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laura-kingsley-hong

Laura Kingsley Hong

Position
Partner
Locations
Cleveland, OH
D
216.696.3143
F
216.592.5009
Email
laura.hong@tuckerellis.com
vCard
vcard

Laura Kingsley Hong chairs the firm’s Mass Tort & Product Liability Group, which includes more than 50 lawyers firmwide.

A trial lawyer with more than 35 years of uninterrupted experience defending class action, mass and toxic tort, product, and commercial litigation, Laura serves as national, trial, and local counsel for many companies.

Laura tries cases and manages and assists local counsel, insurance companies, and corporations in the defense of mass and toxic tort and product liability claims. Laura also has a robust commercial litigation practice. She appears in state and federal courts across the country and has tried several cases to jury verdict. Laura often partners with counsel from other law firms, providing clients a cohesive and collaborative defense team. She routinely participates in mediations, often with JAMS, and has also arbitrated before the American Arbitration Association.

Laura was featured in the “Big Suits” column in The American Lawyer, detailing a victory on behalf of BP involving a 19-week refinery contamination trial. Her testimony supporting Ohio’s Asbestos Medical Criteria Bill (Ohio H.B. 292) helped shape that legislation and is cited in its legislative history.

Laura is ranked in Chambers USA 2024 in the area of Product Liability: Toxic Torts (Nationwide) and Product Liability & Mass Torts (Nationwide). Clients remark that “Laura takes a holistic approach to providing advice and counsel on the issues of interest to us.” Other clients comment that she is “excellent to work with and experienced in the field” and “a true partner in every sense of the word. She works tirelessly to ensure the best possible results, understands our businesses and is a trusted, irreplaceable member of our team.” In 2023, another client remarked, “Laura is an incredibly talented attorney with a broad understanding of the issues our company is facing. She has a national practice, but is very responsive. Laura is timely in her follow up and honestly makes you feel like you are the only client she has when you talk with her. She not only combines a deep understanding of the law and technical aspects of issues, but also has a very engaging personality bringing a sense of calm and balance to every interaction.”

In October 2021, Laura was inducted into the Case Western Reserve University School of Law Society of Benchers for her extraordinary achievements and dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession.

As a founder (and the first president) of the Asian American Bar Association of Ohio over three decades ago, and through her continued leadership in national bar associations, Laura is well known for her commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. In 2020, 2022, and 2024, Laura volunteered with Election Protection in Gwinnett County, Georgia, providing nonpartisan voter access and protection. She is serving her fifth year on the Deans’ Cabinet for Diversity & Inclusion at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. The Cabinet, led and chaired by Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion Bryan Adamson, strategically focuses on recruitment, education, and professional development and opportunities for law students of color. Laura is a former professor of trial tactics and speaks and writes frequently on topics relating to ethics, toxic/mass tort, and product liability.

Education
Case Western Reserve University School of Law (J.D., 1985)
Oberlin College (B.A., 1980)
State Admissions
Ohio, 1986
Federal Admissions
Supreme Court of the United States
United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio
United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio
Service Areas
Mass Tort & Product Liability
Class Action Litigation
Business Litigation
  • Bench tried a multimillion-dollar case against the United States in Ohio federal court involving federal excise tax on behalf of an aircraft management company (2024)
  • Won a defense jury verdict in Kentucky state court (Pike County) on behalf of a lone defendant in a mesothelioma case involving a deceased mine worker (2021)
  • Won a $2.85-million jury verdict (and defeated all counterclaims) in California federal court involving claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of employment agreement, breach of contract, and COBRA violations (2021)
  • Briefed and argued two appeals in the New York Fourth Appellate District in a multiparty medical malpractice, medical device, and traditional product liability case involving millions of dollars in claimed damages (2020)
  • Brief, amici curiae, United States Supreme Court, IRS taxable transportation issues for aircraft management company
  • Won a defense jury verdict as lead trial counsel in a wrongful death mesothelioma case on behalf of a lone defendant
  • Briefed a winning motion for summary judgment on successor liability in a Louisiana case through the state appellate process
  • Supported a defense jury verdict as lead trial support coordinator in a class action refinery contamination case in Southeast Kansas
  • Won a defense jury verdict as lead trial counsel in a mesothelioma death case on behalf of a lone defendant
  • Defended a wire supplier in cases filed by experimental participants in the Functional Electrical Stimulation Program
  • Won a defense jury verdict as lead medical counsel in a severe pulmonary fibrosis case
  • Won a defense jury verdict in a mesothelioma death case on behalf of a thermal insulation manufacturer
  • Won a fraudulent inducement claim as lead trial counsel in a bench trial in federal court, reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • Defended housing authorities in individual and class action claims relating to lead-based paint

Legislative Testimony

  • Testimony in Support of Ohio S.B. 63 (designed to curb over naming in asbestos litigation), Ohio Senate Insurance Committee (March 2023); Ohio House Insurance Committee (November 2024)
  • Testimony in Support of Ohio H.B. 292 (later enacted as ORC 2307.91 et seq. and known as the asbestos medical criteria bill), Ohio General Assembly (2004). Laura’s testimony is also cited in the legislative history.
  • Testimony on the Justice Department’s Response to International Parental Kidnaping, Subcommittee on Criminal Justice Oversight of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate (1999)

