Mark S. Sidoti

Mark S. Sidoti is a Director at Gibbons P.C. and practices in the Firm's Products Liability and Business & Commercial Litigation Groups. He has more than 22 years of experience in litigating complex business and healthcare matters. He practices before the states and federal courts of New York and New Jersey and throughout the United States.

Mr. Sidoti is a founding member and the leader of the Laboratory Defense team, a part of the firm's comprehensive products liability practice, which has been actively engaged in the defense of clinical laboratories for many years. In this area, he has handled matters involving the disciplines of cytology (primarily Pap smears), pathology and toxicology in litigation arising out of gynecologic cancers, neurological birth defects, blood disorders, genetic diseases, skin cancers, terminations of pregnancy and drug abuse. Many of these matters involve wrongful death or birth, cancer causation, "fear of cancer" and medical monitoring claims. In addition to New Jersey and New York, he has litigated these matters through pro hac vice admissions in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, California, and Arizona.

Mr. Sidoti is also Chair of the Gibbons' E-Discovery Task Force, an interdisciplinary group which provides counseling, training and litigation-related assistance to companies on the full range of information management and e-discovery matters. He frequently publishes and lectures on best practices in these areas and is a member of numerous standard setting organizations in the e-discovery field, including the Defense Research Institute's Electronic Discovery Committee (where he serves as Vice Chair), the Sedona Conference Working Groups 1 and 6, Electronic Discovery Reference Model ("EDRM") and Merrill Corporation's Strategic EDiscovery Advisory Board. He is also counsel for the plaintiff in the well known Treppel v. Biovail case, which resulted in several reported decisions that have been recognized as among the most important e-discovery opinions to date. He is recognized among New York's leading lawyers in the area of business litigation by New York Super Lawyers, and is AV Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Representative Matters & Engagements

Litigation

• Lead litigation counsel to leading clinical laboratory in professional liability, complex personal injury and wrongful death matters throughout the U.S.
• National Counsel to leading clinical laboratory for cytology (Pap smear) litigation. Served as lead litigation counsel in litigations in New York, New Jersey, Illinois; California, Missouri, Washington, Texas, and Arizona alleging misread Pap smear led to a delay in the diagnosis of cervical cancer and related damages.
• Counsel to leading international provider of biomedical sample and assay technologies, and manufacturer of the only FDA approved test to detect the virus that causes cervical cancer. Developed a variety of risk management programs, including live events, teleconferences and webcasts, designed to educate clinicians nationwide regarding the evolving standard of care issues.
• Counsel to the largest municipal hospital and health care system in the U.S. regarding its laboratory services including contracts, multistate compliance and risk management consultation.
• Counsel to leading automobile leasing company on wrongful death action involving the death of three young adults. Case involved issues of vicarious liability, Dram Shop, choice of law and negligent entrustment.
• Counsel to leading international aviation ground services provider in matter involving injuries sustained by accidental jet fuel release.
• Defense counsel to world's largest footwear and accessories trade organization, in a federal court litigation involving a corporate plaintiff’s tort claim for economic losses due to company’s loss of the services of its injured key employee. Successfully moved to dismiss claim arguing that indirect economic harm from the loss of "key employee" services, absent any direct injury to the employer, is not cognizable - an issue addressed by only a handful of courts throughout the country and one of first impression in New Jersey.
• Counsel to General Agent and independent agency for leading life insurance and financial services company in connection with FINRA arbitrated restrictive covenant matter involving alleged non-compete and non-solicitation violations by certain agency producers.

