Bownas, Pearson N.

Current Employment Position(s)

Of Counsel

Lawyer Overview

Pearson's practice emphasizes the defense of class actions and other complex litigation. Pearson has developed arguments and written briefs that have convinced courts to deny class certification and to decertify classes. He has defended manufacturers of aviation, automotive, and other products in product liability and consumer fraud class action cases. He has defended corporations and their directors in shareholder class action cases. He has defended providers of Internet services, insurance claims administration, and other services in consumer fraud and breach-of-contract class action cases.

Pearson was extensively involved in Jones Day's nationwide coordination and defense of more than 150 state and federal class action lawsuits brought against Bridgestone/Firestone following the largest tire recall in history. He teaches complex litigation as an adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. By frequently publishing articles and giving presentations on class action issues, practice before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, and other complex litigation topics, Pearson stays current with, and helps develop, cutting-edge strategies.

Pearson also has broad experience representing pharmaceutical companies, commercial banks, investment banks, accounting and law firms, manufacturers, mining companies, transportation companies, product suppliers, and other companies in a wide range of product liability, consumer fraud, and commercial litigation.

Pearson also has significant experience representing private equity clients, such as defending a private equity client that provided financing for a management buyout against claims for unfair business practices and interfering with management's fiduciary duties and representing private equity clients to resolve post-closing disputes. He also counsels private equity clients about structuring transactions to minimize litigation risks.

Pearson's courtroom experience includes examining and cross-examining fact and expert witnesses in jury trial and preliminary injunction proceedings. He has argued pretrial discovery, pretrial dispositive, and trial evidentiary issues in state and federal courts.

Pearson is also an accomplished appellate lawyer. He has represented clients on briefs and in arguments in state and federal appellate courts. In one recent matter in which a client retained Jones Day as appellate counsel after an adverse $30 million jury verdict, Pearson was the primary author of briefs that led the Ohio Supreme Court to order a new trial.

Pearson serves on the board of directors and the executive and governance committees of Project: LEARN, a nationally recognized nonprofit adult literacy organization. He also serves on the cabinet of GeneratioNext, the young professionals arm of United Way in Cuyahoga County.

Areas of Practice

• Trial Practice
• Product Liability & Tort Litigation
• Class Action Litigation
• Commercial Disputes
• Consumer Fraud & Warranty Litigation
• Class Action and Multidistrict Product Liability Litigation
• Consumer Goods Product Liability Litigation
• Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, and Other Health Care Product Liability Litigati

Representative Cases

• Boykin Lodging resolves shareholder action
• Bridgestone/Firestone defends against ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness tire product liability class actions , (2009)
• Bridgestone/Firestone successfully recovered in confidential arbitration $10 million in policy limits for claim arising under blanket crime policy , (2009)
• Center for Claims Resolution members appeal from shortfall in payments due under $120 million asbestos settlement
• Cliffs successfully defends against litigation involving Trinidad processing plant sale
• CompuServe defends against breach of contract class action arising out of membership registration process
• Cytodyne defends against consumer fraud class action in New Jersey court relating to dietary supplements containing androstenedione
• Cytodyne defends against consumer fraud class action involving dietary supplement containing androstenedione
• Cytodyne defends against putative consumer fraud class action in New Jersey court involving dietary supplement containing ephedrine
• Diebold defends against defamation, tortious interference with contract, and conspiracy claims
• Diebold resolves fiduciary duty class action
• InBev defends against multiple actions brought by wholesalers following transfer of U.S. import rights
• Lycoming Engines wins class decertification motion , (2009)
• May Department Stores defeats plaintiff's motion for class certification and obtains dismissal of shareholder litigation
• May Department Stores defends shareholder action claiming breach of fiduciary duty
• Mellon Private Trust defends against claims arising from alleged dissipation of assets that account-holder had pledged to secure loan
• Mentor wins complete defense verdict after trial in case alleging injuries caused by ObTape , (2009)
• Mentor wins summary judgment in Florida breast implant product liability case
• MTC Technologies defends fiduciary duty claims arising from merger with BAE Systems , (2009)
• Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services and doctor granted new trial after appeal from adverse $30 million jury verdict in medical malpractice case
• Primus Capital Fund defends against allegations of unfair trade practice and conspiracy
• Prisoner obtained reversal of federal criminal sentence under plain error standard , (2004)
• Safelite Glass wins dismissal of all claims by putative classes and auto glass shops under associational standing theory seeking to revamp auto glass repair and replacement industry
• Zimmer defends against breach of contract claims and violation of trade secret statues arising from termination of distribution agreement
• Zimmer obtains preliminary injunction enforcing non-competition covenant against former sales rep with Biomet
• Zimmer seeks to enforce in Tennessee Court non-competition covenants against former sales rep with Stallings
• Zimmer successfully resolves multi-jurisdictional litigation arising from acquisition of competitive distributors , (2009)
• Zimmer wins injunction requiring Haemonetics to continue supplying critical blood transfusion product

