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CarolSnider

She | Her | Hers

Partner

"I love what I do and feel amazingly fulfilled by the clients I have helped, the lawyers I've taught, and the profession I've chosen."

Overview

Biography

Carol is Barclay Damon’s Mass & Toxic Torts Practice Area chair. With over 35 years of legal experience, she primarily concentrates her practice on environmental-exposure litigation, mass tort litigation and multi-party suits, products liability, and general negligence.

Carol began her work in environmental law by becoming involved in over 600 actions related to Love Canal litigation. She has extensive experience with mass-tort actions and has represented individuals and businesses in federal and state court against allegations of personal injury and property damage arising from claims of chemical contamination of property. She has litigated thousands of claims for damages involving alleged asbestos exposure and has successfully tried these cases to conclusion.

Carol has served as defense liaison counsel in the NY Supreme Court for the Seventh and Eighth Judicial Districts for over 30 years and also serves as defense coordinating counsel in both jurisdictions.

In addition to her own practice, Carol serves as co-chair of the firm's Women's Forum, which was established to create an environment that fosters meaningful interaction and mentoring opportunities for women attorneys to help them develop successful strategies regarding leadership, client, and professional development; marketing; and work-life balance.

Bar Associations

  • Bar Association of Erie County
  • New York State Bar Association, Local Coordinator and Products Liability and Discovery Faculty Member

Selected Memberships & Affiliations

  • Defense Research Institute
  • Barclay Damon Women's Forum
Experience

Representative Experience

  • Successfully obtained summary judgment for a manufacturing client in an asbestos matter where the plaintiff sought to rely on inadmissible hearsay. The case decision is now routinely relied upon by defendants in NYS asbestos litigation. 
  • Conducted audits on behalf of carriers of claims files maintained by local counsel relative to improving case management and reducing defense and indemnification costs.
  • Defended a statewide municipal power authority in multiple mass- and toxic-tort cases arising from claims of property damage and personal injury.
  • Represented an international manufacturer and acted as regional trial counsel in the defense of hundreds of asbestos matters.
  • Appointed as court-designated defense coordinating counsel for hundreds of asbestos cases pending in Western New York.
  • Represented a manufacturer in the defense of alleged hazardous-waste disposal in dozens of claims of property damage and personal injury.
  • Acted as coordinating East Coast coverage and defense counsel for a major insurance company, analyzing coverage issues in multi-jurisdictions and coordinating with the local defense of toxic torts and property-damage matters.
  • Successfully tried to verdict multiple claims of personal injury arising out of claims of negligence and products liability.
  • Secured a voluntary dismissal for a school bus manufacturer in a mesothelioma case based upon extensive research and analysis of the company's complex corporate history and transactional documents, government sales records and legal analysis to establish that our client was not liable for the product at issue. We were able to avoid a costly summary judgment motion and established precedential discovery responses and materials for the client to use in defending future litigation.
  • Successfully obtained summary judgment for a manufacturing client in an asbestos matter where the plaintiff sought to rely on inadmissible hearsay. The case decision is now routinely relied upon by defendants in NYS asbestos litigation.
  • Secured a voluntary dismissal for a plumbing contractor in a mesothelioma case involving a young plaintiff with young dependents. The result was based on extensive research and analysis of historical government records to confirm the client was not involved in the construction project at issue and extensive negotiations with opposing counsel. Saved the client the cost of a dispositive motion and potentially dangerous trial verdict.
  • Obtained summary judgment for a roofing manufacturer in a living mesothelioma case with only two viable defendants and a settlement demand of over $1 million, saving the client the cost of trial and a potentially large adverse verdict.
  • Successfully obtained summary judgement in an asbestos products liability case with positive product identification and a $400,000 settlement demand. Worked with the client and former employees to extensively research and collect historical documents for the first time, drafted voluminous interrogatory responses that will be used to secure dismissals in future matters, conducted exposure-limiting cross-examination, and drafted a motion for summary judgment that the plaintiff chose not to oppose.
  • Successfully tried and obtained a "no cause" verdict in a products liability case in Monroe County Supreme Court. The plaintiff alleged he sustained permanent injuries as the result of an apartment fire that started when a manufacturing defect caused his refrigerator to short circuit. After a trial in which both sides presented expert witness testimony regarding causation, the jury determined the refrigerator was free from any defects, and the plaintiff's own negligent act of burning combustible materials started the fire and caused the plaintiff's injuries.
  • Successfully defended at trial a wrongful death case in an alleged propane explosion.
  • Prepared and orally argued the motion for summary judgment and prepared the appellate brief to the New York State Appellate Court, Fourth Department in Gorzka v. Insulation Distributors, Inc., et al, which ultimately made law in New York that a plaintiff’s failure to identify a defendant in responses to interrogatories is an admission that the plaintiff was not exposed to the defendant’s products. This is case law routinely relied upon by defendants in asbestos litigation.

Prior Experience

  • Damon Morey LLP, Partner

Selected Honors

  • The Best Lawyers in America®: Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants, 2012–2025
  • Selected to Super Lawyers Upstate New York: Environmental Litigation, 2012–2024
  • The Best Lawyers in America®: Buffalo "Lawyer of the Year": Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants, 2023
  • Buffalo Business First, Legal Elite of Western New York, 2015–2020
  • Selected to Super Lawyers Upstate New York: Top 25 Women Lawyers, 2015
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated for Very High to Preeminent Ethical Standards and Legal Ability
Knowledge

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • 2024 DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, "Demonstration: Showing Young Lawyers How to Get Business," Panelist
  • NYS Office of Court Administration Upstate NY Asbestos Summit, “2018 Recent Trends in Summary Judgment Motions and Burden of Proof”
  • American Conference Institute National Advanced Forum Claims & Litigation on Asbestos Claims & Litigation, “Defense of Lung Cancer Cases”
  • American Conference Institute National Advanced Forum Claims & Litigation on Asbestos Claims & Litigation, “Alternative Exposures in Lung Cancer Cases”
  • Presented to 75 claims handlers on the current status of Upstate NY asbestos cases and recent case law.

Selected Media

  • New York State Bar Association, “Admissibility of Expert Testimony Under Daubert”
  • New York State Facilities Journal, article on indoor air pollution
  • “Recent Trends in Asbestos Litigation”

Selected Alerts & Blog Posts

Featured Media

Alerts

Second Circuit Upholds New York State's Ivory Law, but Holds Display Restriction Unconstitutional

Alerts

$175 Million of Federal Funds Available for Electric Vehicle Chargers in New York State

Alerts

USFWS Issues Final Guidance on Northern Long-Eared Bat and Tricolored Bat

Alerts

IRS Guidance Excludes VA Service-Connected Disability Benefits From Certain Income Determinations for Qualified Residential Rental Projects

Alerts

Second Department: Objective Evidence Required to Establish Trivial Defect Defense

Alerts

NYS Department of Health Issues Consumer Protection Guidance on Payments for Health Care Services

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