Leslie O'Toole practices in the areas of civil litigation, focusing on products liability (including drugs and medical devices), medical malpractice, and commercial litigation. Ms. O'Toole has been part of a regional and trial counsel team in the breast implant litigation. Her litigation practice includes the representation of pharmaceutical companies, product manufacturers, health care practitioners and institutions, engineering companies and other businesses. She also has been retained by corporate boards to assist in internal investigations.

Ms. O'Toole obtained her undergraduate degree from Brown University (A.B., magna cum laude, 1982) and her J.D. from the University of North Carolina (with High Honors, 1986) where she was a Morehead Law Fellow. Ms. O'Toole was a member of the Order of the Coif, and she served as Research Editor of the North Carolina Law Review. She has served as the President of the Raleigh Professional Women's Forum and as Secretary of the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games. She has served as the chair for the Board of Special Olympics North Carolina and on the Board of the UNC Law Alumni Association. She is the recipient of the Business Journal's 1999 Women in Business Award.

Ms. O'Toole has given numerous presentations on Daubert, trial skills, company documents, and other topics for organizations such as the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, the Defense Research Institute, the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, the North Carolina Bar Association, and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. Since 2005, she has been named in every edition of Business North Carolina Magazine's Legal Elite for litigation. Ms. O'Toole has also been named in the 2005-2010 editions of The Best Lawyers in America and was recognized by North Carolina Super Lawyers in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. She was recognized in the 2009 edition of Chambers USA for her health care litigation work.

She received the 2009 Andrew C. Hecker Award — honoring the best article published in the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel Quarterly — for “Admitting We’re Litigating in the Digital Age: A Practical Overview of Issues of Admissibility in the Technological Courtroom.”

Ms. O'Toole recently was elected to serve on the board of the National Foundation for Judicial Excellence for 2009-2010. She also was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2007 and has served on the North Carolina State Committee of Trial Lawyers since 2008.

Ms. O'Toole has a peer review rating of AV® in Martindale-Hubbell.

Ms. O'Toole is proud to have completed the New York Marathon in 2004, the Virginia Beach marathon in 2006 and the Chicago marathon in 2007.

Ms. O'Toole has participated in the following presentations:

• Negotiation, Strategy and Ethics (panelist) — 2009 Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, Kauai, Hawaii, February 25, 2009
• Lights, Action, Cameras — Technology in the Courtroom — 2008 Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel Winter Meeting, Grand Bahama Island, February 24, 2008
• "Bad" Corporate Documents — How to Minimize Their Impact at Trial. Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia 25th Annual Meeting; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, June 19, 2007
• Pretrial Discovery: Strategies and Tips, American College of Trial Lawyers Litigation Skills Program, University of North Carolina School of Government, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, June 8, 2007
• Pound Civil Justice Institute — Served on panel as defense representative regarding Daubert, Frye and the States: Thoughts on Choice of a Standard, Seattle, Washington, 2006
• Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel Litigation Management College (presenter) — Atlanta, Georgia, 2006
• Expert Testimony Following Howerton v. Arai Helmet Ltd. North Carolina Bar Foundation Litigation Section Annual Meeting; Asheville, North Carolina, June 2005
• Defending Claims for Psychological Damages as Part of a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit. Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel; Marco Island, Florida, March 2005
• Litigation Skills for Public Interest and Public Section Lawyers, Examination and Cross-Examination of a Psychologist/Doctor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, November 2004
• Handling "Bad" Company Documents: Preventing Admission at Trial Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel Pharmaceutical Section; Chesapeake, Maryland, July 2004
• Handling "Bad" Company Documents: Preventing Admission at Trial North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys Annual Meeting; Hilton Head, South Carolina, June 2004
• All-Star Trial of a Business Case, Litigation Section Annual Meeting, presented by the North Carolina Bar Association Foundation CLE; Greensboro, North Carolina, May 2004
• Introduction to Daubert North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys Young Lawyers Seminar; Greensboro, North Carolina, September 2003
• Daubert Challenges to Expert Testimony in Federal Court, Defense Research Institute Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, Charlottesville, Virginia, April 2003
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy "Building Trial Skills;" University of North Carolina School of Law Chapel Hill; North Carolina, May 2000
• Practical Aspects of Daubert Challenges, sponsored by North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys Hilton Head, South Carolina, April 2000
• North Carolina Products Liability Law, sponsored by Wake Forest University School of Law; Raleigh, North Carolina, February 2000

Admissions

• North Carolina
• United States Supreme Court, 1997
• United States District Courts
  • Eastern District of North Carolina, 1986
  • Middle District of North Carolina, 1991
  • Western District of North Carolina, 1992
• United States Courts of Appeals
  • Fourth Circuit, 1988
  • Eleventh Circuit, 1998

Professional associations and memberships

• North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, President, 2006-07
• Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, Drug, Device and Biotechnology Section, Chair, 2006-07
• National Foundation for Judicial Excellence, Board of Directors and Program Planning Committee, Member
• Defense Research Institute, Strategic Planning Committee, Member
• Tort Issues Task Force, North Carolina Bar Association, 2009-10
• North Carolina Bar Association, Member