New DRI President Reaffirms Defense Bar’s Commitment To Business Community

The Editor interviews John Parker Sweeney, President, DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar, and Partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.

Editor: Congratulations on being named DRI's president. Tell us about your practice. When did you become involved with DRI?

Sweeney: My practice focuses on defense of product liability and toxic tort claims, including especially class actions and mass tort consolidations. I first became involved in DRI when I went to an Asbestos Medicine Seminar in 1990 in New Orleans. Several years of attending that seminar convinced me that it was absolutely the best program on the topic, and I joined DRI. Eventually I became involved in other DRI committees and chaired, among others, the Industry-Wide Litigation Committee and the Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Committee. I went on from there to be a National Director on the DRI Board, and now, of course, I'm an officer.