Lawyer Bio : T. Sky Woodward
Printable Bio (PDF)
T. Sky Woodward
"Sky"
Baltimore
Washington, DC
In her complex civil litigation practice, Ms. Woodward represents real estate and financial service industry clients in indoor environmental quality and commercial litigation; manufacturing clients in mass tort product liability and toxic tort cases and emerging environmental matters; and other businesses in environmental, toxic tort, and commercial litigation matters. Through extranet technology and a focus on litigation prevention, Ms. Woodward serves as national environmental counsel for an NMHC Top 50 owner and manager of multifamily real estate properties. She also represents the interests of firearm owners and the industry in constitutional challenges to local and state regulations, including as counsel to 891 state legislators and elected officials on their amici curiae brief to the United States Supreme Court in Otis McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. ____ 2010 (incorporation of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, through the Fourteenth Amendment, to the citizens of the States).
Ms. Woodward is listed in Maryland Super Lawyers for Product Liability Defense Litigation and one of Maryland’s Top 25 Women Lawyers, “Best Lawyers in America” for Product Liability and Mass Tort Litigation; is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, was named by the Baltimore Business Journal as a “40 Under 40” business leader, a “Legal Elite” by Smart CEO Magazine, and as one of Maryland’s “Leaders in the Law” by The Daily Record. In 2010, she was inducted as a Litigation Counsel of America Fellow, an invitation only trial lawyer honor society. And in 2011, she was named one of “Maryland’s Top 100 Women,” for her contributions to the legal profession, business and civic communities, and mentoring.
Ms. Woodward is an experienced and strategic-thinking litigator, adept at efficiently and effectively managing complex, multi-party cases, and developing and excluding experts in emerging toxic tort, product liability, and environmental matters. She has defended businesses in cases involving mold, asbestos, tobacco, 1,1,1-TCE, food additives (diacetyl), carbon monoxide, industrial products and fuel oil, as well as environmental and occupational exposures to a wide variety of chemicals and substances.
Ms. Woodward is a proven leader, and she uses her leadership skills to advance the interests of her clients. As President of Maryland Defense Counsel, Inc. (MDC), the statewide organization of trial lawyers who devote their practices to defending civil litigants, Ms. Woodward led the private bar’s participation in the Maryland Judiciary’s Advanced Science & Technology Adjudication Resources (ASTAR) in-state programs designed to prepare judges to be effective managers and adjudicators of cases involving scientific evidence and issues. Because of Ms. Woodward’s efforts to educate MDC’s members about ASTAR, MDC was named the “State and Local Defense Organization of the Year” in 2007 by the Defense Research Institute (DRI).
Contact
- 410-545-5823
- 202-467-6900
- (410) 694-0145
Professional Activities
Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA); District of Columbia Bar Association; California State Bar Association; Baltimore City Bar Association; Baltimore County Bar Association; Maryland Defense Counsel, Inc.; National Multi Housing Council (NMHC), Advisory Committee Member; Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) – Baltimore; Women Lawyers Alliance; Council on Litigation Management; Republican National Lawyers Association; Federalist Society.
DRI: Annual Meeting Steering Committee (2010); Strategic Planning Committee (2010); Public Policy Committee (2009, 2010); Products Liability Committee: Food Law Specialized Litigation Group (SLG) Chair (2009-2011)/Vice-Chair (2007-2009), 2009 Products Liability Seminar Planning Committee and Speaker, 2008 Food Liability Seminar Planning Committee; Toxic Tort & Environmental Law Committee (TTEL): Indoor Air Quality SLG Chair (2006-2008), 2006 TTEL Seminar Speaker, 2009 Annual Meeting TTEL Committee Meeting CLE Speaker; Women in the Law Committee: At-Large Steering Committee (2010), 2009 Sharing Success Women’s Seminar Planning Committee and Speaker; Annual Meeting Women’s Networking Event Chair (2004, 2005 and 2006); Worker’s Compensation Committee Meeting CLE Speaker, Annual Meeting (2005); Young Lawyers Committee: Steering Committee (2000-2002), National Pro Bono Project Chair (2000-2001), State and Local Defense Organization Subcommittee Chair (1998-1999); Diversity Committee.
