PDP Celebrates its 25th Anniversary

PDP proudly reflects on 25 years of advocacy and service on behalf of our clients and the community.

Read About Our 25th Anniversary

Judith A. Perritano

Managing Partner
Partner
Judith A. Perritano
Judith A. Perritano
Partner
Managing Partner

Attorney Biography

Judith A. Perritano is a Founding Partner of Pierce Davis & Perritano, a Boston- based full service civil litigation and trial firm founded in 1998.

Ms. Perritano is a highly skilled litigator with more than 30 years of extensive experience in the defense and trial of a wide variety of cases ranging from complex, high risk cases involving products liability and exposure to asbestos and other toxic torts to those involving general negligence and dram shop liability. She has been involved in all phases of litigation in both state and federal court, from factual investigation through discovery, motion practice, trials, and appeals.

Illustrative Experience

  • Tried a number of cases to verdict in the areas of products liability, toxic exposure/sick building, liquor liability, motor vehicle, slip and fall, and elevator/escalator claims. Participated in various stages of trial in numerous other cases that ultimately resolved prior to verdict, including cases in the areas of products liability, construction, eminent domain, and general negligence claims. Damages tried include the entire personal injury spectrum, wrongful death and property damage. Also acted as lead counsel in asbestos trials in Massachusetts that have resolved favorably before verdict.
  • Well-versed in the steps necessary to mount a successful defense, including the applicable legal and factual arguments to be developed for a wide variety of manufacturers and distributors with a keen understanding of the approaches, positions, and arguments put forth by opposing
  • Responsible for developing plaintiff and witness deposition strategies that lead to in-depth and effective cross-examinations at trial, including conducting depositions of plaintiffs’ and defense experts and preparing Daubert motions and motions in limine on key issues, such as one fiber, sufficiency of expert testimony and no duty to warn.
  • Counsel to numerous asbestos clients in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. In addition to acting as trial counsel, she has also conducted countless expert depositions and prepared and argued Daubert and other motions on key defense issues. Additionally, as a member of the Executive Committee, she helps shape the course of the Massachusetts asbestos litigation. Further, in her role as National Coordinating Counsel for a product manufacturer, she manages and directs discovery, develops key experts, and is involved in trial preparation and appeals in asbestos cases pending in state and federal courts    Through this considerable experience, she has become intimately familiar with the approaches, positions and arguments put forth in the asbestos litigation nationally.

Ms. Perritano is frequently invited to speak on topics related to products liability and toxic torts. She has been named to several peer-reviewed lists, including The Best Lawyers in America©, Massachusetts Super Lawyers, and New England Super Lawyers.

She began her law practice in 1988 with the Boston firm of Morrison, Mahoney & Miller, where she became a partner in 1995.

Attorney Credentials

Education

Clark University
1985
B.A.
,
Suffolk University Law School
1988
J.D.
,
cum laude

Bar Admissions

Massachusetts
,
1988
Connecticut
,
2019

Court Admissions

U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
1990
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
1995

Attorney Experience

Representative Matters

Carreiro v. Main Machinery, 68 F.3d 1443 (1st Cir. 1995)

1995

Awards & Recognition

  • Selected for The Best Lawyers in America© List, 2018-2021
  • Selected for Massachusetts Super Lawyers List, 2006, 2009-2023
  • Selected for Massachusetts Super Lawyers Top 50 Women List, 2013, 2015, 2017-2023
  • Selected for New England Super Lawyers Top 50 Women List, 2017
  • Selected for Massachusetts Super Lawyers Top 100 List, 2017 & 2022 - 2023
  • Martindale-Hubbell National Law Directory, AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating

Association Memberships

  • American Bar Association
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
  • Member, Diversity Law Institute
  • Member, Trial Law Institute

Attorney News

Publications

Author,"Recent Decisions in 3 Key Areas that Impact the Asbestos Litigation," DALS, June 2018
View Publicication
"Sophisticated User Doctrine in Cases Involving Naval Exposure," DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, November 6, 2008
View Publicication
"International Liability for Nuclear Pollution," XI Suffolk Transnational Law Journal, p. 76 (Fall 1987); Product Liability Claims/Defense/Trial (1997)
View Publicication
"Attorney Conduct at Depositions" An Overview, MBA Civil Litigation Section News, October, 1995
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Author, PDP Toxic Torts Alerts, topics include: "Liability for Products Manufactured and Sold by Others," Each and Every Exposure Theory", and "The Duty to Take Home Exposure Plaintiffs"
View Publicication

Speaking Engagements