Carl D. Smallwood
Columbus Office
Mr. Smallwood is a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the litigation group. He represents clients in litigation, arbitration and mediation of employment-related injury, wrongful termination, professional negligence and toxic exposure disputes. He appears throughout Ohio on behalf of self-insured and state-funded employers in the defense of intentional tort and retaliatory discharge litigation arising under the Ohio Workers' Compensation Act and serves as trial counsel to several companies defending asbestos products liability litigation.
Career highlights include:
- Substantial jury trial experience in accounting negligence actions, medical malpractice actions and claims for workplace injury/toxic exposure
- Defending and obtaining a summary judgment in a product liability action arising from an alleged in utero chemical/solvent workplace exposure resulting in complex chromosomal rearrangement/birth defects in a pregnant employee's offspring
- Defending and obtaining summary judgment in claim of chemical exposure to N-hexane and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) allegedly causing polyneuropathy and organic brain disease
- Substantial litigation experience in toxic tort matters, with particular skill in explaining complex scientific issues to judges and juries and in challenging dubious methodologies under Daubert (see Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579 (1993) and Valentine v. Conrad, 110 Ohio St. 3d 42 (2006))
- Familiarity with many of the statistical and modeling approaches used by litigation experts and experienced in identifying flawed assumptions that may underlie such analyses
- Taking and defending numerous expert depositions and managing expert teams evaluating complex issues of medical causation, ventilation engineering, industrial hygiene, exposure assessment, hazard communication, and computer modeling
Mr. Smallwood is a member of the American Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Columbus Bar Association, the John Mercer Langston Bar Association and the Defense Research Institute.
Mr. Smallwood is a frequent speaker to clients and trade associations on matters involving workers’ compensation, diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and cross examination of medical experts.
Mr. Smallwood received his J.D. from The Ohio State University College of Law and his B.S. from The Ohio State University where he was Beta Gamma Sigma.
Professional and Community Activities
- American Bar Association, House of Delegates, 2002-2006
- Metropolitan Bar Caucus, President, 2004-2005
- Executive Council National Conference of Bar Presidents, 2006-present
- Columbus Bar Association, President, 2000-2001; Board of Governors, 1994-2002
- The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Black Law Alumni Society, President, 1996
- The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Alumni Association, President, 1997-98
- The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law National Council, 1998–present
- Ohio State Bar Association, Council of Delegates, 1993–present, Litigation Section Board of Governors, 2000-2003
- The Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law, Adjunct Professor in Trial Advocacy, 1999-2000
- Columbus Bar Foundation, Fellow since 1990
- Central Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys, President, 1986-1987
Honors and Awards
- Ohio Super Lawyers, Civil Litigation Defense, 2004-2008
- Ohio Lawyer’s Weekly Lawyer of the Year, 2001
- Columbus Urban League, Award of Excellence, 2001
- Capital University Law School Black Alumni Association, David D. White Award, 2001
- The Ohio State University Alumni Association, Inc. Josephine Failer Award, 1994; Heinlen Award, 2003