Ellen Relkin, Product Liability Attorney in New York
4.8/5 rating from 2 verified client reviews
PartneratWeitz And Luxenberg P C
New, NY
Trusted product liability attorney serving New York.
- 4.8 ★
- 2 client reviews
Practices in
Are you Ellen Relkin?
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Quick answer
Ellen Relkin is a partner based in New York, NY. The practice focuses on Product Liability. Currently practicing at Weitz And Luxenberg P C. Rated 4.8 out of 5 from 2 client reviews.
- Based in
- New York, NY
- Experience
- attorney
- Known for
- Product Liability
- Handles Product Liability matters from New York, NY.
- Recognized with AV Preeminent.
About Ellen Relkin: Ellen Relkin is a partner based in New York, NY. The practice focuses on Product Liability. Currently practicing at Weitz And Luxenberg P C. Rated 4.8 out of 5 from 2 client reviews.
Areas of practice
Legal matters Ellen takes on
Ellen concentrates on product liability. Each area below outlines the kind of case Ellen handles, typical outcomes to expect, and how the intake process starts.
Product Liability cases in New York
Ellen takes product liability matters in New York. Typical engagements include intake calls to scope the issue, review of any records or filings you already have, and a written strategy memo before Ellen agrees to represent you.
Biography
Meet Ellen Relkin — product liability lawyer in New York
Ellen Relkin is a partner based in New York, NY. The practice focuses on Product Liability. Currently practicing at Weitz And Luxenberg P C. Rated 4.8 out of 5 from 2 client reviews.
Ms. Relkin, whose practice focuses on medical device and pharmaceutical product liability, as well as toxic tort matters, has represented thousands of plaintiffs injured by defective medical products for more than three decades. She has been appointed by numerous federal and state judges to serve as the leadership counsel running large, consolidated litigations.
She was most recently appointed as co-lead counsel in the multidistrict litigation In Re: Exactech Polyethylene Orthopedics Product Liability Litigation in the Eastern District of New York. She is co-lead counsel of the In Re: JUUL Labs, Inc. Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, where she helped negotiate settlements on behalf of consumers and government entities of over $500 million dollars with defendants for their conduct in creating a vaping epidemic. She has served as the co-lead counsel of the In Re: DePuy ASR multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of Ohio, resulting in a global settlement. She played a key role in negotiating settlements exceeding $2.5 billion. She also served as court appointed co-lead counsel in the In Re: Farxiga (Dapagliflozin) Products Liability Litigation that was venued in the Southern District of New York.
On the state court front, she has been court-appointed lead and liaison counsel in the New Jersey state court multicounty litigations: In Re: Stryker Rejuvenate & ABG II Modular Hip Implant Litigation; In Re: Stryker LFit CoCr V49 Femoral Heads Litigation; and, previously, in the In Re: Yaz Product Liability Litigation. In addition to roles as lead counsel of litigations, she has been court appointed to the Executive Committees in the multidistrict litigations, In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation; In Re: Stryker LFIT V40 Femoral Head Products Liability Litigation, In Re: Invokana (Canagliflozin) Products Liability Litigation; and In Re: Ortho Evra Product Liability Litigation.
Ms. Relkin, who is Certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Civil Trial Attorney, is an elected member of the American Law Institute, as well as the Summit Council, and an invited member of the American Bar Foundation. She also serves on the Board of Advisors of the RAND Kenneth R. Feinberg Center for Catastrophic Risk Management and Compensation. She is an active member of the American Association for Justice (past chair of its Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Torts section); the New Jersey Trial Lawyers Association, where she serves on the Board of Governors and is co-chair of its Mass Tort Committee; and the New Jersey and New York Bar Associations, and the American Bar Association. She is also former President of the Roscoe Pound Civil Justice Institute, now known as the National Civil Justice Institute. She is a frequent lecturer nationally at continuing legal education programs.
She has published law review articles in the Cardozo Law Review and the Dickinson Journal of Environmental Law and Policy; the chapter on Failure to Warn in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Mass Tort Litigation in the treatise New Jersey Mass Torts and Class Action published by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education; and numerous other legal publications.
