Nicholas J. Drakulich, Esq.

Nicholas J. Drakulich is the founder of The Drakulich Firm, A Professional Law Corporation. Mr. Drakulich focuses his practice in catastrophic personal injury and products liability matters and other cases involving extensive physical injuries, emotional harm or involving significant financial losses. He has enjoyed a diverse and rewarding trial practice for more than thirty years. Mr. Drakulich has represented people from all walks of life; from the most powerful (including Fortune 500 companies) to the most vulnerable among us (including the young, the aged, the infirm and the poor).

Mr. Drakulich is licensed to practice law in California and Nevada. Mr. Drakulich prosecutes select cases in other jurisdictions in association with local counsel and serves as a consultant to foreign counsel in the prosecution of class action cases in Canada.

Among his many notable cases include prevailing in trial against Medtronic, one of the world's largest medical device manufacturers. Following the rare products liability verdict against this giant company, counsel for Medtronic opined that Mr. Drakulich is an "exceptionally able, senior, seasoned litigator who was extremely well prepared and clearly spent considerable time and effort to ensure the best possible representation of his client."

Mr. Drakulich has also been selected as a member of the National Trial Lawyers. The National Trial Lawyers is a national organization composed of the top 100 trial lawyers from each state. Membership is obtained through special invitation and is extended only to those attorneys who exemplify superior qualifications of leadership, reputation, influence, stature, and profile as civil plaintiff or criminal defense trial lawyers.

Mr. Drakulich has been consistently rated AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®, America's preeminent peer-reviewed lawyer rating service. This is the highest possible rating, indicating preeminent legal ability and the utmost ethical standards. He has been an invited speaker at numerous legal seminars, including those sponsored by the AAJ, Harris Martin and Mealey's.

National litigation practice

Mr. Drakulich has been honored to be appointed by several federal courts across the nation to serve as a member of Plaintiffs' Steering Committee in nationally prominent Multi-District Litigations (MDLs). He is proud to have been part of a talented team of trial attorneys who have successfully recovered well over a half billion dollars on behalf of injured consumers. Mr. Drakulich was selected as the Leader of the trial teams in several of these MDLs.

Mr. Drakulich has also been appointed by federal courts to serve as a member of the Common Benefit Attorney's Fee & Costs Committees in MDL's on more than one occasion. Mr. Drakulich was also especially pleased, as a member of a Common Benefit Attorney's Fee & Costs Committee, to play a pivotal role in helping to secure a $1 million dollar donation to the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation from the settlement fund towards their device data base designed to track the performance of life-sustaining heart devices.

Recent federal court national appointments

• In Re: HardiePlank Fiber Cement Siding Litigation, MDL No. 12-02359 (United States District Court, District of Minnesota); Executive Committee member; trial team co-chair; appointed by U.S. District Chief Judge Michael Davis.
• In Re: Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 11- 2299 (United States District Court, Western District of Louisiana); Plaintiffs' Steering Committee member; appointed by U.S. District Judge Rebecca F. Doherty.
• In Re: Medtronic, Inc., Sprint Fidelis Leads Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 08-1905 (United States District Court, District of Minnesota); Plaintiffs' Steering Committee member; appointed by U.S. District Judge Richard H. Kyle.
• In Re: Guidant Corp. Implantable Defibrillators Products liability litigation, MDL No. 05-1708 (United States District Court, District of Minnesota; Plaintiffs' Steering Committee member; trial team leader; appointed by U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank.
• In Re: Guidant Corp. Implantable Defibrillators Products liability litigation, MDL No. 05-1708 (United States District Court, District of Minnesota; Common Benefit Attorney's Fee and Costs Committee member; appointed by U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank.
• In Re: Medtronic, Inc. Implantable Defibrillators Products liability litigation, MDL No. 05-1726 (United States District Court, District of Minnesota; Plaintiffs' Steering Committee member; trial team leader; appointed by U.S. District Judge James M. Rosenbaum.
• In Re: Medtronic, Inc. Implantable Defibrillators Products liability litigation, MDL No. 05-1726 (United States District Court, District of Minnesota; Common Benefit Attorney's Fee & Costs Committee member; appointed by U.S. District Magistrate Judge Arthur J. Boylan.

Bar admissions

• Nevada (1979)
• California (1981)
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Central Districts of California
• U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada

Education

• J.D., California Western School of Law (1978)
• B.A., cum laude, University of Southern California (1975)

Speaking Engagements

Memberships

• The State Bar of California
• The State Bar of Nevada
• The Federal Bar Association (sustaining member)
• American Association for Justice
• Consumer Attorneys of California
• The National Trial Lawyers
• The Association of Business Trial Lawyers of America
• The Million Dollar Advocates Forum
• The Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
• Best of the US
• Strathmore's Who's Who (lifetime member)
• Western Trial Lawyers Association

Practice areas

• Products liability
• Personal injury/wrongful death
• Professional negligence
• Business litigation/fraud
• Insurance claims practices/bad faith
• Mass torts (MDLs)
• Real estate litigation