JEFFREY A. JACKSON
BIOGRAPHY A former Pittsburgh prosecutor, Jeffrey A. Jackson brings to his clients a wide range of trial experience in state and federal courts across the country. Primarily, Mr. Jackson’s practice focuses on defending Class I and short line railroads in the areas of occupational disease, toxic tort litigation, qui tam matters, and whistleblower actions brought under the Federal Rail Safety Act (FRSA).
In addition, Mr. Jackson is experienced in counseling clients on many risk avoidance strategies pertaining to occupational injury claims and litigation, including establishing corporate health and safety practices, instituting effective claim management strategies, and creating regional resources of health and safety consultants.
As national coordinating counsel for several large corporate clients, Mr. Jackson has been responsible for managing mass tort litigation, coordinating a consistent corporate approach to discovery, and developing national litigation strategies.
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Jackson served for four years as an Assistant District 412-995-3056 Attorney in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, regularly trying criminal jury and non-jury cases [email protected] on behalf of the Commonwealth. In 1998, Mr. Jackson co-founded Kelly Hayden LLC, a civil litigation firm based in Pittsburgh, where he represented rail industry corporate clients. Burns White Center 48 26th Street After receiving his law degree, Mr. Jackson served as a law clerk to the Hon. Thomas A. Swope Pittsburgh, PA 15222 Jr. of the Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Court of Common Pleas.
A frequent presenter, Mr. Jackson has lectured at numerous rail industry conferences on a variety of litigation topics, including the defense of whole body vibration lawsuits, the conduct of expert depositions, preparing corporate officers for deposition, aggressive use of discovery in the defense of cumulative trauma claims, and risk avoidance strategies for whistleblower actions brought under FRSA.
CREDENTIALS Areas of Law • Occupational Disease Litigation • Railroad Industry Litigation • Whistleblower Litigation • Toxic Tort Litigation • White Collar and Government Enforcement
Education • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (J.D., 1989) • University of Notre Dame, government and international studies (B.A., 1986)
Bar and Court Admissions • Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Memberships • National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel • Allegheny County Bar Association
ACCOLADES & INVOLVEMENT • Keystone State Railroad Association Board of Directors, Associate Member • University of Notre Dame Club of Pittsburgh, Executive Committee • Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School Crew Board, Former President PUBLICATIONS • “The Anatomy of an Effective Whistleblower Retaliation Defense,” Burns White Insights, May 2019 • “Getting Autonomous Technology on Track: Opportunities and Challenges for the Rail Sector,” Autonomous Vehicle Technology, October 2018
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS • Obtained a defense verdict in a jury trial for a corporate railroad client where the plaintiff argued that he suffered permanent disabling injuries because of the poor ergonomic design of the workplace and the employer’s failure to sufficiently train its workforce.
• Obtained a favorable verdict on behalf of a railroad corporation after a three-week trial in which it was alleged by a consolidated group of plaintiffs that the defendant corporation was aware of a hazardous work exposure and failed to remediate or reduce that exposure or warn its employees of the hazard.
• After extensive contested discovery and depositions, obtained a favorable settlement for a railroad client in a matter where plaintiff alleged injuries resulting from occupational vibration exposure.
• Assisted a Fortune 100 corporate client to construct its “good news safety story,” including organizing and using extensive documentary evidence for use in mass tort litigation.
Jeffrey A. Jackson 412-995-3056 [email protected] Burns White Center 48 26th Street Pittsburgh, PA 15222