Meet our team of birth defects attorneys
There’s a reason why victims of birth defects turn to our alliance to get justice.
Our team has over 40 years of combined experience in birth defects litigation in cases involving semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, pesticides, and energy production. Our experience and our long list of verdicts and financial recoveries for our clients are why people turn to us to get justice for birth defects. As an alliance of experienced birth defects attorneys, we have the resources and ability to fight on behalf of our clients against corporations who put them in danger. Find out more about working with our team of legal experts, and the attorneys that make up our birth defects victims alliance.
We Can Help You
Talk to a Lawyer NowMeet the Leaders of the Birth Defects Alliance
Peter Kraus
Founding and managing partner of Waters Kraus & Paul, Peter Kraus has tried countless toxic tort cases in state and federal courts across the country, resulting in many multimillion-dollar verdicts for his clients. He is a strong supporter of consumer and victims’ rights, and in 2020 was appointed by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to serve a second term on the board of the Federal Judicial Center Foundation. Licensed to practice law in Texas, California, Hawaii, Missouri, and Virginia, Peter also serves on the American Board of Trial Advocates.
L. Richard DeRobertis
Born in Tucson, Arizona, Rick DeRobertis lived and attended school in the San Francisco Bay Area. He graduated from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1979, he began practicing environmental and natural resources law in Los Angeles, but soon moved to Hawaii. Rick joined the Galiher law firm in 1983, representing claimants with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. Rick is now the firm’s lead appellate lawyer. Although Rick had previously practiced in the environmental law area, his work with the firm allows him to do the kind of law he really wanted: helping workers and their families against manufacturers of defective products.
Ilana K. Waxman
Ilana Waxman is the managing partner at Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman. She was born and raised on the beautiful island of Maui. Her insightful legal analysis has brought her to the forefront of some of the most important legal issues in asbestos and product liability litigation. Ilana represents families dealing with birth defects caused by pesticides and other toxic chemical exposures. In addition, she works on cases involving asbestos, whistleblowers, pharmaceuticals, and other product liability and wrongful death claims.
Charles Siegel
Charles Siegel serves as the head of the appellate practice at Waters Kraus & Paul, and has argued appeals in eight federal appellate courts, in the supreme courts of Texas and five other states, and in numerous intermediate appellate courts around the country. With experience in the fields of toxic tort, asbestos, birth injury and birth defect litigation, Charles is an accomplished appellate attorney and a member of the American Association for Justice, Public Justice Foundation, the American Bar Association (ABA), the Dallas Bar Association, and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.
Kevin Loew
Kevin Loew is a partner at Waters Kraus & Paul in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Kevin was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2005, after earning his Juris Doctor degree from Pepperdine University. He received his bachelor’s degree from Emory University. Kevin is a member of the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, and the Consumer Attorneys of California.
Meet the Law Firms of the Birth Defects Alliance
WATERS KRAUS & PAUL
Waters Kraus & Paul seeks to protect the rights of ordinary citizens whenever and wherever they have been harmed by corporate wrongdoing. With offices in Texas, Louisiana, Illinois (by appointment), and California, the attorneys of Waters Kraus & Paul practice across the country in diverse areas of the law — from asbestos and benzene lawsuits and whistleblower litigation to birth injury litigation. Waters Kraus & Paul represents victims of birth defects, developmental delays, and childhood cancers that have been caused by toxic chemical exposure. Industries and companies working with toxic substances have a responsibility to protect their workers from harm — and the birth defects attorneys of Waters Kraus & Paul are committed to holding corporations responsible for exposing people to dangerous chemicals.
GALIHER DEROBERTIS & WAXMAN
Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman, a limited liability law partnership, is a Hawai’i personal injury law firm. We are the only locally-based firm in the islands representing victims of mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases. The firm also litigates claims involving birth defects resulting from exposures to pesticides, opioids, and chemicals used in the semiconductor and high-tech industries, as well as other catastrophic injuries, and qui tam matters. Our lawyers are proud of their local roots and our strong national standing. The firm has tried hundreds of cases throughout the United States for over 35 years.