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Sean Muldowney

Sean became a litigator out of a passion for strategy and for building a well-constructed case. He has focused his practice on asbestos and other toxic tort litigation from the beginning of his career, with additional experience in complex commercial litigation. Sean has served on national coordinating counsel teams for multinational companies and has extensive experience defending clients in notoriously difficult jurisdictions—including at numerous trial starts and mediations in trial threat jurisdictions.

After more than 15 years in the field, Sean has worked with most of the plaintiff firms prominent in New England and has built significant trust among the toxic tort legal community. At Husch Blackwell, Sean serves as an integral part of the national coordinating counsel team for multiple major clients. His primary focus is asbestos litigation, and he takes a highly strategic view of a case from initial analysis forward, considering the client’s and opposing counsel’s historical performance, the jurisdiction’s verdict history, and the defenses and risks inherent in each individual case, determining how to position the client for the best result possible.

Sean previously served in the general counsel’s office of a multinational lighting company, where he saw firsthand the competitive advantage of solid legal strategies. He understands the pressures in-house legal offices face, he understands how catastrophic it can be when litigation goes wrong, and he understands that clients need solutions from their outside counsel, not additional problems. A resolution-focused attorney, Sean’s aim is to always bring clients proactive strategies that will position them for success.

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On March 18th, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ban of Chrysotile asbestos became the first rule to be finalized under the 2016 amendments to the nation’s chemical safety law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Chrysotile is currently the only known form of asbestos being imported or used in manufacturing in the United States. Since the ban, there have been numerous appeals filed, all of which have since been consolidated and are pending in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Most recently, the EPA requested that the Fifth Circuit stay the litigation so that it may conduct a regulatory review mandated by a recently issued executive order. The stay was granted on February 14, 2025, and will pause the litigation for 120 days, allowing the EPA to review the ban in light of broader policy considerations.

The Estate of Nicholas Barone trial in Bridgeport Superior Court in Connecticut before Judge William Clark concluded with a $15 million plaintiff’s verdict on 5/16/2024. The jury also awarded punitive damages, the exact amount to be determined by the trial judge at a later date. Upon oral argument and review of the parties’ briefs Judge Clark awarded plaintiffs $7,500,000 in punitive damages noting that Vanderbilt Minerals was a sophisticated defendant in position to know of the dangers associated with the mining operation and would not be financially ruined by such an award.