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T.H. Lyda

A litigator with more than 20 years of experience, T.H. Lyda concentrates his practice in occupational disease, toxic tort and products liability litigation.

As Co-Chair of the firm’s Transportation Practice Group, T.H. represents Class I and short line railroads in a variety of business and legal matters across the country. He advises his clients on risk management and risk avoidance techniques, regulatory compliance issues, FELA and proposed legislation. With an active caseload of several hundred cases, T.H. has extensive experience litigating repetitive stress injury and occupational illness cases throughout the eastern United States. He serves as National Coordinating Counsel for two Class I railroads with respect to their occupational illness dockets.

T.H. has litigated numerous environmental and personal injury cases on behalf of manufacturers and distributors, including claims of brain damage, pulmonary disease and various cancers due to alleged chemical and toxic exposure. In addition, he has a deep understanding of the issues surrounding the defense of food-borne illness claims, and writes and presents about food liability litigation generally.

T.H. also handles OSHA citation contests and inspections for clients in several industries and is an invited speaker on the topic at national conferences.

Prior to joining the Pittsburgh office of Burns White, T.H. practiced in Atlanta where he focused his practice on products liability and toxic tort matters representing large, self-insured companies. He also handled general insurance defense matters including premises liability, automobile accident liability and professional negligence cases.

T.H. teaches “Pennsylvania Practice and Procedure,” a continuing legal education course, on behalf of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, and is an invited speaker to Transportation Industry Conferences on a national level.

Areas of Law

• Transportation
• Occupational Illness Litigation
• Toxic Tort Litigation
• Energy
• Environmental
• Regulatory Compliance & Consulting
• Food Liability Litigation

Education

• West Virginia University School of Law (J.D., 1992)
• Pennsylvania State University (B.A., 1989)

Bar Admissions

• Georgia
• New York
• Pennsylvania

Memberships

• American Bar Association
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Georgia Bar Association
• Allegheny County Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute
• NARTC Eastern Regional VP & Executive Committee Member
• ASLRRA General Counsel Committee Member

Honors/Awards

• Selected for inclusion on the 2006, 2008 and 2009 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers^® lists
• Selected as one of 50 "Lawyers on the Fast Track" in 2007 by The Legal Intelligencer and Pennsylvania Law Weekly publications
• AV^® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 peer rated in Martindale-Hubbell
• Selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America^® 2012-2013

Community/Civic Organizations

• Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, board member
• American Cancer Society, board member (1998-2003)

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