E-Discovery

• Counsel for plaintiff in high profile defamation and tortious interference case Treppel v. Biovail Corporation, et al., Architect of motions resulting in the seminal ediscovery decisions reported at 233 F.R.D 363 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) (“Treppel IV”) and 249 F.R.D. 111 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 2, 2008) (“Treppel VII”), since cited in numerous court decisions, law review articles and treatises, including Arkfeld's Electronic Discovery & Evidence, Moore's Federal Practice and the Second Edition of the Sedona Principles. Several prominent ediscovery service providers selected Treppel IV as the top ediscovery decision of 2006. Commenting on Treppel VII, Kroll Ontrack compared Treppel's significance to the seminal ediscovery case of Zubulake v. UBS Warburg.
• Engaged to counsel an multinational construction company on information management and ediscovery best practices, and assisted in substantial revisions to its information management and litigation hold policies.
• Engaged to counsel an multinational eyewear manufacturer regarding information management , litigation hold and other ediscovery best practices, assess the companies current IT infrastructure and litigation risk environment and create a comprehensive information management policy.
• Engaged by Fortune 200 pharmaceutical company to provide a formal opinion regarding ediscovery related risks relating to the company's consideration of various options for upgrading its global telephone and voicemail systems.
• Engaged by national telephone industry tariff filing and revenue distribution non-profit to assist in formulation of its corporate Litigation Response Plan, including litigation hold policies and procedures.
• Engaged as counsel to a multinational office and home products manufacturer regarding ediscovery counseling for ongoing class action litigation, as well as general information management and ediscovery best practices, IT infrastructure and data mapping, vendor selection and relevant policy revisions.

Fordham University School of Law (J.D., 1988)
International Law Journal, Moot Court Board
Best Brief Award, William Hughes Mulligan Moot Court Competition, 1988

Fordham University -- Fordham College (B.S., Psychology, summa cum laude, 1985)
Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Beta Phi

State of Ohio 1999

State of New York 1989

State of New Jersey 1988

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York 1999

United States District Court for the Northern District of New York 1997

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey 1988

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 1989

Member, American Bar Association

Member, New Jersey Bar Association

Member, New York Bar Association

Defense Research Institute, Electronic Discovery Committee, Membership Chair 2006-2008; Vice Chair - 2008 - ___

Member, American Society for Cytotechnology

Board of Directors, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Long Island

Member, Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM), Evergreen Project (Information Management, Preservation and Collection and Project Management Working Groups)

Member, Thomson Litigation Consulting's Advisory Board

Member, Merrill Corporation's Strategic EDiscovery Advisory Board

Advisory Board Member, Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center's Institute for Business, Law and Technology (IBLT)

"Weighing in on manual collection methods," The National Law Journal, March 22, 2010 (Mark S. Sidoti, Wendy R. Stein, Verne Alan Pedro)

"Form and Manner of Production Under FRCP34," For the Defense, February 2010 (Mark S. Sidoti, Scott J. Etish, Stephen J. Finley, Jr.)

"Un-ringing Bells and Closing Barn Doors - Strategies to Leverage the Protection of FRE 502," The American Lawyer and Corporate Counsel Magazines, Special E-Discovery Insert, December 2009 (Mark S. Sidoti, Phillip J. Duffy)

"Please Stop Speaking After the Tone...Controlling the Risk with Unified Voicemail Systems," New York Law Journal, Special Litigation Supplement, October 5, 2009 (Mark S. Sidoti, Paul E. Asfendis)

"Messaging Systems: Haunted by Voices?," Law Technology News, May 2009 (Mark S. Sidoti, Paul E. Asfendis)

"On The E-Discovery Horizon: Voicemail," E-Discovery Alert, March 11, 2009 (Mark S. Sidoti, Paul E. Asfendis)

"CASE LAW UPDATE: A discussion of key federal court decisions involving electronic discovery from 2008 to present," E-Discovery Alert, March 11, 2009 (Mark S. Sidoti, Paul E. Asfendis, Scott J. Etish)

"Hot Topics in E-Discovery - Lessons from 2008," Geneva Group International Insider, January 2009 (Mark S. Sidoti, Jeffrey L. Nagel)

"How Important Is It To Cooperate With Opposing Counsel After In Re Seroquel?," The American Lawyer, December 2008 (Mark S. Sidoti, Phillip J. Duffy)

