Emily Jane Wagner

EMILY J. WAGNER is a partner of Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti’s Product Liability Group. Ms. Wagner has litigated product liability and catastrophic injury cases for more than 16 years.  She has earned an AV-Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell – the highest rating available for any lawyer in both legal ability and ethical standards. 

After completing high school, Ms. Wagner was awarded a scholarship to West Virginia University, where she majored in Chemistry, which provided her with a foundation invaluable to her legal career.  She graduated West Virginia University magna cum laude and entered the University’s College of Law.  During law school, she received several awards of distinction for her academic performance and was a national finalist in the Nova Southeastern Appellate Advocacy Competition.

During her studies at West Virginia University’s College of Law, Ms. Wagner served as a clerk for the Honorable Irene M. Keeley in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.  She was the youngest graduating member of her law school class, graduating with honors and recognized as a member of the Order of the Coif. 

Shortly after her graduation from law school, Ms. Wagner became lead trial counsel in one of the more dangerous jurisdictions in the country – State Court in West Virginia.  She has enjoyed first chair trial experience on numerous occasions in both West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

In 2002, Ms. Wagner accepted a position in the San Diego, California office of Wilson Elser, one of the preeminent law firms in the nation. There, she served as National Counsel to a pharmaceutical company, overseeing litigation involving Phenylpropanolamine which was coordinated in Federal Multi-District Litigation and pending in state and federal courts throughout the country.

Thereafter, in 2005, Ms. Wagner moved to Los Angeles, where she joined the product liability firm, Yukevich Cavanaugh.  There, she had the privilege of defending some of the world’s largest product and medical device manufacturers, including, but not limited, Johnson & Johnson, DePuy Orthopaedics, Ford Motor Company, Ferrari, Easton-Bell Sports, Michelin Tires, Shoei, Subaru, Suzuki and Isuzu.  Ms. Wagner has also defended medical device and automobile manufacturers in Clark County, Nevada. 

In addition to Products defense, Ms. Wagner has litigated chemical and industrial facility explosions, automobile and ATV crash-worthy matters, and defended design claims involving catastrophic injuries. 

Today, Ms. Wagner represents one of the world’s largest generic drug manufacturers in national litigation involving numerous pharmaceutical products, including generic versions of Dilantin, Darvocet, Accutane and Neurontin. 

Ms. Wagner writes and speaks on issues pertaining to pharmaceutic litigation, including a recent presentation on “The Significance and Potential Impact of Mutual Pharmaceutical Co., Inc. v. Bartlett” at the American Bar Association’s Drug and Medical Device Regional Seminar at Novo Nordisk.

Ms. Wagner is a member of the Defense Research Institute and a participating member of the organization’s Drug & Medical Device Committee. She is a member of the American Bar Association and maintains active licenses to practice in the states of California, Nevada, and West Virginia, as well as in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.