Phil Goldberg, a member of SHB’s Washington, D.C.-based Public Policy Group, counsels clients on liability-related public policy and public affairs issues. He focuses his practice on three areas:

• Federal and State Legislation: Seeking legislative solutions on issues that improperly impact client liability by drafting and testifying on legislation, preparing others to testify, and building industry coalitions.

• Common Law in the Courts: Advancing the proper development of tort law through writing amicus briefs for national business associations, speaking at judicial and attorney conferences, and authoring legal scholarship.

• Litigation Communications: Solving litigation communications challenges by providing strategic counsel to litigation teams, writing materials for non-lawyers, and briefing media on client litigations.

Phil’s substantive specialties are judiciary-related issues, including tort theories and defenses and products liability. Recently, he has worked extensively on public nuisance theory, international biotechnology liability policy, asbestos, and damages in animal injury claims. He also focuses on leaks, media shield laws and attorney-client privilege with public relations firms.

Before joining SHB, he served as an aide to three Democratic members of Congress and vice president of litigation communications at two leading public relations firms. Phil received his law degree from George Washington University School of Law, where he was Order of the Coif, and his Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Tufts University.

Victor E. Schwartz, Phil Goldberg & Christopher E. Appel, Global Warming Lawsuits: Poised for Supreme Court Hot List?, 19:13 Legal Opinion Letter (Wash. Legal Found. July 9, 2010) View

Phil Goldberg, How Litigators Tried to Sneak a Pet Earmark Into Health Reform, Progressive Fix (Progressive Pol’y Inst. Nov. 23, 2009), available at http://www.progressivefix.com/how-litigators-tried-to-sneak-a-pet-earmark-into-health-reform

Mark Behrens & Phil Goldberg, Editorial, Home of the Asbestos Litigation “Gold Rush?,” Daily J. (San Fran.), at 5 (Nov. 18, 2009) View

Victor E. Schwartz , Phil Goldberg, & Christopher E. Appel, Can Governments Impose a New Tort Duty to Prevent External Risks? The “No-Fault” Theories Behind Today’s High-Stakes Government Recoupment Suits, 44 Wake Forest L. Rev. 923 (2009) View

Phil S. Goldberg, Kudos to Congress for Saying "No" to Renewed Attempts to Turn MSP Into New Vehicles for Litigation Abuse, Medicare Report (BNA) July 24, 2009 View

Phil Goldberg, Will Proposed Changes to Medicare Law Inspire New Wave of Health Care-Related Tort Suits?, 23:36 Legal Backgrounder (Wash. Legal Found. Aug. 8, 2008) View

David C. Landin, Victor E. Schwartz & Phil Goldberg, Lessons Learned from the Front Lines: A Trial Court Checklist for Promoting Order and Sound Public Policy in Asbestos Litigation, 16 Brook. J.L. & Pol’y 589 (2008) View

Victor E. Schwartz & Phil Goldberg, Florida Making Wrong Waves Over Homeowner Insurance Crisis, 23:20 Legal Backgrounder (Wash. Legal Found. May 30, 2008) View

Victor E. Schwartz, Philip Goldberg & Christopher Appel, Plaintiffs' Bar Campaign to Introduce Pain and Suffering Damages in Pet Food Cases Will Only Increase the Pain and Suffering of People's Pets, 35:39 Prod. Safety & Liab. Rptr. (BNA) 947, Oct. 8, 2007 View

Victor E. Schwartz, Cary Silverman & Phil Goldberg, Toward Neutral Principles of Stare Decisis in Tort Law, 58 S.C. L. Rev. 317 (2006) View

Victor E. Schwartz, Paul W. Kalish, & Phil Goldberg, A Letter to the Nation’s Trial Judges: Serious Asbestos Cases – How to Protect Cancer Claimants and Wisely Manage Assets, 30 Am. J. of Trial Advoc. 295 (2006) View

Mark A. Behrens & Phil Goldberg, Lawsuit Scandal Reform: Asbestos and Silica Medical Criteria Legislation Needed, Mo. Law. Wkly., Oct. 9, 2006 View

Victor E. Schwartz & Phil Goldberg, Total Immunity Without Accountability: Why the Proposed Federal Media Shield Bill is Out of Balance with America's Laws and Values, 10:5 Briefly (Nat'l Legal Center for the Pub. Int.), May 2006 View

Victor E. Schwartz & Phil Goldberg, The Law of Public Nuisance: Maintaining Rational Boundaries on a Rational Tort, 45 Washburn L.J. 541 (2006) View

Mark A. Behrens & Phil Goldberg, In Memoriam: Senior United States District Judge Charles R. Weiner, 20:22 Mealey's Litig. Rep.: Asbestos 24 (2005) View

Mark A. Behrens & Phil Goldberg, State-Based Medical Criteria For Asbestos Suits Gains Momentum, 15:13 Legal Opinion Letter, Wash. Legal Found., July 1, 2005

Mark A. Behrens & Phil Goldberg, Stopping Asbestos Litigation Abuse, 6:1 Engage – The J. of the Federalist Society’s Prac. Groups 120 (2005) View

Mark A. Behrens & Phil Goldberg, Asbestos Litigation: Momentum Builds for State-Based Medical Criteria Solutions to Address Filings by the Non-Sick, 20:6 Mealey’s Litig. Rep.: Asbestos 33 (2005) View

Victor E. Schwartz, Mark A. Behrens & Phil Goldberg, Defining the Edge of Tort Law in Asbestos Bankruptcies: Addressing Claims Filed by the Non-Sick, 14:1 J. Bankr. L. & Prac. 61 (2005) View

Victor E. Schwartz & Phil Goldberg, A Prescription for Drug Liability and Regulation, 58 Okla. L. Rev. 135 (2005) View

Mark A. Behrens & Phil S. Goldberg, Editorial, Asbestos X-rays: Study Points To Abuse, Nat'l L.J., Nov. 1, 2004, at 19 View

Victor E. Schwartz & Phil S. Goldberg, Closing the Food Court: Why Legislative Action is Needed to Curb Obesity Lawsuits, 8:8 Briefly (Nat'l Legal Center for the Pub. Int., Wash., D.C.), August 2004 View

Mark A. Behrens & Phil S. Goldberg, The Asbestos Litigation Crisis in a Nutshell, The State Factor (Am. Legis. Exch. Council), July 2004 View

Mark A. Behrens & Philip S. Goldberg, Asbestos Litigation Reform: Where Is It Headed?, 15:1Products Liability (ABA, Sec. Of Litig., Comm. on Prods. Liab. Litig.), Spring/Summer 2004, at 1 View

Mark A. Behrens & Philip S. Goldberg, The Michigan Supreme Court: Will It Help Curb Asbestos Litigation Abuse And Help The Truly Sick?, 18:24 Mealey’s Litig. Rep.: Asbestos, Jan. 21, 2004 View

Phil S. Goldberg, Courts Should Keep Media Abuse Out of Litigation: Trial Judge Put the Onus on the Wrong Party in Ordering Defense to Justify Keeping Proprietary Documents Private, 167 N.J.L.J. 259 (2002)

Phil S. Goldberg, Facing Antitrust Action? Who’s Handling Your Media, 8:12 The Metropolitan Corp. Couns., Dec. 2000

Phil is admitted to practice before the state courts of Maryland, New Jersey and in the District of Columbia.

2001   J.D., George Washington University Law School (Order of the Coif)

1990   B.A., cum laude, Tufts University

Goldberg