education at Northwestern University and received a M.M. from Indiana University and a D.M.E. from Johns Hopkins University. After teaching at the Claremont Colleges, he attended Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, completing his J.D. in two years, during which period he wrote an article that was awarded a national prize in the Nathan Burkan Memorial Copyright Competition.
In 1985, Mr. Metzger began practicing law, litigating securities fraud and business tort cases. In 1987 he opened his own office, handling securities fraud and business litigation. Later that year he filed his first environmental case, representing a corporate owner of a Superfund site. On behalf of the company and its principals, Mr. Metzger litigated several environmental cases, including a CERCLA and RCRA case against oil companies, environmental contamination insurance coverage cases, and agency enforcement cases for pollution and contamination.
In 1990, Mr. Metzger was asked to represent his first client suffering toxic injuries - a woman who had worked at a detergent manufacturing plant and had sustained life-threatening injuries from occupational exposure to caustic and irritant chemicals. Mr. Metzger filed suit for the woman against more than 50 chemical companies, obtaining settlements in seven figures after ten weeks of trial. Ever since, he has concentrated on litigating occupational toxic tort cases.
Mr. Metzger has also secured insurance for organ transplants for clients. He considers his greatest success a case in which he negotiated unlimited lifetime medical care for a client who, for a time, was the longest-surviving female single-lung transplant recipient in the world.
Mr. Metzger is a member of the California Bar, all federal district courts in the State of California, the federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. He is also a member of various legal organizations and professional societies. For several years he has co-chaired the Benzene Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice (AAJ). He has also served as President of the Section on Toxic, Environmental and Pharmaceutical Torts (STEP) of AAJ, and chaired the organization's 2005 program.
He has successfully litigated several appellate cases in California state and federal courts and has authored several amicus curiae briefs in toxic tort cases filed in the California Supreme Court, the New York Court of Appeal, and the First and Second U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals.
Mr. Metzger is a frequent speaker at toxic tort conferences, has been an invited speaker at the Toxic Tort and Environmental Litigation Annual Meeting sponsored by the American Bar Association and is regularly invited to chair benzene litigation conferences sponsored by HarrisMartin Publications and HB Litigation Conferences (formerly Mealey's Publications).
Mr. Metzger has published extensively regarding toxic tort litigation, authoring articles in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Mealey's Emerging Toxic Torts, and HarrisMartin publications