Trial attorney Marissa Alkhazov uses her strength in product liability defense, investigations, and client advocacy beyond the courtroom to negotiate strategic, pre-trial resolutions and offer proactive counsel. Her extensive litigation experience ranges from wage and hour class actions to defense of professional athletes as well as breach of contract and other business-related claims. Manufacturers and distributors value her risk assessment and preventive advice on regulatory compliance, particularly on labels and safety warnings. In addition, clients value Marissa’s experience with mass torts defense, chemical law and toxic tort exposure to PFAS, benzynes, silicas, talc, asbestos and other substances.

Marissa is the Northwest Chair of Buchalter’s Products Liability Practice Group. Her clients include small local businesses, tech industry leaders and Fortune 500 companies with sophisticated commercial litigation matters in the PNW. Marissa’s clients rely upon her dispute resolution skills for their routine and complex cases, counting on her ability to unravel complicated fact patterns and her right-sized, confident approach to each matter. Marissa’s lifelong interest in science and medicine supports her skilled handling of technical data and expert testimony upon which many claims depend.

As lead counsel, Marissa defends catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death/survival lawsuits and class actions at all levels of state and federal court. Additionally, she serves as local and coordinating counsel in national, complex and MDL litigation.

Litigation Prevention and Regulatory Counsel

Experienced across numerous industries, Marissa represents the makers of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, nutritional supplements, cosmetics, and other health and wellness products. Her additional industry experience includes manufacturing, distributing, retail, sports and fitness, food, beverage, apparel and agribusiness.

When counseling clients on new regulations and compliance mechanisms and programs, Marissa anticipates regulatory hurdles and seeks practical solutions to clients’ compliance obligations across the lifecycle of a product.

Marissa immerses herself in her clients’ business environment to clarify goals, and is a highly effective negotiator with regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, Consumer Products Safety Commission, and Department of Ecology. Marissa is also a trusted advisor to many of her clients in the beauty industry with the roll out of MOCRA (Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022).

National Defense Bar Leadership and Programs

Marissa draws from her national network of torts, products, and defense professionals to protect clients’ positions. Marissa co-chairs the International Association of Defense Counsel’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and is vice-chair of its Environmental and Energy Law Committee.

Additionally, Marissa is a member of the prestigious Products Liability Advisory Council (PLAC) and serves as vice chair of the Torts Trial & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) committee of the American Bar Association. Marissa has earned recognition as a “Top 100 Women Attorneys in Washington” in Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, and as a Rising Star and Super Lawyer from 2016 – 2024.

Marissa regularly presents substantive CLE’s to her clients, speaks at conferences on emerging issues in the product liability realm and is a regular contributor to various news sources. Marissa is regularly asked to provide insights on such issues as the Apparent Manufacturer Doctrine, Daubert and Frye Motions, GMO and other warnings/labeling issues, PFAS regulations, MOCRA developments and mediation techniques in mass tort and environmental litigation.

Bar Admissions

• Washington
• Oregon

Significant Accomplishments
<ul><li>Defended a national hotel chain in a multi-million dollar Consumer Protection Act, Personal Injury, Negligence and Civil Rights action. Following extensive discovery and motion practice, all claims were dismissed, leaving only the claims of negligence against the hotel. A very favorable settlement was reached shortly thereafter.</li><li>Defended an auto supply retailer in Wrongful Death action. Discovery and motion practice resulted in dismissal.</li><li>Defense of a pharmaceutical company in multiple Wrongful Death and Personal Injury actions in WA and OR related to alleged talc exposure. Extensive discovery and motion practice resulted in dismissal, and/or favorable settlements.</li><li>Defense of aeronautics company in multiple Personal Injury and Wrongful Death actions alleging that component parts in engine exposed decedent to hazardous substances causing death. Rigorous discovery and motion practice resulted in dismissal.</li><li>Defense of valve manufacturer in multi-party Personal Injury action alleging component parts contributed to or caused plaintiff’s lung cancer. Via successful dispositive motion practice, summary judgment was granted.</li><li>Defense of local company in MTCA and other environmental claims resulting from a solvent spill (“perc”) by a vendor. By coordinating efforts with the Department of Ecology and other parties involved in litigation, a favorable settlement was reached.</li><li>Defense of pharmaceutical company in over 200 cases in multi-state litigation involving the application of apparent manufacturer theory of liability. This includes representation of the client through all levels of state court and up to the Washington Supreme Court.</li><li>Defense of retailer in food poisoning claims allegedly related to ‘tainted spinach.’</li><li>Defense verdicts in disputed liability automobile accidents.</li><li>Represented a paper mill in multi-party asbestos/toxic tort litigation. Plaintiff sued over 50 corporate defendants for Wrongful Death and Survivorship allegedly caused by his alleged exposure to asbestos by use of their products at the paper mill. After extensive discovery, summary judgment dismissal was granted in favor of the paper mill. Plaintiffs appealed the dismissal to the Ninth District and following oral argument, the court affirmed the dismissal granted by the lower court.</li><li>Defended a national fitness equipment manufacturer in a product liability matter. The minor, mentally impaired Plaintiff sued the client, his school district and several of its employees for personal injuries to his eye, including permanent vision loss, allegedly caused as a result of being struck in the eye with the client’s resistance tubing product. The school district and its employees were sued for negligent supervision and other theories of liability. A favorable settlement was reached on the second day of trial.</li><li>Defense of local businesses in class action wage, hours and employment discrimination matters. Favorable settlement reached at the conclusion of intense discovery phase of litigation.</li></ul>

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