She has been consistently named as a ”Super Lawyer” in both New York and New Jersey for the past several years, “Best Lawyer” in New York, and has been AV rated by Martindale Hubble for more than two decades.
Ellen Relkin can be reached directly by email at erelkin@weitzlux.com and by phone at 332-223-3190.
Awards & Honors
•Grade of AV Preeminent (She scored 5.0 out of a possible 5.0 total points when evaluated by Martindale Hubbell’s rigorous peer-review methodology.)
•Super Lawyer Metro New York and New Jersey
•New Jersey Association for Justice Gerald B. O’Connor Award for Professionalism - 2018
•American Association for Justice Marie Lampert given in recognition of exemplary leadership to the profession - 2019
Key Verdicts
•$13.5 Million (2006; W&L secures verdict in N.J. Vioxx trial)
•$2.5 Billion (2014; Global Resolution Negotiated in the DePuy ASR MDL; Settlement Negotiation Team)
•$1.5 Billion (2014 and 2017; Global Resolution Reached in Lawsuits Over Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II Failed Hips; Settlement Negotiation Team)
•Multimillion Dollar (2018; Global Settlement Reached in the Stryker LFIT V40 Litigation; Settlement Negotiation Team)
•$500 Million+ (2023; Global Settlement Reached in the JUUL Labs, Inc. Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, Co-Lead Counsel)
Presentations & Publications
•4/27/2023: Program co-chair at the Mass Tort Session New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk Seminar 2023.
•4/27/2023: “Hot Topics in Mass Torts” at the Mass Tort Session New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk Seminar 2023.
•4/12/2023: “Nuts and Bolts of Mass Torts: The Road to MDL Leadership and Why It Matters” panel at Mass Torts Made Perfect, Las Vegas, Nevada.
•4/13/2023: “Mass Torts Projects: Exactech Hip, Knee, and Ankle Recall Litigation Update” panel at Mass Torts Made Perfect, Las Vegas, Nevada.
•3/8/2023: “Tips and Developments in Product Liability Law” webinar for New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education.
•10/12/2022: “Business of Law: From Leadership Development Committee to MDL Leadership” panel at Mass Torts Made Perfect, Las Vegas, Nevada.
•10/12/2022: “Nuts and Bolts of Mass Torts: From Leadership Development Committee to MDL Leadership” panel at Mass Torts Made Perfect, Las Vegas, Nevada.
•7/15/2022: “General Discovery in Coordinated Mass Tort” panel at American Association for Justice, Seattle, Washington.
•4/13/2022: Harris Martin’s Webinar Series: Update on Exactech Hip, Knee and Ankle Recall.
•4/5/2022: “Nuts and Bolts of Mass Torts: Managing Large Case Dockets and SOL” panel at Mass Torts Made Perfect, Las Vegas, Nevada.
•6/30/2021: Program co-chair at the Mass Tort Session New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk Seminar 2021. Digital Experience.
•8/6/2020: Program co-chair at the Mass Tort Session New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk Seminar 2020. Digital Experience.
•7/27/2020: “JUUL and E-cigarettes” at Hot Topics in Mass Tort Litigation, American Association for Justice online seminar.
•7/27/2019: “Rethinking Multijurisdictional Coordination of Complex Mass Torts” panel discussion at Pound Civil Justice Institute Aggregate Litigation in State Courts: Preserving Vital Mechanisms forum. San Diego, California.
•7/26/2019: “Everything You Want To Know About Mass Torts (But Are Too Afraid To Ask)” at American Association for Justice seminar. San Diego, California.
•5/9/2019: “Mass Tort, From the Beginning to the End: New Jersey Mass Tort Update” at Boardwalk Seminar 2019. Sponsored by the New Jersey Association for Justice, Atlantic City, NJ.
•5/2/2019: “Mastering Mass Tort Settlements” panel at American Bar Association Section of Litigation, New York, New York.
•11/16/2018: “New Jersey Law on Expert Evidence: What You Need to Know After the Accutane Decision” at 2018 Mass Torts Seminar. Sponsored by the New Jersey Association for Justice. East Rutherford, New Jersey.
