{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"#2.6: Stephen M. Reck & Jose Rojas in The Heart of Law","description":" Stephen Reck and Jose Rojas roll in The Heart of Law to chat with Mirena Umizaj about one of the biggest, polemical cases sweeping the country. They are pioneers in the baby formula lawsuits: the Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) litigation against Mead Johnson and Abbott Laboratories. Currently hoping to build awareness and reverse the careless tradition of offering cow-based formula to premature infants in hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) across the U.S., the two attorneys partner with Scott D. Camassar and Paul Levin (along with firms around America), to protect preemies from mortifying disease and death. Stephen and Jose open the show by sharing their humble beginnings. Stephen reminisces about his genteel Italian grandmother, Rosa Maria Cornaglia, who raised him through high school; he fondly recalls an idyllic childhood full of incredible food, friendships, and love. After graduating from the University of Vermont, Stephen pursued a legal career and enjoyed the affluence it had to offer\u2014for a short while. He left Wall Street and decided against the lifestyle of a well-paid defense attorney. He bravely took a sizable pay cut to live the simple life of a litigator who fought for the underdog. Stephen\u2019s plight for justice stemmed from Attorney Matthew Shafner\u2019s principled career influence. His late mentor\u2014and legendary Legal Champion of the Working People\u2014left an indelible imprint on his life. Stephen said, \u201c[By helping people,] he turned my life around; although I was poor, [Matthew] taught me something very valuable \u2026 he changed my career.\u201d Meanwhile, Jose fondly talks about how his parents fell in love and his dactylic childhood in Madrid, Spain. Raised with a strong sense of equity and fairness, Jose heads off to Boston for college. At 17, he began his life in America with a law degree firmly in mind, subsequently starting a bustling career in the Army JAG Corps. A few years later, he pivots to mass torts; after working for \u201cbig entities like the government or big corporations,\u201d Jose discovered the deep satisfaction and joy in \u201crepresenting people with real problems and having an opportunity to \u2026 effectuate change when helping people.\u201d  No wonder these two lion-hearted attorneys cross paths and fight for the weakest of the weak. Stephen and Jose recount the first two heartbreaking cases\u2014detailing NEC\u2019s effect on preemies' bodies. We understand why, one appalling account after another, the movement began. Stephen describes NEC\u2019s confounding injury spectrum: death, surgery, medical NEC. Next, Jose outlines the complex, multi-pronged dilemma the movement has to overcome: (1) the aggressive marketing campaigns for Similac and Enfamil, (2) the cutthroat lobbying to physicians and hospitals, (3) the enormous expense and rarity of donor milk, and (4) the \u201cinstitutional laziness\u201d within NICUs. Their plight appears insurmountable. But is it? As Jose affirms, \u201cthe solution is out there, but it's expensive, and it requires people to put their heads together and find a solution.\u201d Let\u2019s tune in and consider how to help them in our small way. EPISODE SURVEY: [00:19:03:08 - 00:26:50:23] First NEC Case [00:28:15:08 - 00:35:47:03] Science & Temporal Causation [00:36:42:23 - 00:40:33:24] Prongs & Complexities of a Multifactorial Problem [00:40:35:00 - 00:45:36:06] NEC & its Evolution to Mass Tort  [00:53:19:00 - 00:56:48:07] Litigation Strategy & Two Tracts [00:56:50:07 - 01:00:58:00] The Extent of Infants' Injuries from NEC QUOTABLE QUOTES: Stephen M. Reck \u201cJuries can appreciate sincerity and honesty when you're fighting for the right cause.\u201d \u201c[The parents] send us pictures of their children and the children are happy \u2026 Although they can't talk, they express themselves, and in many ways, it's truly a beautiful story.\u201d \u201c[Abbott and Meade] wanted to destroy us to end this whole litigation and that was their tactic. But it really made us stronger. I mean, they picked the wrong people to deal with.\u201d I think together, the moms and the lawyers are going to change the practice of feeding preemies, and we are going to save lives. \u2026 I can't think of a more important case that I've ever read about anywhere in the history of the law.\u201d Jose' Rojas \u201cMy passion is really not with representing big entities like the government or big corporations, but rather with representing people with real problems and having an opportunity to really solve those problems.\u201d \u201cOne of the things that completely brings me passion in the field of mass torts is the ability to really effectuate change when you help people, it's satisfying. You're bringing a solution to people with real problems.\u201d We're really hoping to make the planet safer for babies. And that's something that gets me up every morning. It drives me. It helps me work. It brings passion to the work that I do. And I really think I'm doing exactly what I should be doing right now. \u201cThere has to be an awareness, and when that awareness happens, then you'll see the solutions come very easily because the solutions are out there, and they're scientifically feasible.\u201d \u201cOne of the things that has really amazed me about the mass tort industry, which I didn't expect, but I found, is the level of teamwork that occurs by law firms and lawyers in really trying to collaborate and cooperate to make sure we're all marching in the same direction.\u201d \u201cWhen you're touted as the guy who's going to do great things \u2026 you start to reflect a little bit and you're like, \u2018have I done great things?\u2019 I think I'm doing great things right now. We know our cause is righteous and we will never stop fighting.\u201d       ABOUT OUR GUESTS: Stephen M. Reck Partner and Co-Founder of Levin, Rojas, Camassar, and Reck, LLC Discovered the baby formula mass tort litigation that is now sweeping the country. Filed the first lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson, the manufacturers of Similac and Enfamil baby formula Member of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association and the New London County Bar Association Featured as the \u201cTop Lawyer of New England,\u201d the \u201cSuper Lawyer\u201d list,  and \u201cLawyers of Distinction\u201d Jose' Rojas Handles cases involving personal injury, medical malpractice, and defective products Member of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association Former Captain in the United States Army, JAG Corps, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Rated \u201cAV Preeminent\u201d by Martindale Hubbell Recognized in the  \u201cSuper Lawyers\u201d list LINKS FROM THE SHOW: Visit Levin, Rojas, Camassar, & Reck, LLC, Stephen and Jose\u2019s firm Learn more about Stephen and Jose: Stephen\u2019s Bio and Jose\u2019s Bio Stephen\u2019s socials: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter Jose\u2019s website and LinkedIn Visit Mirena\u2019s chic website and  LinkedIn Shownotes and podcast production by Caryl Veloso ","author_name":"The Heart of Law","author_url":"http:\/\/heartoflaw.libsyn.com\/website","html":"