Roger Yoerges

Partner

• ryoerges@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Washington Office

Roger W. Yoerges is a partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is a member of the Litigation Department and head of the firm’s Products Liability, Pharmaceutical & Mass Tort Litigation practice.

Prior to joining Steptoe, Mr. Yoerges practiced law for more than twenty years at a prominent international law firm and has handled large class actions, complex commercial disputes, trade secret litigation, non-compete and related employment matters, and FDA regulatory litigation.

For the past fifteen years, Mr. Yoerges has been national coordinating counsel for an international pharmaceutical company, handling all of its products liability litigation involving oral and injected polio vaccines. These cases require extensive knowledge of the scientific issues unique to biological products. Mr. Yoerges also counsels manufacturers of a wide range of products regarding labeling and risk management associated with product design and manufacture. He has tried cases involving disputes arising out of oil and gas leases and various large, complex insurance coverage matters, and he has been lead counsel in a number of trade secret misappropriation and non-compete disputes, privacy claims, and disputes arising out of corporate acquisitions.

In addition to his trial-level work, Mr. Yoerges has argued in state and federal appellate courts on nearly twenty occasions. He recently led a team in persuading an appellate court in New Jersey to reverse the denial of summary judgment and to hold that a claim against a vaccine manufacturer should be adjudicated in a special court established by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. Mr. Yoerges also led a team in obtaining summary judgment after a three-week Daubert hearing that involved the controversial connection between a putative contaminant of polio vaccines and human cancers. He also convinced the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit not only to reconsider a long-standing decision involving the role that the FDA's regulations should play in assessing liability, but also to hold that manufacturers should not be bound by that decision.

Select News & Events

• Roger Yoerges Joins Steptoe as Partner in Washington Office

Publications

• “Educational Malpractice: Potentialities for Applying Procedural Due Process,” 14 Stetson Law Review 103 (1985).
• “Florida Functional Literacy Testing: Surviving Equal Protection Challenges,” 13 Stetson Law Review 387 (1984).

Professional Affiliations

• American Bar Association
• The Defense Research Institute (Drugs and Medical Device Litigation)
• The International Association of Defense Counsel
• The Food and Drug Law Institute