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Raymond B. Biagini

Senior Counsel

Washington +1 202 662 5120

  • About
  • Representative Matters
  • Credentials
  • About

    A distinguished counselor and litigator, Raymond Biagini has risen to national prominence in a number of high-profile tort cases, defending commercial and government contractors in:

    • "Contractor on the Battlefield" tort litigation;
    • the Exxon Valdez litigation;
    • the Cell Phone Radiation Hazards lawsuits;
    • the "Fen-Phen" litigation;
    • the nationwide Repetitive Stress Injury suits;
    • claims arising out of "friendly fire" accidents during Operation Desert Storm; and
    • "war crimes" allegations filed against manufacturers of military weapons systems sold to Israel.

    Ray is widely recognized for his expertise in defending “contractors on the battlefield” in tort litigation, and he has established ground-breaking legal principles at the federal appellate level which immunize defense contractors from tort liability arising out of combatant scenarios.

    Ray also has an extensive product liability prevention practice, counseling companies on mechanisms for reducing their tort exposure for products and services sold to government and commercial entities. He is significantly involved in counseling companies selling "homeland security" products and services, such as chemical/biological detection devices, perimeter security systems, biometric identity products, and airport security systems. Ray conceptualized and authored key provisions of the SAFETY Act, a new federal statute that is part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The SAFETY Act protects companies from tort lawsuits arising out of the sale of homeland security products and services. 

    Ray has represented some of the world's largest aerospace, defense and pharmaceutical companies, including Kellogg Brown & Root, Lockheed Martin, BAE SYSTEMS, Boeing, Textron, SAIC, Teledyne, Eon Labs, Unisys, and Philips Electronics. He is a frequent public speaker on risk mitigation techniques.

    Areas of Expertise

  • Practices and Industries
  • Representative Matters
    • Ray has guided many clients through the confidential SAFETY Act application process administered by DHS and secured SAFETY Act protection for a range of technologies, including:
      • URS’s threat and vulnerability assessment protocols;
      • Raytheon’s secure borders anti-terror program for the United Kingdom; and
      • A major multinational conglomerate’s airport baggage handling system. 
    • Kellogg Brown & Root: Served as National Counsel for KBR’s “Contractor on the Battlefield” tort suits arising out of Operation Iraqi Freedom and KBR’s contracts with the Department of Defense to provide logistical support for the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
    • Lockheed Martin, Teledyne, SAIC, Unisys, BAE SYSTEMS: Provided product liability prevention counseling relating to the launch of "anti-terror" products/services to the government and commercial markets.
    • Philips Electronics North America: Served as national coordinating counsel for all cases regarding cell phone suits which allege that plaintiffs suffered biological injury, including brain cancer, from the radio frequency radiation emitted from cell phones.
    • Hughes Aircraft: Defended missile manufacturer against wrongful death allegations arising out of an explosion in the first "friendly fire" lawsuit emerging out of Desert Storm.

    • Defended U.S. military services contractor in a series of multimillion dollar wrongful death and personal injury suits brought by dozens of plaintiffs arising out of a suicide bomber attack at Bagram Airfield, a U.S. military base in Afghanistan. In one suit, following limited discovery, the district court granted a pre-answer motion to dismiss and held that the suit was non-justiciable based on the political question doctrine. See Loquasto v. Fluor Corp., Inc., 512 F. Supp. 3d 728 (N.D. Tex. 2021). In a separate suit, following limited discovery the district court granted a summary judgment motion and held that all tort claims were preempted based on the “combatant activities” exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act. See Hencely v. Fluor Corp., Case No. 6:19-cv-0048-BHH, 2021 WL 3568397 (D.S.C. Aug. 11, 2021). The district court also held that active duty soldiers lacked standing to sue for breach of contract because they were not intended beneficiaries of the government contract at issue, and thus the court granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings. See Hencely v. Fluor Corp., Case No. 6:19-cv-00489 (BHH) (D.S.C. Aug. 13, 2021).
    • Unisys: Represented company in environmental insurance claims which exceeded more than $100 million in environmental remediation’s costs from its former insurers. Also, represented company in mass tort repetitive stress injury cases. Finally, defended the company as the manufacturer of the steering system in a multi-billion dollar oil spill suit on the Exxon Valdez.
    • Eon Labs Manufacturing, Inc.: Served as national coordinating counsel for this manufacturer of diet drugs in the mass tort "fen/phen" litigation involving more than 6,000 cases.  Representation includes national coordination of expert and scientific discovery in federal multi-district litigation and 46 states
    • General Dynamics, Raytheon, Johns Hopkins APL, Unisys, FMC: Defended these military contractors in a multiple party arrangement in lawsuits arising out of the USS Stark incident in the Persian Gulf where 46 Navy sailors were killed after an attack by Iraqi fighter aircraft and the USS Vincennes shootdown of the Iranian Airbus in the Persian Gulf, killing 290 Iranian civilians.
    • Teledyne: Defended this company in a wrongful death action in federal court in Puerto Rico arising out of an explosion that occurred during a refueling of a Navy drone aircraft.
    • Lockheed Martin: Successfully resolved wrongful death/federal court lawsuit involving crash of F-22 fighter aircraft during training exercise in Alaska.

    Areas of Expertise

  • Credentials
    Education
    • Notre Dame Law School, J.D., 1979
    • University of Notre Dame, B.A., 1976
        • magna cum laude
        • Phi Beta Kappa
    Bar Admissions
    • District of Columbia
    • Pennsylvania
    • Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
    • Supreme Court of Virginia
    • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
    • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
    • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
    • U.S. Court of Federal Claims
    • U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
    • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
    • U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
    Accolades
    • Chambers USA, Government Contracts (2012-2021)
    • Law360, Government Contracts MVP (2015, 2017) 
    • Legal 500 US, Government Contracts (2016-2017) 
    • Legal 500 US, Product Liability, Mass Tort & Class Action (2016-2017)
    • Legal 500 US, Cyber Law (2016)
    • The Washington Business Journal, Finalist in its "Top Washington Lawyers" for Government Contracts (2007)
    Memberships and Affiliations
    • U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Cyber Leadership Council
    • American Bar Association (Insurance and Indemnification Committee of the Public Contract Law Section
    • The District of Columbia Bar

    Areas of Expertise

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