Robert O. Newton joined Preti Flaherty in 1995 as an associate attorney concentrating in the defense of physician and hospital malpractice and product liability cases. He became of counsel to the firm in 1996 and a Partner in 1998.

Returning to the practice of law following over a decade as a professional furniture builder and custom cabinetmaker, Robert served as defense counsel in one of the nations first trials involving claims of repetitive stress injury (RSI) associated with use of a computer keyboard.  This Maine case was one of three cases in the nation tried successfully to a defense verdict and helped blunt the drive toward making computer keyboard manufacturers responsible for such injuries.

He successfully handled a significant plaintiff product liability case against DaimlerCrysler Corporation, representing a minor child who inadvertently started the vehicle in motion, causing sever and permanent injuries.  By use of detailed and innovative expert review of the design criteria used in developing brake/shift technology, this leading case has given rise to the filing of other cases throughout the country.  Also significant for this type of case was the use of child development and child psychology experts to explain the process by which a vehicle could be designed to prevent the type of accident in which the plaintiff was injured.

Most recently, Robert was selected and acted as chief trial counsel for a primary defendant in a large, multi-plaintiff toxic tort action, described by the Plaintiff’s counsel as the “largest case ever filed in the state of Maine”.  This case was successfully resolved by innovative use of technology, expert witness selection and sound basic discovery.

Robert is recognized in the Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Business Lawyers, the highly regarded legal directory which ranks firms and individual attorneys. He was also recently selected by his peers for inclusion in Woodward/White's The Best Lawyers in America 2008 edition.


From 1973 to 1981, he built a successful career as a trial partner in the nationally prominent litigation firm of Myrick, Newton & Sullivan in Denver, Colorado. He became known for his effective and innovative work in preparing and trying personal injury, product liability, medical negligence and complex real estate transactions in State and Federal courts. He served as lead counsel for three of the earliest tried Dalcon Shield cases in the western United States and held responsibility for the liability aspects of a case involving a defective manlift at a national brewery. Through reconstruction of the accident, a technique he pioneered, Robert established a defect in the product's design and construction, resulting in what was then the largest product liability settlement in Colorado history.

In addition, in 1979 he obtained Colorado's largest non-spinal cord injury verdict in a personal injury case involving disputed liability and prosecuted a successful dram shop claim against a major hotel chain.

Prior to 1973, Robert was an associate in the Denver firm of Myrick, Branney, Frickey & Criswell, assisting partners with major negligence litigation and independently handling cases involving personal injury, workers' compensation and product liability. He has been a lecturer for the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association and the Colorado Bar Association Division of Continuing Legal Education, and a member of the Denver, First Judicial and Colorado Bar Associations; the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association; and the American Trial Lawyers Association; and the Defense Research Institute.

A native of Laramie, Wyoming, he earned a bachelor's degree in history from Duke University in 1968. He graduated in the top ten percent of the Class of 1971 at the University of Denver College of Law, where he won American Jurist prizes in torts, trusts and equity.

Robert, a resident of Yarmouth, Maine, has five children: Matt, Anthony, Anne-Marie, Joseph and Thomas.

Admissions
Colorado; Maine; New Hampshire

Education
J.D., University of Denver College of Law, 1971
B.A., Duke University, 1968