Experience
Tamara has worked extensively in trucking and transportation law, including the defense of liability and insurance coverage actions for motor carriers, brokers, logistics providers, and their insurers, transportation and logistics contracting, and the litigation of freight charge and freight loss claims. Tamara’s maritime practice includes investigating personal injury, collisions, and other vessel casualties, along with cargo claims, and compliance and regulatory matters. She has significant experience handling jury trials, mediations, and arbitrations, and representing clients in matters ranging from property damage to catastrophic loss on a local, regional, and national level. Tamara has successfully tried 70+ cases to verdict, working with clients in every step of the litigation process. She is also a member of the firm’s 24-hour emergency response team, responding to accidents and incidents that occur outside of business hours.
Tamara’s retail practice includes cases involving slip and falls, general premises liability, falling merchandise, third-party criminal conduct claims, negligent security, defective products, false arrest and detention, malicious prosecution, food contamination, defamation, invasion of privacy, assault, and battery and other intentional torts, as well as claims involving the negligent hiring, retention, and supervision of retail employees.
Tamara regularly represents employers in various aspects of labor and employment law including the defense of a wide variety of labor and employment-related litigation both at the EEOC level and in state and federal courts, such as employment discrimination claims under Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and claims based on the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and Maryland Wage and Hour Laws.
Tamara has defended numerous product liability matters for manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and insurance carriers in state and federal courts throughout Maryland and Washington, D.C. She handles cases involving commercial and consumer products, ranging from defective products to mass tort claims across a variety of industries. She has defended personal injury and property damage matters involving hair care products, fire sprinkler systems, recreational products, and household products, including fire and catastrophic burn cases.
Awards and Distinctions
- Selected as Top Rated Attorney to Super Lawyers for Transportation Law, Personal Injury Defense, and Civil Litigation Defense, 2015-2026
- Bar Association of Baltimore City’s Presidential Award Recipient, 2016
- Best Lawyers, Litigation – Insurance, 2023-2026
Activities
Tamara serves as General Counsel to the Maryland Retailers’ Association. She served as Chair of the Transportation & Logistics Practice Group for USLAW Network from 2018-2020 and currently serves as Vice Chair of USLAW on its Executive Committee. She is also a member of various professional organizations, including DRI: The Voice of the Defense Bar, the International Association of Defense Counsel, Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA); Transportation Lawyers Association (TLA), and Trucking Industry Defense Association (TIDA).
Recent Speaking Engagements
- Corporate Representative for Rule 30(b)(6) Deposition – USLAW Transportation Industry Summer Legal Forum – August 2024
- Paid FMLA and Minimum Wage Hikes and Discrimination Enforcement, Oh My! – F&P’s Labor & Employment Seminar – November 2023
- Sexual Harassment & Maryland’s New Expanded Law – F&P’s Labor & Employment Seminar – November 2022
- Splitting Hairs at Work Protective Hairstyles and Other Workplace Appearance Issues – F&P’s Labor & Employment Virtual Seminar – November 2020
- Identifying and Addressing Risks Inherent in Expanding Service Opportunities – TIA 2022 Captial Ideas Conference and Exhibition – April 2022
- Seconds in Command: Are We Doing Enough to Identify and Prepare Them?, USLAW Spring Conference – March 2022
- Managing Stress in Your Personal and Professional Life, USLAW Women’s Connection – June 2021
- What a Certificate of Insurance Does Not Tell You, Webinar – March 2021
- Global Supply Chains: Were Businesses Asleep at The Wheel at the Beginning of the Pandemic and How to Avoid Similar Issues Next Time, USLAW Short Takes Video – November 2021
- COVID King: Investigating and Defending the Liability Mayhem and Madness – USLAW webinar – June 2020
- What Keeps You Up at Night, F&P’s Labor & Employment Seminar – November 2019
- Employers on the Hook: Liability for Acts of Others, USLAW Retail Exchange – October 2019
- Beyond the Basics: Best Practices for Effective Accident Investigation and Early Case Evaluation, Arkansas Trucking Seminar – September 2019
- The Sun Never Sets on Broker Liability, Webinar for Transportation Lawyers Association – June 2019
- Lawyers: A Necessary Evil in the Supply Chain or a Blessing!?, TIA Capital Ideas Conference & Exhibition – April 2019
- Protecting the Value of Your Business, American Bus Association CEO Roundtable – January 2019
- #MeToo, F&P’s Labor & Employment Seminar – November 2018
- Transportation Claims are Not Just for the Trucking Industry, USLAW Network Retail & Hospitality Exchange – October 2018
- Alternative & Effective Dispute Resolution, F&P’s Liability Seminar – June 2017
- Litigating Against the Latest Efforts by the Plaintiff’s Bar to Misconstrue the FMCSR, TLA Annual Conference – April 2017
- Supply Chain Visibility and the Possible Legal Implications, CSCMP EDGE Conference – September 2017
- The Jubilee Panel! Half-Century Game Changers that Rocked the Transpo World and How They Impact Our Practices Today, TLA’s 50th Transportation Law Institute – November 2017
- Employment Law in the Age of Trump, F&P’s Labor & Employment Seminar – November 2017
- Spotlight on Sexual Orientation and Expression Discrimination, F&P’s Labor & Employment Seminar – November 2016
- Managing Difficult Tucking Issues in Jury Selection, DRI’s “Trucking Law in 2016: The Future is Here,” -April 2016
- Cargo Claims Presentation, TLA Association Boot Camp – January 2016
