Holly Polglase is a shareholder at Hermes, Netburn, O’Connor & Spearing, P.C. Holly acts as lead counsel in the defense and trial of complex product liability, pharmaceutical, medical device, toxic tort, asbestos, general liability and commercial matters. With over twenty years of experience, Holly represents product manufacturers, sellers and other businesses for catastrophic losses.
Holly works as national and regional counsel for major national and multi-national corporations and manages a large regional docket of toxic tort cases for several companies. In her wide ranging practice, she has represented designers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers, as well as the companies that service products. She handles cases involving cars and trucks, tires, car seats, bicycles, farm and heavy equipment, industrial, manufacturing and food processing equipment, material handling equipment, hand and power tools, lawn and garden products, safety equipment, ladders, step stools, HVAC systems, toys, appliances and other consumer products as well as drugs and medical devices. Holly’s experiences give her a broad background in fire cause and origin, accident reconstruction, biomechanics, epidemiology, industrial hygiene, chemicals, electrical systems, mechanical systems, manufacturing processes, materials science and medicine as well as the experts who work in these fields. Her diverse practice also includes copyright litigation and other business and general liability disputes.
Holly is a frequent speaker on issues related to her civil trial practice in the state and federal courts and writes for numerous publications on these topics. Holly is active in the bar and is a past Chair of the American Bar Association's Products, General Liability and Consumer Law Committee of TIPS and a past President of the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers' Association and of the Federal Bar Association, Massachusetts Chapter. She is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire and handles cases throughout the United States.