Ahmed J. Kassim is Of Counsel to the Sills Cummis & Gross Litigation Department. Mr. Kassim has a track record of achieving favorable results for his clients in a variety of complex, high-stakes litigation matters, including commercial disputes, product liability, and putative class actions. He has litigated on behalf of clients in a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, consumer products, telecommunications, construction, insurance, banking, and retail. Mr. Kassim partners with clients to devise a litigation strategy that is aligned with their business objectives.
Mr. Kassim has successfully defended manufacturers in product liability and mass tort actions in notoriously plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions. A former chemical engineer, Mr. Kassim leverages his technical background to help his clients navigate complex scientific and medical issues and to craft fact-based defenses built on science. A skilled litigator, he has played key roles in case assessment, developing defense strategy, taking depositions, presenting compelling advocacy in briefs and hearings, and leading complex settlement negotiations.
Mr. Kassim represents clients of all sizes in complicated and hard fought commercial disputes in state and federal courts. He recently helped secure a pre-answer dismissal in federal court of a putative nationwide consumer protection class action; and a pre-answer dismissal in New York’s Commercial Division of an environmental insurance coverage suit where claims exceeded $15 million. Mr. Kassim increasingly counsels public accommodation clients regarding website accessibility litigation under Title III of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). Whether the issues revolve around products liability, commercial disputes, or violations of the ADA, he understands the stakes and helps his clients reach the most favorable resolution in the most economical way.
Mr. Kassim maintains an active pro bono practice that has included successfully representing clients seeking asylum for their pro-democracy views; petitioners in post-conviction proceedings seeking expungement of their criminal records; plaintiffs alleging that their constitutional rights were violated during an arrest; and, most recently, acting as pro bono appellate counsel for the New Jersey Office of Public Defender.
Mr. Kassim is an active member of American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, and the Federal Bar Council. In 2021, he was appointed to serve on the Editorial Board of the ABA’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal.
Before joining the Firm, Mr. Kassim practiced in New York at Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C. and Gibbons P.C., focusing on product liability and commercial litigation matters. Mr. Kassim was a Law Clerk to the Honorable Ann G. McCormick, J.S.C. in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division.