West Practice Categories

Alcoholic Beverages, Apparel, Asbestos, Bankruptcy Litigation, Business & Commercial Law, Chemicals & Cosmetics, Class Actions, Collections & Repossessions, Commercial Leasing, Complex Litigation, Consumer Protection, Contracts, Debtor/Creditor, Federal Appellate Practice, Federal Claims Court, Federal Trial Practice, Firearms, Food & Agricultural Products, Franchising, International Trade Litigation, International Transactions, Joint Ventures, Lemon Law, Litigation & Appeals, Machinery & Tools, Medical Products & Devices, Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures, Military & Veterans Appeals, Motor Vehicle Defects, Multidistrict Litigation, Patent Litigation, Pharmaceutical Products, Products Liability Law, Recreational Products, Secured Transactions, State Appellate Practice, State Trial Practice, Tax Litigation, Tobacco, Transactions, Uniform Commercial Code, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, US Supreme Court, Warranties

Bar Admissions

• Ohio

Education

• Loyola Univ- Chicago
• Miami University - Ohio

Published Works

• Defending Class Action Lawsuits (chapter in Product Liability Litigation: Current Law, Strategies and Best Practices (Practising Law Institute 2009)), 2009
• Keeping The Label Out Of The Case, 103 Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy 477http://colloquy.law.northwestern.edu/main/2009/04/keeping-the-label-out-of-the-case.html, 2009
• Polar Bears Nudge The MDL Panel In A Helpful Direction http://druganddevicelaw.blogspot.com/2008/12/polar-bears-nudge-mdl-panel-in-helpful.html, 2008
• An Uncommon Focus On "Common Questions": Two Problems With The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's Treatment of The "One or More Common Questions of Fact" Requirement For Centralization, 82 Tulane Law Review 2297 (2008), 2008
• The MDL Panel Plays It By The Book In Denying Plaintiffs' Motion To Centralize The Shoulder Pain Pump Litigation, www.druganddevicelaw.blogspot.com, 2008
• The Reverse "Read and Heed" Causation Presumption: A Presumption That Should Be Given Little Heed, Practice Perspectives: Product Liability & Tort Litigation, 2008
• Why The Changing Face Of The MDL Panel Won't Change The Outcome Of Your Transfer Motion, www.druganddevicelaw.blogspot.com, 2007
• Making Book on the MDL Panel: Will It Centralize Your Products Liability Cases? coauthor, Class Action Litigation Report, 2007
• Preparing Witnesses for Videotaped Depositions, coauthor, For The Defense, 2006
• Possible Unintended Consequences of the Class Action Fairness Act, coauthor, Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, 2005
• The Likely Impact of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, coauthor, For The Defense, April 2005, reprinted in MDLA Quarterly, Summer 2005, 2005
• The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, 2005
• State Antitrust Practice and Statutes (2d ed. 1999), ABA Section of Antitrust Law (updated and revised the Delaware and Kentucky chapters with former Jones Day partner and chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Deborah (Herman) Majoras), 1999

Address

North Point
901 Lakeside Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44114-1190

Phones

1.216.586.1088 (Business Phone)

Faxes

1.216.579.0212 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.jonesday.com