Roger has spent his entire 40-year career representing individuals injured by the railroad industry, environmental disasters, dangerous products and defective pharmaceutical drugs. He has litigated cases in more than a dozen states, both in state and federal courts, and has obtained record-setting verdicts in multiple jurisdictions.
Roger has also represented hundreds of railroad workers who have been seriously injured as a result of unsafe working conditions and is responsible for more than 20 jury verdicts in excess of one million dollars against all of the major railroads. Roger has appeared before the United States Supreme Court, in a case against Norfolk Southern, successfully protecting the rights of injured railroad workers.
Roger has served in leadership positions in a number of complex litigations and mass torts. He was a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Southern District of Ohio representing residents of southeast Ohio injured by du Pont’s contamination of their drinking water. In re E. I. du Pont de Nemours C-8 Personal Injury Litigation, (MDL 2433). An initial settlement was reached in 2017 for $670,000,000 for those individuals who developed cancer from drinking contaminated water from the Ohio River. Roger is also representing thousands of marines injured by the drinking water at Camp Lejeune, which was contaminated with toxic chemicals for decades.
Roger also has a national reputation as a leader in pharmaceutical litigations, and he has served as Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel in the In re: Yasmin and Yaz (Drospirenone) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2100); Co-Lead Counsel in the In re: Pradaxa (Dabigatran) Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2385); Lead Counsel in the In re: NuvaRing Products Liability Litigation (MDL 1964); as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and a member of the bellwether trial team in the In re: Xarelto Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2592); served on the discovery committee and as a member of the bellwether trial team in the In re: Ortho Evra Products Liability Litigation (MDL 1742); and, as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the In re: Gadolinium Based Contrast Agents Products Liability Litigation (MDL 1909).
In the Pradaxa MDL, Roger was a member of the Plaintiffs’ negotiating team and the litigation resulted in a $650,000,000 nationwide global settlement. In the NuvaRing MDL, Roger was the lead negotiator and the litigation resulted in a $100,000,000 nationwide global settlement. Roger’s work in the Yasmin/Yaz MDL resulted in a settlement of nearly $2,000,000,000. Roger’s work in the Xarleto MDL lead to a $775,000,000 nationwide global settlement. In addition, Roger has negotiated over one hundred individual settlements in excess of million dollars for his clients.
In 2020, Roger was named to Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly‘s inaugural edition of The Power List, focusing on personal injury lawyers who lead and influence the Missouri legal community. He was recognized for his larger-than-life reputation for leadership in mass torts, “reflected in the number of times he’s been appointed as counsel for multidistrict litigation.”
Roger has served as an Executive Board Member of the Mass Tort Trial Lawyer Association, a member of the American Association for Justice, a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and a member of Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys. Roger is a frequent speaker at national and local seminars and conferences involving mass torts and pharmaceutical litigation. Roger has appeared on CNN, KSDK television in St. Louis Missouri, and multiple radio stations over his career. He has also been featured in an article in Vanity Fair.
Practice Areas
- Railroad Litigation
- Environmental Hazards
- Water Contamination Injuries
- Complex Litigation
- Pharmaceutical Drugs and Devices
Education
- B.A., cum laude, Culver Stockton College, 1978
- J.D., summa cum laude, St. Louis University School of Law, 1982
Bar Admissions
- State of Missouri
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. District Court, C.D. Ill.
- U.S. District Court, N.D. Ill.
- U.S. District Court, S.D. Ill.
- U.S. District Court, E.D. Mo.
- U.S. District Court, W.D. Mo.
- U.S. District Court, E.D. Wis.
- U.S. District Court, W.D. Wis.
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