"Drafting the Electronic Communication Policy," New Jersey Law Journal, February 4, 2008 (Mark S. Sidoti, Kristin D. Sostowski)

"Book Review, Arkfeld on Electronic Discovery and Evidence (2nd ed.)," The Federal Lawyer, February 2008

"Getting to "Good Faith" under New Rule 37(f)," For the Defense, January 2008 (Mark S. Sidoti, Phillip J. Duffy, Scott J. Etish)

"Electronic Discovery Agreements," New York Law Journal, December 3, 2007 (Mark S. Sidoti, Phillip J. Duffy)

"Rule 37(f) - Has This 'Safe Harbor' Provided Any Protection?," ALM, December 2007

"Navigating the Changing Landscape of E-Discovery," Legal Intelligencer, Vol. 235 No. 70 and GC Mid-Atlantic, April 11, 2007

"The Effective Internal Litigation Hold Letter," In-House Defense Quarterly, Winter 2007 (Mark S. Sidoti, Renée Lynne Monteyne)

"The Evolving Standard of Care and the Role of New Technologies in Risk Reduction," FOCUS - Newsletter of the Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology , Vol. 13, No. 2, November 2006

"E-Discovery Strategies," GC New York, October 10, 2006 (Phillip J. Duffy, Mark S. Sidoti)

"Liability Risk Reduction Benefits New Cancer Screening Technologies (Part I)," FOCUS - Newsletter of the Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology , Vol. 13, No.1, May 2006

"HPV DNA Testing: The Legal Perspective," Health & Sexuality, a publication of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, January 2005

"The 2001 Bethesda System - Terminology for Reporting Results of Cervical Cytology," JAMA, Vol. 287, No. 16, 2002

"The Pap Smear Liability Crisis," American Journal of Clinical Pathology, Vol. 112; 273-281, 1999

"Pap Smears Risk Analysis," Healthcare Risk Control, Vol. 4 No. 8, August 1998

"The Role of Clinical History and Presuit Rescreening," Acta Cytologica, Vol. 42, No. 1, January/February 1998

"Do PIBs Puncture the Learned Intermediary Doctrine?," New Jersey Law Journal, August 9, 1993

Quoted in "Data-mining firm seeks golden nuggets," Crain's New York Business.com, October 23, 2009

Interviewed in "Gibbons' E-Discovery Conference: Helping the Client Develop Defensible Practices," The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, September 2007

Speaker, Guidance Software, Inc., "CEIC® 2010 Conference," Summerlin, NV. May 26, 2010

Co-Lecturer, ALI-ABA Telephone Seminar/Audio Webcast, "Litigation Hold Letters - Identifying and Preserving Electronic Data," April 14, 2010

Invited Speaker, The Round Table of New York, "FINRA Guidance on Social Media Web Sites -- Regulatory Notice 10-06," April 1, 2010

Guest Lecturer, Brooklyn Law School - Evening Division, at the invitation of Professor David P. Horowitz, Esq. for his course, "Electronic Evidence & Disclosure," March 18, 2010

Speaker, New Jersey State Bar Association, 2009 Mid-Year Meeting, "Recent Developments in E-Discovery," San Francisco, CA. November 5, 2009

Speaker, Gibbons P.C., "The 2009 E-Discovery Landscape," Newark, NJ. October 29, 2009

Faculty Panelist, ACI’s 7th Annual Advanced Forum on E-Discovery & Document Management, "Improving Communication Among IT Departments, Corporate Counsel & Outside Counsel In Order to Streamline E-Discovery Efforts and Minimize Risks," Philadelphia, PA. September 22 - 23, 2009

Speaker, Sandpiper Partners, "Money Saving Solutions for E-Discovery: Concrete Steps you Should Take Now to Manage Risks & Control Ballooning Costs," New York, NY. May 28, 2009