Admitted to the bars of Maryland, 1992; California, 1995; and the District of Columbia, 1998. Admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Central, Eastern and Southern Districts of California, and U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Professional Achievements
“Maryland’s Top 100 Women” Award, The Daily Record, 2011.
Legal Elite” Smart CEO Magazine, 2011.
Maryland Super Lawyers, Product Liability Defense Litigation, 2010, 2011.
Maryland Top 25 Women Lawyers, Maryland Super Lawyers, 2010.
Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America (invitation only honorary trial lawyer society), 2010.
Advisory Board, Women Lawyers Alliance, 2009–present.
“Leadership in Law” Award, The Daily Record, November 2008.
“Best Lawyers in America,” Products Liability 2009, 2010, 2011; Mass Tort Litigation 2011.
Who’s Who Among Law Professionals, Montclair Publishing (2010/2011 ed.)
Honorary Chair, Awards of Excellence Event, Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Baltimore, Maryland, April 2009.
Judicial Appointments Committee (At-Large), MSBA, 2008–present.
Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission, Peer Review Panel Member (2005-present).
Finding Justice: A History of Women Lawyers in Maryland book project, Member, Development Committee (2006-present).
“40 Under 40” Award, Baltimore Business Journal, September 2004.
A-V Rated and Bar Registry of Preeminent Women Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell.
Maryland Bar Foundation, Life Fellow, Inducted June 2005.
Baltimore Bar Foundation, Life Fellow, Inducted June 2008.
Exceptional Performance Citation, DRI, June 2006.
President, Maryland Defense Counsel, Inc., June 2005-06; MDC Board of Directors 1998-2007.
President, Board of Directors, Downtown Baltimore Child Care, Inc. (DBCC), November 2004-2006; Member, DBCC Board of Directors 2000-2007.
Maryland State Task Force on Universal Preschool Education, Appointed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., 2006-present.
Maryland State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Care and Education, Appointed by Gov. Martin O’Malley, 2008-present.
National Foundation for Judicial Excellence, 2011 Annual Conference Planning Committee.
Guest Commentator, “Square Off,” WMAR-TV, Channel 2 (Baltimore, Maryland), 2009-present.
Lawyers for Ehrlich, 2006, 2010.
General Counsel, Maryland Republican Party, 2007.
Election Day Operations Counsel, Michael Steele for Maryland, 2006.
Election Day Operations Legal Team, McCain-Palin 2008, Richmond, Virginia.
Judicial Law Clerk, Hon. John F. McAuliffe (ret.), Court of Appeals of Maryland, Annapolis and Rockville, Maryalnd (1992-1993).
Judicial Law Intern, Hon. Robert H. Hodges, Jr., United States Court of Federal Claims, Washington, D.C. (1992).
Education
B.A., 1989, University of Oklahoma, President's Leadership Scholar; J.D., 1992, George Washington University Law School.
Prior Legal Experience
Principal and Associate, Miles & Stockbridge P.C., Baltimore, Maryland, 1998-2007; Associate, Haight, Brown & Bonesteel, L.L.P., San Francisco, California, 1994-1998; Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable John F. McAuliffe (retired), Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1992-1993; Judicial Law Intern to the Honorable Robert H. Hodges, Jr., United States Court of Federal Claims, Washington, D. C., 1992.
Publications
“Green Expectations: New Risks for Manufacturers Take Root,” DRI, For The Defense, December 2009.
Punitive Damages: A State-by-State Compendium, DRI Defense Library Series, Maryland Chapter Author and Regional Editor, 2009.
“Maryland Courts to Frye Mold Expert,” Mealey’s Litigation Report: Mold, June 2007.