•5/16/2018: “Inside the Opium (Legal) Wars.” Annual Meeting, New Jersey State Bar Association. Atlantic City, New Jersey.
•5/10/2018: New Jersey’s key MDL and MCL cases at Boardwalk Seminar 2018. Sponsored by the New Jersey Association for Justice. Atlantic City, New Jersey.
•4/27/2017:, “Jurisprudential Legacy of the Honorable Carol Higbee” at Boardwalk Seminar 2017. Sponsored by the New Jersey Association for Justice. Atlantic City, New Jersey.
•4/3/2017: “Personal Jurisdiction Issues in Mass Torts.” HB Litigation Conferences’ Mass Torts Judicial Forum, New York City.
•2/10/2017: “Emerging Torts.” 2017 Texas Trial Lawyers Association Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Seminar. The Westin Austin at The Domain, Austin, Texas.
•8/25/2016: “ADR for Complex Claims: Choosing and Using the Most Effective Resolution Instruments.” LexisNexis Webinar on Medical Device ADR.
•4/7/2016: “Mass Tort Plaintiffs’ and Defendants’ Perspectives” at Boardwalk Seminar 2016. Sponsored by the New Jersey Association for Justice.
•10/2/2015: Featured speaker at American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Products Liability seminar panel discussion.
•9/28/2015: A Street Car Named Desire...Mass torts are like street cars, a new one comes every 10 minutes - the importance of (and factors to consider when) vetting a tort and your cases at Women En Mass in Aspen, Colorado.
•3/25/2015: Xarelto Case Selection and Criteria at the HarrisMartin MDL Conference: Xarelto, Morcellators and Emerging Torts in San Diego. California.
•2/18/2015: Failure to Warn in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Mass Tort Litigation: The PLA and Common Law at The New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (NJICLE) seminar on Multicounty (Mass Tort) Litigation in New Jersey.
•4/2/2014: HarrisMartin’s Mass Tort Litigation Conference session on Settlement v. Trial - Coordination, Conflicts & Committees in New York City.
•5/1/2014: Mass Tort Case Law Review at the New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk annual convention.
•5/1/2014: DePuy Hip and Stryker Rejuvenate litigations at the New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk annual convention.
•1/28/14: Presented on Mass Tort Litigation in New Jersey along with esteemed jurists and practitioners. The program was sponsored by The N.J. Institute for Continuing Legal Education, a division of the N.J. State Bar Association.
•3/11/13: HarrisMartin Mass Tort Litigation Conference with Judge Marina Corodemus (Ret.). See agenda.
•9/26/11: Harrismartin’s MDL Conference: Current Issues in Multi District Litigation Practice - Loews Philadelphia Hotel.
•6/10: Speaker at Mass Torts Judicial Forum: Joins Tort Judges, Acclaimed Special Master at Conference
•6/28/10: Presenter at the Mass Torts Judicial Forum in Philadelphia. Participated in a discussion on expert witness testimony and medical causation proofs in this one-day seminar that includes presentations from a number of leading mass-tort judges and attorneys.
How Ellen handles product liability matters
Practicing for three dozen years representing people injured by dangerous products - including medications, medical devices, and toxic chemicals - I have observed a terrible unifying theme. Manufacturing corporations fail to do the right thing: whether it be inadequately testing the product before releasing it on the market (and in our clients’ bodies); failing to adequately warn consumers and…
The kind of cases Ellen takes
Ellen reviews new inquiries case-by-case for product liability matters across New York.
Credentials
Education, bar admissions, and languages
Rutgers University Law School
J.D. · 1984
Cornell University
B.A. · 1980
Ellen studied at J.D. in Rutgers University Law School and B.A. in Cornell University.
Law school and academic background
Ellen completed J.D. in Rutgers University Law School and B.A. in Cornell University. Formal legal training is one signal of substantive knowledge — the day-to-day practice Ellen runs in New York is where that training gets applied to real client questions.
Recognition
Recognition and thought leadership
Ellen has received 1 formal recognition from bar associations, industry bodies, and peer-review services.