Speaker, Defense Research Institute's Annual EDiscovery Seminar, "Case Law Update - A discussion of key Federal Court decisions involving electronic discovery from 2008 to the present," New York, NY. May 7, 2009

Speaker, Eastern Association of College and University Business Officers (EACUBO) New Jersey Sub Region Spring 2009 Workshop Sponsored by Mercadien Technologies & Gibbons P.C., "Current E-Discovery Challenges ... Adapting to a Brave New World," April 29, 2009

Guest Lecturer, Touro Law Center, at the invitation of Professor Jonathan Ezor, Esq. for his course Business, Law and Technology, "New York E-Discovery -- Rules, Issues and Case Law Review," April 20, 2009

Guest Lecturer, Brooklyn Law School - Evening Division, "at the invitation of Professor David P. Horowitz, Esq. for his course 'Electronic Evidence & Disclosure,'" March 16, 2009

Panelist, New York State Bar Association, "E-Discovery and E-Record Management," New York, NY. January 28, 2009

Speaker, Mercadien Technologies & Gibbons P.C., "Current E-Discovery Challenges ... Adapting to a Brave New World," Hamilton, NJ. January 21, 2009

Planning Chair & Co-Lecturer, ALI-ABA Telephone Seminar/Audio Webcast, "Litigation Hold Letters - The Legal Duty to Identify & Preserve Electronic Data," October 30, 2008

Speaker & Panelist, Defense Research Institute Annual Meeting 2008, "Behind the Scenes - Rule 26(f) Conferences in the E-Discovery Age," October 22 - 26, 2008

Chair & Speaker, Gibbons P.C., "Gibbons E-Discovery Second Annual Full Day Conference," Newark, NJ. October 16, 2008

Panelist, Merrill Corporation, "Meet and Confer: How Preparation Can Deal You The Upper Hand," September 23, 2008

Co-Presenter, New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association Annual Full Day Meeting, "Sanctions, Litigation Holds and Privilege - Oh My! - 10 Steps To Make Your Company E-Discovery Ready," Parsippany, NJ. September 18, 2008

Panelist, New York City Bar Association/American Bar Association - Section on Litigation, 2008 Aviation Trial Demonstrations & Cutting Edge Issues, "How to Plunder, Pillage, Despoil, and Rob Without Even Trying in the Age of Electronically Stored Information," New York, NY. June 5, 2008

Co-Planning Chair and Presenter, ALI/ABA Live Telephone Seminar, "Computer Fraud and Abuse: A New Cause of Action," May 23, 2008

Speaker, New York City Bar, City Bar Center for CLE, Practical Evidence: Real Problems, Real Solutions, "EDiscovery In New York State Practice," May 21, 2008

Speaker, Touro Law Center, "Gibbons Sponsors E-Discovery Program at Touro Law Center," Central Islip, NY. March 12, 2008

Speaker, IQPC, "E-Discovery for the Financial Services Industry," New York, NY. February 27 - 29, 2008

Speaker, Legal Tech NY, "Accelerate & Prioritize Your Document Review," February 5 - 7, 2008

Panelist, Legaltech New York, "The Future of eDiscovery is Here: Computer-Expedited Document Review," New York, NY. February 5 - 7, 2008

Speaker, ALI-ABA Seminar, "Electronic Discovery and Records Management: New Litigation Challenges," New York, NY. January 17 - 18, 2008

Workshop Leader, CBI's Executive Summit on Payor Compliance and Privacy, "E-Discovery Strategies for Maintaining Privacy of Electronically Stored and Shared Information," Lake Buena Vista, FL. November 5, 2007

Speaker, IQPC's 4th E-Discovery Conference, "Best Practices for Information Retention and E-Discovery Management," Jersey City, NJ. October 1 - 4, 2007

Speaker & Moderator, Gibbons P.C., "Gibbons E-Discovery Conference," Newark, N.J. September 27, 2007

