Paul F. Jenkins

Paul F. Jenkins is a partner in the Litigation Department and a member of the Insurance Group and Product Liability and Mass Tort Group. His practice covers product liability, insurance coverage, and commercial litigation.

Mr. Jenkins has represented close corporations in shareholder oppression, wrongful termination, and restrictive covenant claims. He has extensive experience representing corporations in actions seeking contractual indemnification and third-party insurance coverage. Mr. Jenkins also has significant products liability experience, including successful defenses of Fortune 500 corporations in cases involving workplace exposure to mold and hazardous chemicals. He has also defended Fortune 500 corporations and foreign companies in wrongful death litigation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania courts.

Representative Matters

• Represents a Fortune 500 oil refining company in its regional litigation involving allegations of wrongful death, toxic tort, and product liability. In several toxic tort matters, including cases involving exposure to benzene, vinyl chloride monomer, and asbestos, Mr. Jenkins successfully obtained summary judgment for the client through arguments on liability or medical causation. In a wrongful death case, Mr. Jenkins helped lead the trial team on pre-trial motion practice that persuaded the court to bar eight of the plaintiffs' proposed expert witnesses and to limit the testimony of two other experts.
• Represented a Fortune 100 technology company in a product liability case involving allegations of mold exposure. After extensive discovery, Mr. Jenkins successfully obtained the pre-trial dismissal of the client by establishing the lack of an adequate causal connection between the client’s product and the plaintiffs' injuries.
• Obtained a judgment of approximately $1 million for a terminated employee in a shareholder oppression case. During the pendency of the case, Mr. Jenkins successfully petitioned the court for the installation of a provisional director to oversee operation of the corporation by the defendant until the shareholder oppression claim was resolved. At the end of the litigation, the client was reinstated to the corporation and named president.
• Represents a plastics manufacturer in a trade secret case against the corporation's former president and his current employer involving allegations of theft of proprietary product formulas and confidential customer lists.
• Represented a major U.S. transportation company in its regional catastrophic loss, product liability, and insurance coverage litigation. In a number of cases, Mr. Jenkins persuaded the court to enforce contract provisions strictly limiting the amount of liability insurance coverage that this client was required to provide to vehicle lessees. Mr. Jenkins also obtained liability insurance coverage on behalf of the client in disputes involving the interpretation of additional insured endorsements.

Representative Court Opinions

• Davis v. Quality Carriers, 2009 WL 1291985 (D.N.J.) (represented Canadian trucking company that was successful, after jurisdictional discovery, on a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in a wrongful death action)
• Ferguson v. Valero Energy Corporation, 2008 WL 1676154 (E.D.Pa.) (represented a Fortune 500 company on a successful motion to dismiss punitive damages in a case involving two contractor deaths due to nitrogen asphyxiation)
• C.W. v. Cooper Health System, 388 N.J. Super. 42 (App.Div. 2006) (successfully defended an appeal from a trial judge’s dismissal of a medical malpractice claim on the basis of deficiencies in the plaintiff’s expert report)
• Arne v. Liotta, 313 N.J. Super. 616 (App. Div. 1998) (successfully defended a verdict obtained for a client in a case involving the interpretation of the New Jersey Mortgage Foreclosure Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:50-8)
• Hartsfield v. Fantini, 149 N.J. 611 (1997) (successfully defended an appeal concerning an interpretation of a New Jersey statute concerning mandatory arbitrations)

Pro Bono Experience

Mr. Jenkins coordinates Ballard Spahr's involvement in the Rutgers Children's SSI Pro Bono Program, which assists disabled children in seeking Social Security Disability benefits.

Judicial Clerkships

Hon. Arnold C. Rapoport, U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1993

Professional Activities

New Jersey State Bar Association
Camden County Bar Association
Camden/Burlington Inn of Court, participant
Superior Court of New Jersey, Camden County, court-approved arbitrator
Trial Attorneys of New Jersey, past trustee

Recognition & Accomplishments

AV Peer Review Rating, Martindale-Hubbell

Recipient, Ballard Spahr's 2011 Pro Bono Award, for his contribution to the Rutgers Children's SSI Project, which appeals the denial of Social Security benefits to children suffering from physical, emotional, educational, and behavioral disabilities

Publications

Co-author, "N.J. Supreme Court Considers Expansion of Millison Exception to Workers' Compensation Immunity," Ballard Spahr Alert, October 19, 2011

Co-author, "United States Supreme Court to Tackle Stream of Commerce Theory for Personal Jurisdiction," New Jersey State Bar Association's Product Liability and Toxic Tort Law Section newsletter, Volume 12, No. 2, January 2011

Community Activities

Community Dispute Resolution Committee, Audubon (New Jersey), past member

Board Memberships

GoodLooking Foundation, founding member; benefits children with autism

Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law (J.D. 1995)

Temple University (B.A. 1992)

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit