Legal Challenges in Mass Tragedy Litigation: Attorney Josh Koskoff to Share Insights from Litigating High-Profile Cases in 2025 Neumann Lecture
Attorney Josh Koskoff will deliver this year’s Peter Chase Neumann Lecture on Civil Justice at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law on Thursday, March 27.
In his talk, "Guns, Greed, and Grooming: What Sandy Hook and Uvalde Have Taught Me About the Making of an American Epidemic," Koskoff will share insights from his extensive legal experience, discussing the complexities and challenges of litigating high-profile cases related to mass shootings while exploring the broader implications of these cases on public safety and corporate responsibility.
When: Thursday, March 27, 2025, from 12:15-1:15 p.m. (MST)
Where: The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Room 168, 1201 E. Speedway.
Who may attend: This event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and available to those who have registered prior to the event. Register here.
About Josh Koskoff:
Josh Koskoff represents the third generation of Koskoffs leading the Connecticut firm Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder and continues the family’s tradition of dedication to representing individuals against powerful opponents in challenging cases. For nearly 25 years he has won tough courtroom battles throughout Connecticut establishing record verdicts in Medical Malpractice and other cases.
Recently, Koskoff obtained two historic victories on behalf of families of victims of the Sandy Hook School shooting. In February 2022, after a nearly ten-year battle, he won a settlement for nine Sandy Hook families against Remington Arms Company: the manufacturer and marketer of the Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle used in the shooting. Along the way, Koskoff was able to overcome what was previously thought to be an immunity for gunmakers by winning a landmark decision from the Connecticut Supreme Court paving the way to discovery. The settlement of 73 million dollars is the largest settlement ever paid to families of a mass shooting, and the entire amount of insurance available to the bankrupt company. A critical component won in the settlement is the ability to disclose the discovery obtained during litigation to the public and thereby expose the inner workings of the gun industry.
On October 12, 2022, he won a second historic victory as part of a three-person team of Koskoff lawyers that secured a verdict on behalf of 14 Sandy Hook family members against Alex Jones for peddling and profiting from false claims that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, that the families were actors, and that nobody died in the shooting. The total verdict of nearly 1.4 billion dollars is believed to be the largest defamation verdict in American history.
In 2019, Koskoff filed another groundbreaking suit against Harvard University over its theft and possession of images taken in 1850 of an enslaved man named Renty and his daughter, Delia. After the case was dismissed by the trial court, he appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and the Court reversed and found that Harvard was complicit in crimes against Renty and Delia. In the first case in American history to do so, the Court approved the right of a descendant of an enslaved person to seek damages against an institution for the failure to involve the descendant in the use of images of their ancestor.
Koskoff has received numerous awards and recognition for his work and frequently speaks to lawyers and civic groups throughout America. He believes strongly in the role of the law as a means to improve his clients’ lives and as an agent for change, and he views the law as only working when it works for all people, not just those in positions of power.