Planning Chair, ALI-ABA Telephone Seminar/Audio Webcast, "What's the Deal with Litigation Hold Letters? The Legal Duty to Identify & Preserve Electronic Data," September 26, 2007

Panelist, The Greater New York Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel CLE Seminar, "Considerations in Establishing a Defensible In-House E-Discovery Process Sponsored by the Association of Corporate Counsel," New York, NY. May 15, 2007

Speaker, Guidance Software, Inc. and the Gibbons' Electronic Discovery Task Force Roundtable Series, "Building Defensible In-House E-Discovery Capabilities: Moving From Project to Process," Newark, NJ. May 4, 2007

Panelist, Gibbons Women's Initiative and the New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association, "Health and Wellness for In-House Women" Morristown, NJ. March 14, 2007

Speaker, New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association's Patent Litigation Seminar, "Electronic Discovery - Preservation Obligations and the Rambus Decisions: A Procedural & Ethical," Iselin, NJ. March 12, 2007

Invited Speaker and Visiting Faculty Panelist, Harvard Medical School, Department of Continuing Education, "Advances in Cytotechnology," Boston, MA, June, 2006 and 2007

Invited Speaker, Cervical Cancer Screening: Risk Management Perspectives, South Texas Society of Healthcare Risk Management, Austin, TX, March 10, 2006

Speaker, Marcus Evans Corporate Counsel Summit "Information & Records Management Policy Master Class" Pinehurst Resort, North Carolina, January 23, 2006

Invited Speaker, Federal Bar Council, E-Discovery: Successful Strategies & Best Practices, New York, New York, December 12, 2005

Faculty Panelist, "Clinical And Risk Management Perspectives For Cervical Cancer Screening: A Continuing Education Program," American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) Regional Meeting (Region IX), Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, October 28-30, 2005

Invited Speaker and Visiting Faculty Panelist, Harvard Medical School, Department of Continuing Education, "Advances in Cytotechnology," Boston, MA, June, 2004

Invited Speaker, Vermont/New Hampshire Cytotechnology Association and Maine Society of Cytology's Eighth Tri-State Cytology Conference, Burlington, VT, April, 2004

Invited Speaker and Visiting Faculty Panelist, Harvard Medical School, Department of Continuing Education, "Advances in Cytology," Boston, MA, June, 2002

Invited Speaker, Grand Rounds, University of Vermont Department of Pathology, April 2002

Committee Member, "Bethesda 2001 Workshop," April 30 - May 2, 2001, Natcher Conference Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Invited Speaker and Faculty Panelist, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 2001 Fall Meeting, "The Pap Smear: Serving Patients and Avoiding Liability in a Low Cost and Litigious World," Silver Spring, Maryland, October 18-19, 2001

Invited Speaker and Faculty Panelist, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 2000 Fall Meeting, "The Pap Smear: Serving Patients and Avoiding Liability In A Low Cost And Litigious World," Silver Spring, MD, September 23, 2000

Invited Speaker and Visiting Faculty Panelist, Harvard Medical School, Department of Continuing Education, "Advances in Cytology," Boston, MA, June 19, 2000

Member of the Task Force on Medico-Legal Affairs and Panel Speaker, International Academy of Cytology's International Consensus Conference On The Fight Against Cervical Cancer, Chicago, IL, March 18, 2000

Invited Speaker and Faculty Panelist, American Society of Cytopathology/American Society for Cytotechnology, 2000 Joint Conference, "Cytopathology Las Vegas 2000," Las Vegas, NV, April 28, 2000

Listed in Super Lawyers, Civil Litigation Defense, 2006 - 2009

AV® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Mark S. Sidoti Named Vice Chair of Electronic Discovery Committee of DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar

Treppel v. Biovail Corporation et al., 249 F.R.D. 111 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 2, 2008) ("Treppel VII")

Treppel v. Biovail Corporation, et al., 233 F.R.D. 363 (S.D.N.Y 2006) ("Treppel IV")

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