Recent Speaking Engagements

  • “Climate Change: Hot Topics in Ethics,” 2023 DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, Austin, Texas (November 2023)
  • “Intergenerational Perspectives on Gender and Women in the Workplace,” The Academy for Inclusive Leadership Development, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Cleveland, Ohio (October 2023)
  • “National Trends Driving Asbestos Litigation,” Perrin Conferences’ National Asbestos Litigation Conference, Charleston, South Carolina (September 2023)
  • “Applying the Law: Successful Dismissals on Motion Practice,” DRI 2021 Defense Lawyers Asbestos Symposium, New Orleans, Louisiana (November 2021)
  • “Ethics,” Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar (DALS) 2019, New Orleans, Louisiana (June 2019)
  • “Ethics and Damages: A Diagnostic Review,” DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, Austin, Texas (November 2018)
  • “Ethics: The Toxicity of Ethics in Asbestos Cases,” Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar (DALS) 2018, Nashville, Tennessee (June 2018)
  • “Anticipating the Unknown,” DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 2017)
  • “The Importance and Preparation of the 30(b)6 Corporate Representative Deposition,” DRI Defense Lawyers Asbestos Symposium, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 2017)
  • “‘Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!’ The Importance of Following the Yellow Brick Road in Corporate Representative Depositions,” 2017 In-House Counsel Summit, Tucker Ellis LLP, Cleveland, Ohio (October 2017)
  • “Ethics: Outrageous Misconduct,” Defense Asbestos Seminar (DALS) 2017, Orlando, Florida (June 2017)
  • “Crossing Plaintiff’s Expert Part 2,” DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, New Orleans, Louisiana (November 2016)
  • “Top Leadership Competencies,” Ohio Diversity Council, Cleveland, Ohio (October 2016)
  • “Branding: Becoming Visible and Importance of Self,” Cleveland Women in Leadership Symposium, Ohio Diversity Council, Cleveland, Ohio (March 2016)
  • “Diversity & Discrimination: The Legal Ethics,” Tucker Ellis Ohio Professional Conduct Program, Cleveland, Ohio (December 2015)
  • “The Cleveland Police Consent Decree,” Ports, Police and Politics in Ohio, Tucker Ellis LLP, Cleveland, Ohio (November 2015)
  • “A Seat at the Table: Witness Prep & Other Essential Trial Skills for Young Lawyers,” 2015 National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana (November 2015)
  • “Ethics: Staying Out of the Penalty Box” (main stage) and “Becoming First Chair” (breakout), DRI Asbestos Medicine Seminar, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 2015)
  • “The Path to Success in a Law Firm,” 4th Annual Women’s Law & Leadership Conference, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Cleveland, Ohio (October 2015)
  • “Special Case Circumstances to be Considered in Evaluation,” Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar (DALS) 2015, Las Vegas, Nevada (June 2015)
  • “Trial Strategies for Apportionment,” 1st Annual Asbestos Litigation ExecuSummit, Uncasville, Connecticut (December 2014)
  • “Keeping Your Boiler Defendant from Losing Steam – Boiler Operation and Defense Strategy,” DRI’s Asbestos Medicine Seminar, San Francisco, California (November 2014)
  • “Joint Defense Approaches,” Defense Asbestos Litigation Seminar (DALS) 2014, Las Vegas, Nevada (June 2014)

Publications

  • Chambers USA
    • Product Liability & Mass Torts (Nationwide) (2020–2024)
    • Product Liability: Toxic Torts (Nationwide) (2023, 2024)
    • “Spotlight Table” in Product Liability: Toxic Torts (Nationwide) (2021, 2022)
  • Crain’s Cleveland Business
    • Women of Note (2021)
  • Case Western Reserve University School of Law
    • Society of Benchers (2021)
  • The Best Lawyers in America® (2010–2025)
    • Cleveland Lawyer of the Year (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants) (2019)
  • America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® (2018)
  • Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent® Peer Rating
  • Top Rated Lawyer, “Women Lawyers in the Law,” The American Lawyer (2013)
  • National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
    • Women’s Leadership Award (2012)
  • Greater Cleveland YWCA
    • Women of Professional Excellence Award (2010)
    • Women of Achievement Award (1999)
  • Ohio Super Lawyers®
    • Personal Injury – Products: Defense (2004–2009, 2011–2020, 2022–2024)
  • Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference, Life Member
  • Eighth District Judicial Conference, Life Member
  • Case Western Reserve University School of Law
    • Society of Benchers
    • Deans’ Cabinet for Diversity & Inclusion
  • Asian American Bar Association of Ohio, Founder and Past President
  • National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
    • Leadership Advisory Council
    • Past National President
  • Federal Bar Association, Past Ohio Chapter President
  • Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Election Protection Volunteer
  • Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys, Diversity Scholarship Committee
  • American Bar Foundation, Sustaining Life Fellow
  • American Bar Association
  • Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
  • Defense Research Institute
  • The Judge John M. Manos American Inn of Court
  • Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Time Well Spent Honor Society
  • Ohio State Bar Association
  • Chagrin Arts, Board Member