AV Preeminent
Legal awards and honors
AV Preeminent.
Affiliations
Ellen's professional memberships and bar associations
Associations and Licenses • New York State
Co-Chair, Toxic Torts Committee of Environmental Law Section, 1988-1994) • American Bar Association • American Association for Justice (former Chair of the Section of Toxic, Environmental and Pharmaceutical Torts) • American Civil Justice Institute (Fello · membership
Locations
Ellen Relkin's office in New York
Ellen's primary office is at 700 Broadway, New York, NY, 10003. In-person meetings are by appointment; a phone intake usually comes first.
Client feedback
Client reviews of Ellen Relkin — 4.8/5 rating from 2 verified client reviews
Every review below is from a verified client of Ellen. Reviews cover communication, case outcome, and value — the three signals that matter most when comparing product liability attorneys in New York.
4.8
2 client reviews
Client ratings are sourced from public records and editorial research. Reviews on LawyersListed are accepted from verified clients once Ellen Relkin claims this profile.
Read all reviewsHiring guide
How to hire Ellen Relkin — what to expect in your first consultation
Working with a new product liability attorney should feel structured. Here's how the first two conversations with Ellen usually go, from the moment you request a consult to the day representation begins.
Consultation formats and pricing
Ellen charges for the initial consult. That fee is credited toward representation if you retain Ellen's office.
What to bring to your first meeting
Bring any documents you already have — police reports, medical records, filed pleadings, correspondence from an insurer, a copy of the contract at issue. If you're not sure, err on the side of bringing everything; Ellen will tell you what matters and what doesn't.
Questions to ask a product liability attorney in New York
A short list to run through before you commit: How many product liability matters have you handled in the last year? What's your fee structure? Who else in the office will work on this? What's your realistic estimate of timeline and range of outcomes? How do I reach you between meetings?
Fees & payment
Fees, payment methods, and consultation options for Ellen
Ellen discusses fees during intake so the arrangement fits the matter. Contingency, hourly, and flat-fee options are all common in product liability practice — ask which fits.
Hourly rates, contingency fees, and flat-fee options
Every product liability matter is priced differently. Simple document review might be a flat fee. Injury litigation is often contingency. Complex commercial disputes usually run hourly with a retainer. Ellen confirms the model in the engagement letter before any work starts.
Payment methods and payment plans
Ellen's office accepts standard payment methods. Ask about payment plans if the retainer is a stretch — many product liability practices work with clients on structured schedules.
Frequently asked
Frequently asked questions about Ellen Relkin
How much does it cost to hire Ellen for a product liability case?
Cost depends on the type of matter, the fee model (contingency, flat, hourly), and how contested the case becomes. Ellen walks through the likely range during the consult so there are no surprises.
Does Ellen offer a free consultation?
Ellen charges for the initial consult; that fee is credited toward representation if you retain Ellen's office. Some product liability attorneys offer free consults — check Ellen's current terms during booking.
How long do product liability cases in New York typically take?
Simple product liability matters can wrap in a few weeks; disputed cases can run 6–18 months from intake to resolution, longer if the matter goes to trial. Ellen gives a realistic estimate for your facts at the consult — vague answers here are a red flag.
Can Ellen take my case if I'm outside New York?
Ellen is licensed in New York. Matters governed by New York law are the natural fit. Out-of-state matters are handled case-by-case, sometimes with local co-counsel. Ask during intake — Ellen will tell you if the case is a fit or refer you to someone closer to your court.
What should I bring to my first meeting with Ellen?
Bring every document that touches the dispute: contracts, correspondence, police or medical reports, filed pleadings, invoices, photographs, insurance letters. Also bring a written timeline of what happened, in your own words. Ellen will filter what matters — over-preparing at intake is always cheaper than needing a second meeting.
Is Ellen accepting new product liability clients right now?
Ellen's intake status shifts week to week. Submit the form; the office will confirm availability or refer the matter out.
Areas served
Product Liability attorneys serving Albany and Brooklyn in New York
Ellen handles product liability matters throughout New York. Each city below is a direct link into the search page for verified product liability attorneys in that community.
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