“The GRAS May Not Be Greener: Recent NYC Trans Fat Ban Challenges the GRAS Status of Federally Regulated Food Additives,” DRI, Product Liability Conference Course Materials, February 2007.
“Mold: Toxic or Not? Sorting Through the Competing Science to Make the Best Case for Your Client,” DRI, Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Conference Course Materials, March 2006.
“Emerging Toxic Tort Litigation: The Complexities of a ‘Sick Building’ Case,” MSBA Bar Bulletin (April 2001).
“Sick Buildings: Is the Rising Tide About to Turn?” DRI, For The Defense, June 2000.
Presentations
Speaking Engagements
“Green Acres is the Place to Be: Will ‘Green Buildings’ Become Fertile Ground for Novel Theories of Product Liability,” DRI Product Liability Seminar (Main Program), San Diego, California, April 2009.
“Achieving Critical Mass: How to Turn Few into Many,” DRI Sharing Success: A Seminar for Women Lawyers, Santa Monica, California, March 2009.
“Red Sky in the Morning, Sailor Take Warning – The Storms on the Horizon: Food Additives,” DRI Product Liability Seminar (Main Program), New Orleans, Louisiana, February 2007.
“Legal Roundup,” Property and Risk Management Forum, NMHC, Scottsdale, Arizona, October 2006.
“Mold: Toxic or Not? Sorting Through the Competing Science to Make the Best Case for Your Client,” DRI Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Seminar, Orlando, Florida, March 2006.
“Understanding and Avoiding Mold Claims,” Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Mid-Atlantic Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, April 2006.
“From the Bible to Ballard: Mold Litigation and Legislation,” American Conference of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), Annual Occupational Health Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, May 2003.
Additional Information
Firm Management Responsibilities
Diversity Committee (2008-present): Womble Scholars Subcommittee.
Mobile Technology Committee (2010).
Areas of Proficiency
- Toxic Torts
- Product Liability
- Environmental Law
- Premises Liability
- Mass Torts/Industry-wide Litigation
- Real Estate
- Class Actions
- Risk Management
- Commercial Litigation
Honors
Articles
News
- Womble Carlyle Attorneys Honored by Maryland Super Lawyers
- Womble Carlyle Participates in 2011 DRI Annual Meeting
- 125 Womble Carlyle Attorneys Ranked Among The Best Lawyers in America 2012
- Bill Womble, Jr. Successfully Defends Product Manufacturer in New Consumer Complaint Database Dispute
- Womble Carlyle Attorneys Write Amicus Brief In U.S. Supreme Court Climate Change Ruling
- Womble Carlyle Congratulates Helping Up Mission’s 2011 Graduates
- Womble Carlyle Attorney Sky Woodward Named One of Maryland’s Top 100 Women
- Womble Carlyle Attorneys File Amicus Curiae Brief in Landmark Global Warming Case
- Nine Womble Carlyle Attorneys Honored as Among the Best in the Baltimore/D.C. Region
- Supreme Court Agrees With Womble Carlyle Amicus Brief Extending Second Amendment Rights to Citizens of the States
- Womble Carlyle Attorney Sky Woodward Named Litigation Counsel of America Fellow
- Four Womble Carlyle Attorneys Honored By Maryland Super Lawyers
- Womble Carlyle's Hamilton, Sweeney Named Maryland Super Lawyers
- Womble Carlyle Attorneys, Staff Participate in DRI Annual Meeting
- Womble Carlyle Adds Two Leading Litigators to Baltimore Office
Publications
Lawyer Articles
Client Alerts
- Denial of Writ of Certiorari in Pella Corp. v. Saltzman, United States Supreme Court, Case No., 10-355
- Consumer Product Safety Commission Extends Stay of Enforcement for Testing and Certification of Lead Content in Children's Products
- New Consumer Product Complaint Database Creates Risks for Manufacturers, Retailers
- Summary of Enhancing CPSC Authority and Discretion Act of 2011