Kevin F. Calcagnie, Esq.
Kevin F. Calcagnie is a partner in the Newport Beach office of Robinson Calcagnie Robinson Shapiro Davis, specializing in civil litigation with an emphasis in products liability. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and Finance from California State University at Fullerton, and a Juris Doctor degree from Western State University College of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Western State University Law Review. He was admitted to the California bar in 1983, and has since been admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Ninth and Fifth Circuits, as well as the United States District Courts for the Southern, Central and Eastern Districts of California.
In 2010 Kevin was honored as a recipient of one of the California Lawyer Attorney of the Year Awards. The CLAY awards are presented annually by California Lawyer Magazine to attorneys in various areas of legal practice whose achievements have made a profound impact on the law. In 2011 he was inducted into the Western State University Alumni Hall of Fame. He has an AV rating, the highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards under the peer review system of Martindale-Hubbell, the national legal directory. He has been listed in Southern California Super Lawyers for several years, and has also been selected to the Lawdragon 3000 Leading Lawyers in America.
Kevin was one of the lead attorneys representing the County of Los Angeles in its suit against several tobacco manufacturers, which resulted in a settlement under which the County will receive approximately $3.3 billion dollars over 25 years. He also served as co-counsel with the Orange County District Attorney’s office in the prosecution of actions against oil companies arising from underground storage tank leakage. He has tried cases in California, Arizona and Texas, and has acted as counsel pro hac vice in state and federal courts in several other states. He was co-counsel in the case of Ketchum vs. Hyundai, which resulted in a $15 million jury verdict, as well as In re Aircrash in Bali, Indonesia, where a jury in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles found Pan American World Airways liable for willful misconduct in the crash of a jet airliner.
He has extensive experience in mass tort litigation involving pharmaceuticals, medical devices and other defective products, and served for several years as a member of the At-Large Board of Governors of the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC). In 1997 he was elected to the Board of Governors of CAOC. He received the CAOC Presidential Award of Merit in 1994, 1995 and 1996. He has also served as CAOC’s Education Chair and as Editor-in-Chief of the CAOC Forum, a monthly magazine published by CAOC.
Kevin currently teaches trial advocacy at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. He has also taught civil procedure at Fullerton College, and has lectured for various organizations on topics related to civil litigation, including the American Bar Association, the Practicing Law Institute, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the Orange County Bar Association, the Western Trial Lawyers Association, the Consumer Attorneys of California, the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association, the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, the Montana Trial Lawyers Association, the National Association of Legal Investigators and the Continuing Education of the Bar. He is also a member of the Executive Council of the School of Business and Economics at California State University Fullerton, as well as a member of the Council’s Advisory Board, and is a Founding Fellow of the Orange County Bar Foundation Society of Fellows.
Kevin and his wife Peggy live in Coto de Caza, California. Their daughter Kelly is also a graduate of Cal State Fullerton, and their son Sean is a graduate of USC, and a former wide receiver for the Trojans.
For the past sixteen years Kevin has written a monthly column for CAOC’s Forum Magazine, updating attorneys, legislators and judges on recent appellate court opinions. He has authored or co-authored dozens of legal publications and articles on tort law practice, and was a contributing author to Products Liability Litigation: Product Studies, Clark, Boardman Callaghan (1996) and A Guide to Toxic Torts, Matthew Bender & Company (1987). Some of his other publications include:
“Catalyst for Change: How Products Liability Litigation Has Made Products Safer,” ADVOCATE, Journal of Consumer Attorneys Associations for Southern California, March 2010.
“A Catalyst for Safety,” TRIAL, Journal of the American Association for Justice, November 2009.
“The Noerr-Pennington Doctrine: Defective Products and the First Amendment,” FORUM, Consumer Attorneys of California, May 2008.
“Prescription Drug Overpromotion: How Marketing, Sales and Profit Evidence Can Affect Critical Issues of Warnings and Causation“, ADVOCATE, Journal of Consumer Attorneys Associations for Southern California, February 2007.
“The ABC’s of School Liability in California: A Primer for Lawyers, School Districts and Educators,” FORUM, Consumer Attorneys of California, March 2006.
“Vioxx and the Learned Intermediary Defense,” Drug Recall Litigation Reporter, Andrews Publications, February 2005.
“Products Liability: Inertial Unlatching of Defectively Designed Seat Belts,” FORUM, Consumer Attorneys of California, October 2004.
“Post-sale Duties to Warn, Recall and Retrofit Defective Products,” ADVOCATE, Journal of Consumer Attorneys Associations for Southern California, July 2003.
“Selection of Experts in Auto Crashworthiness Cases,” THE BRIEF, American Bar Association, Summer 2002.
“The Buckman Defense: Evidence of a Defendant’s Misrepresentations to a Government Agency Is Admissible to Prove State Tort Claims,” FORUM, Consumer Attorneys of California, July/August 2002.
“Pharmaceutical Litigation: Choosing Between MDL’s and Coordinated State Litigation,” FORUM, Consumer Attorneys of California, November 2001.
“To Join an MDL. . . or Not,” TRIAL, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, July 2001.
“Vehicle Roof Crush Persists During Rollover Crashes,” TRIAL, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, August 2000.
“Dangerous and Defective Roof Structures: Why Most Cars Are Not Crashworthy in Rollover Accidents,” FORUM, Consumer Attorneys of California, March 2000.
“Defective Automobile Seats,” FORUM, Consumer Attorneys of California, Jan./Feb., 1999.
“Rear-impact Collisions Expose Seat Defects,” TRIAL, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, March 1999.
“The Learned-Intermediary Doctrine in Fen-Phen Litigation,” Fen-Phen Litigation Strategist, September 1998.
“The Case Against Nicotine,” TRIAL, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, September 1997.
“Automotive Fuel System Crashworthiness Litigation,” FORUM, Consumer Attorneys of California, January 1997.
“Fuel System Litigation: The Crashworthiness Angle,” TRIAL, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, November 1996.
“Selection of Experts in Auto Crashworthiness Cases,” TRIAL, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, May 1995.
“Selection of Experts in Auto Crashworthiness Cases,” FORUM, California Trial Lawyers Association, September 1994.
“Roadway Design Litigation: Essential Statutory and Decisional Law,” FORUM, California Trial Lawyers Association, November 1994.
“Occupant Restraint System Litigation,” FORUM, California Trial Lawyers Association, October 1993.
“Breast Implant Litigation: Maintaining a Strict Liability Cause of Action,” FORUM, California Trial Lawyers Association, 1993.
“ Products Liability Litigation: Discovery Relating to Other Products, Complaints, Injuries and Subsequent Conduct,” Western State University Consumer Law Journal, 1993.
“Products Liability Litigation: Discovery Relating to Other Products, Complaints, Injuries and Subsequent Conduct,” FORUM, California Trial Lawyers Association, 1992.
“Punitive Damages in Automobile Products Cases,” Emerging Issues in Automobile Product Liability Litigation , The American Bar Association, 1992.
“Product Liability Litigation: Overcoming Defenses of Alteration, Misuse and Superseding Causes,” FORUM, California Trial Lawyers Association, April 1991.
Practicing:
