Demetrios C. "Jim" Batsides
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
One Riverfront Plaza
1037 Raymond Boulevard, Suite 1800
Newark, NJ 07102-5429
USA
Phone: +1 973 424 2073
Fax: +1 973 556 1411
Email: dcbatsides@duanemorris.com

New York Address
Duane Morris LLP
1540 Broadway
New York, NY 10036-4086
Phone: 212.692.1000
Fax: 212.692.1020

Demetrios C. ("Jim") Batsides is a seasoned trial attorney and litigator with a practice focusing on the defense and counseling of healthcare companies, clinical and genetics laboratories, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, medical and laboratory professionals, and product distributors, retailers and manufacturers. He has successfully represented such clients in trials and appeals venued in state and federal courts in various jurisdictions.

Mr. Batsides has extensive experience in cases involving complex liability and medical causation issues and has represented clients in a wide variety of cases involving claims for significant personal injuries and economic damages from catastrophic neurological injury, wrongful death, wrongful birth, loss of fertility, toxic exposure and failure to diagnose cancer. He also routinely counsels healthcare clients and product manufacturers on risk management best practices and regulatory compliance issues.

Mr. Batsides serves as regional trial and defense counsel for a major international clinical laboratory and is a member of its national Pap smear and HPV testing litigation team.

Mr. Batsides has also represented numerous clients in significant commercial disputes and litigation involving breach of contract claims.

Mr. Batsides is immediate past president and chairman of the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey ("TANJ"), a non-partisan, statewide organization of plaintiff and defense attorneys from the civil and criminal bars, which provides legal education, leadership and advocacy on issues affecting the trial bar and the public interest. He is also an appointed member of the Medical Malpractice Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association, as well as an active member of numerous local and national legal professional organizations, including the Defense Research Institute ("DRI") and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Mr. Batsides was named as a Super Lawyer by his peers in the State of New Jersey in 2007 through 2013 in the areas of medical malpractice and civil litigation defense. Only 5 percent of the total lawyers in the state are awarded this designation.

Mr. Batsides is a graduate of Rutgers University School of Law and holds an undergraduate degree from Villanova University. He is fluent in Greek.

Areas of Practice

• Products Liability
• Healthcare Litigation
• Commercial Litigation

Representative Matters

• Defended well over 100 clinical and genetics laboratory malpractice cases, many involving significant damages claims for wrongful death, wrongful birth and failure to diagnose cancer. These matters have encompassed virtually every area of clinical and genetics laboratory practice, including cytopathology (Pap smears), anatomic pathology (tissue biopsies), dermatopathology (skin cancers), prenatal genetic screening (wrongful birth), HIV/hepatitis testing, life threatening and critical value testing, forensic toxicology, (drug screening), paternity testing and phlebotomy.
• Successfully argued an appeal in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed early dismissal of plaintiff's federal discrimination and negligence claims relating to a positive drug screening result.
• Successfully argued an appeal in the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, which affirmed early dismissal of plaintiff's negligence claims relating to a mandatory drug screening result.
• Successfully argued an appeal in the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, affirming the dismissal of plaintiff's negligence claims, based on insufficient expert proofs, relating to a positive drug screening result.
• Obtained a defense verdict after a month-long trial in a case involving claims of severe bacterial infection resulting in permanent and debilitating orthopedic injuries.
• Obtained a defense verdict at trial in a case involving claims of negligent forensic toxicology testing in the workplace resulting in significant economic losses.
• Obtained a settlement that the client found favorable at the conclusion of a lengthy trial on behalf of a clinical laboratory and a pathologist in a case involving Pap smear interpretation involving claims of loss of fertility and decreased life expectancy from cervical cancer.
• Obtained early dismissal by motion in a federal court case involving civil rights claims stemming from a negligently derived paternity identity testing result.
• Represented a major international technology and manufacturing company in a toxic exposure case, involving claims of severe orthopedic and neurological impairment.
• Defended a major national chemical company in a premises liability and product liability matter, involving claims of significant orthopedic injuries and permanent disability.
• Represented numerous physicians as personal counsel in medial malpractice matters where potential settlement and verdict exposure exceeded professional liability insurance limits.
• Represented physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers in dozens of malpractice and professional negligence cases, involving a variety of medical specialties including orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, oncology, anesthesiology, radiology, pediatrics, cardiology, dermatology, internal medicine, nursing, chiropractic and podiatry.
• Represented a major drug manufacturer in numerous matters involving product defect and inadequate labeling claims, relating to dermatological, ophthalmological and anti-malarial agents.

Professional Activities

• Trial Attorneys of New Jersey
  - Immediate Past President and Trustee
• American Bar Association
• New Jersey State Bar Association
  - Appointed Member, Medical Malpractice Committee
• The Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey
• New York State Bar Association
• District of Columbia Bar Association
• The Association of the Bar of the City of New York
• New York County Lawyers Association
• Defense Research Institute
  - Drug and Medical Device Committee
  - Medical Liability Committee
• Member of New Jersey State Judiciary Working Group on Implementation of Digital Recording in Superior Court

Admissions

• New Jersey
• New York
• District of Columbia
• Supreme Court of the United States
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Education

• Rutgers School of Law, J.D.
• Villanova University, B.A.
  - Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 2008-present
• Gibbons PC
  - Partner, 2003-2008
• Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan Griffinger & Vecchione
  - Associate, 1996-2003
• Giblin & Combs
  - Associate, 1992-1996

Civic and Charitable Activities

• Board Member, Long Valley Baseball Club

Honors and Awards

• New Jersey Super Lawyers, 2007-2013
• Listed in Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition, Personal Injury Defense: Medical Malpractice, 2009, 2010 and 2011

Selected Publications

• Co-author, "The Increasing Frequency of Wrongful Birth and Life Claims in the Genomics Age," Defense Research Institute, DRI—The Voice, June 2013
• Co-author, "New Jersey Appeals Court Allows Counsel During Jury Selection to Research Potential Jurors on the Internet," Duane Morris Alert, October 1, 2010

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Moderator, "From Disaster to Renewal: Navigating a Post-Superstorm Sandy Landscape," Duane Morris Spring Symposium CLE, April 2013
• Moderator, "Preventing a Security Breach: Managing Data Privacy and Security Risks in the Digital World," Duane Morris and Sobel & Co. Spring Symposium CLE, Livingston, New Jersey, May 2012
• Panelist, Grand Rounds Presentation: "Medicolegal Impact of Documentation in Labor and Delivery and Wrongful Birth Litigation," Major NJ Hospital System, July 2011
• Moderator and Speaker, "Prenatal Genetic Screening and Wrongful Birth Litigation." New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, November 2010
• Panelist, "Litigation Skills and Court Appearances: A Presentation for Young Litigation Department Lawyers," Newark, New Jersey, September 2006
• Invited Speaker, New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education
• Speaker, "Evolution of Cytopathology," "Cytopathology and the Law: An Ominous Combination," Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, November 2004