Position: Managing Partner

TEL: 757 223 4500

FAX: 757 249 3242

Email: Click Here

Website: 

Admitted: Virginia, 1972

Law School: Washington & Lee University Law School

College: Hampden-Syndey

Birth Date and Place: 1948 Newport News VA

Practice Areas: Asbestos, Class Actions, Medical Malpractice, Multi-District Litigation, Personal Injury, Product Liability, Professional Malpractice, Nursing Home and Elder Care Abuse

Additional Information: Robert R. Hatten is a pioneer and national leader in the field of asbestos litigation. For his work, he has been recognized by his peers to be included in the 2003-2004 edition of "The Best Lawyers in America." After graduating from Washington & Lee University Law School in 1972, Hatten served as a law clerk to the Honorable John A. MacKenzie in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. In late 1973, he joined the law firm of Patten & Wornom and was made partner in 1976. Today, Hatten serves as manager of Patten, Wornom, Hatten & Diamonstein, L.C., the largest law firm in the city of Newport News. Hatten began the representation of workers with asbestos disease in 1975, when he filed the first asbestos disability and death claims in this history of the state of Virginia against the Newport News Shipyard for workers� compensation benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers� Compensation Act. In 1976, Hatten and his co-counsel, Gene Locks of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Richard Glasser of Norfolk, Virginia, filed the first asbestos product liability claims in Virginia against more than 40 asbestos manufacturers and suppliers. In June 1978, Hatten and his co-counsel successfully prosecuted the first mesothelioma jury trial in Virginia (and only the third successful asbestos trial in the nation at that time) with a verdict against Johns-Manville Corporation in the amount of $750,000. From that time until the present, Hatten�s practice has been devoted exclusively to the representation of asbestos victims. He has won dozens of jury trials, and he has successfully prosecuted landmark appeals in the Virginia Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He has published articles concerning asbestos litigation in the Washington & Lee University Law Review, the VTLA Journal, the Texas Lawyer, and the Washington Legal Times. His accomplishments include the first Virginia punitive damage jury verdict against the asbestos industry, the first successful consolidation of more than 1,000 lawsuits, and the first national settlement program with the asbestos industry. Hatten has served as a national leader of the asbestos plaintiffs� bar in numerous capacities, including membership on the Johns-Manville Bankruptcy Reorganization Committee, Chairman of the Litigation Section of the Multi-District Asbestos Litigation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Liaison to Congress for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America on asbestos-related matters. In the state of Virginia, Hatten and his co-counsel created the Virginia Asbestos Victims, Inc., a non-profit organization to promote the interests of asbestos victims. This organization has successfully lobbied the Virginia General Assembly to change the Virginia statute of limitations so that all asbestos victims would have a fair day in court, and it also succeeded in persuading the Virginia General Assembly to enact numerous other reforms for the benefit of asbestos victims. These reforms include the right to consolidate large numbers of cases for trial to avoid repetitive, expensive and wasteful litigation. In 1986, Hatten received the Virginia Trial Lawyers� Associations� first award for Courageous Advocacy for his representation of asbestos victims in Virginia, and he served on the Board of Directors of the VTLA for many years. Hatten has received the highest rating of Martindale-Hubbell for legal competence, and he has been elected by his peers to the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Firm Members: Daniel Oral Long