BARBARA A. LUKEMAN

Barbara Lukeman practices primarily in the areas of product liability, mass tort defense, and complex business disputes. She has defended and counseled clients in many tort actions in federal and state courts, nationwide, and in the New York area, with regard to pharmaceuticals, medical devices, chemicals, lead paint, tools, and food products, as well as aircraft and automobiles. Ms. Lukeman was a member of the trial team that secured a directed verdict on behalf of a major automotive manufacturer in a case involving allegations of design defect and personal injury. She has successfully argued motions before both state and federal courts, prepared numerous appellate briefs, authored several articles, and has been a frequent guest speaker and lecturer for continuing legal education programs and seminars.

Ms. Lukeman is a special professor of law at Hofstra University School of Law, where she teaches a course in products liability. In addition, Ms. Lukeman has taught several skills-based and substantive law courses, including sexual orientation and the law, research and writing, and appellate advocacy. She has also instructed law students on negotiation skills and deposition techniques for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (2004). 

Ms. Lukeman has served as coach for several Hofstra Moot Court teams including the Rendigs Product Liability, and the Williams Institute Moot Court Competition on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity teams. She coached moot court teams to first-place finishes in the 2004, 2005, and 2006 Nassau Academy of Law competitions. In 2007, to acknowledge her contribution to Hofstra’s moot court program, the student-run Moot Court Association instituted an award, in her name, to be presented each year to an outstanding law student who advances the goals of the Moot Court Association. Most recently, Hofstra Law School’s Alumni Board presented Ms. Lukeman with its Emerging Leader Award.

Publications and Presentations

• “Applying the Rules of Evidence” Seminar sponsored by the National Business Institute, June 2012
• “The Feast and Famine of New York’s Evidentiary Rules,” Inside the Minds: New Developments in Evidentiary Law in New York, 2012 ed., Aspatore Books, a Thomas Reuters business.
• “Emerging Legal Issues: Social Media and Cloud Computing,” Major Insurance Company, October 2011. (Presenter)
• “Constitutional Limits on Punitive Damages after Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker,” The Brief, American Bar Association, Summer 2010. (Author with Raymond Mariani)
• “The Reluctance to Certify a Mass Class Under CAFA,” Product Liability Law 360, November, 2009. (Author with John J. Weinholtz)
• “Gatekeeper’s New Tool: Heightened Pleading Standards,” Product Liability Law 360, October, 2009.  (Author with James W. Weller)
• “The Expanding World of the Products Liability Litigator,” New York Law Journal, August 2009. (Author with Joseph J. Ortego)
• “Winning on Appeal: Writing an Effective Appellate Brief,” National Business Institute, August 2009. (Author and Presenter)
• “Legal Research on the Internet: Navigating Federal, State, and Local Rules,” National Business Institute, August 14, 2009. (Author & Presenter)
• “Women Inspiring Women,” Hofstra Law School, March 30, 2009. (Panelist)
• “The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008: Transparency in the Age of Information,” In-House Defense Quarterly, Spring 2009. (Author with James W. Weller)
• “Some Rules Are Not Meant to Be Broken, Strategic Use of Discovery in Complex Litigation,” National Business Institute, February 2009. (Author and Presenter)
• “Consumer Product Safety Action Alert: Federal Judge Holds Phthalates Ban is Retroactive,” Nixon Peabody, February 2009. (Author with James W. Weller)
• “Consumer Product Safety Action Alert: CPSC Announces Latest Enforcement Policy,” Nixon Peabody, February 2009. (Author with Kelly B. Kramer)
• “Passive Restraint Systems and the Crashworthiness Doctrine: A Case Study,” Published for ACI Automotive Conference, Spring 2008. (Author with Joseph J. Ortego)
• “The Defense of Federal Preemption in Automotive Product Liability Cases: Recent Developments,” New York State Bar Association–Published for NYSBA CLE Conference on Crashworthiness Litigation, Spring 2007. (Author with Samuel Goldblatt)
• “Style and Substance of the Appellate Brief,” National Business Institute; Published for NBI Seminar, February 2007. (Author & Presenter)