Sonia Valdes to Speak at ALFA Product Liability Conference

2021 Product Liability & Complex Torts Practice Group Seminar

The Product Liability & Complex Torts Practice Group Seminar will take place October 6-8, 2021 at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar in San Diego, California.

Please check back in June 2021 for detailed program information.

Presenters

SONIA VALDES is the Vice President-Claims, Medmarc Insurance Group. Ms. Valdes is responsible for managing a team of dedicated claims professionals as well as overseeing technical and administrative issues within Medmarc’s Claims Department. Her responsibilities include directing mass tort litigation, training and developing staff, assisting with policy development, advising underwriters on risk management, and expanding Medmarc’s litigation management services. Ms. Valdes joined Medmarc in August of 2013. Prior to Medmarc, Ms. Valdes was Assistant Vice President with Chubb & Son, Inc., in its headquarters in Warren, New Jersey, for 14 years. She had worldwide responsibility for managing Chubb’s Life Sciences Claims Core. Ms. Valdes has extensive experience in evaluating coverage and liability issues in environmental,  mass tort, and health science litigation. She has been an admitted attorney in New Jersey since 1992 and is and a member of the IADC and CLM. She received her  undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Rutgers University in 1984 and her law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1991.

EMILY FRASCAROLI is managing counsel of the Product Litigation Group at Ford Motor Company, including the product litigation, asbestos, and discovery teams. She also advises globally on automotive  safety, regulatory, and product liability issues, including a focus on autonomous vehicles and mobility. She has extensive experience handling complex product litigation cases, regulatory matters with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other governmental entities, and product defect investigations. She also is co-chair of the Legal and Insurance Working Group for the University of Michigan’s Mcity. In 2017, she was appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to the Michigan Council on Future Mobility, and in 2019 she was appointed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich to the DriveOhio Expert Advisory Board. She is a Lecturer on the Faculty of the University of Michigan Law School where she teaches a course entitled Legal Issues Surrounding Autonomous Vehicles. Emily earned her JD, cum laude, from Wayne State University and was an editor of the Wayne Law Review. She received her BS in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California and her Meng in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan. Prior to practicing law, she worked in engineering at both Ford and NASA.