“Meet the Speakers & Honorees” 7-Week Blog Series
Posted July 25, 2025
ADAO is proud to launch our 2025 “Meet the Speakers & Honorees” blog 7-week series, celebrating the 20th International Asbestos Awareness and Prevention Conference—September 12–13, 2025, in New York City. Each week, we’ll spotlight the distinguished speakers, honorees, and ADAO leaders whose expertise, leadership, and dedication drive our mission forward and make this milestone event possible.
We are deeply grateful to these individuals and organizations for generously sharing their time, knowledge, and passion with our community. Their commitment to prevention and advocacy continues to inspire action and strengthen our shared fight to end asbestos-related disease.
Join us in New York City for this landmark event—register now to be part of the movement.
Speaker information for Session V: Asbestos and the Law
Michael Barasch – The Importance of 9/11 and the Law – Protecting First Responders and Others Impacted.
Michael Barasch is the managing partner of Barasch & McGarry, a nationally recognized law firm dedicated to representing 9/11 first responders, survivors, and their families. For more than three decades, Michael has built his career on advocating for peoples’ rights, with a special focus over the past 20 years on securing health and compensation benefits for the 9/11 community.
After the September 11th attacks, Michael became deeply involved in helping firefighters, police officers, construction workers, office employees, residents, and students who were exposed to the toxic dust and fumes in lower Manhattan. He has been instrumental in guiding tens of thousands of clients through the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), ensuring that those suffering from cancer and respiratory illnesses receive the medical care and financial support they deserve.
Michael was a key advocate for the permanent reauthorization of both the Health Program and the VCF, working closely with unions, first responder organizations, and lawmakers in Washington, D.C. His leadership and advocacy helped extend crucial benefits to all 9/11 victims, including citizens who lived or worked downtown.
Under his direction, Barasch & McGarry has grown into the preeminent 9/11 law firm, representing more than 40,000 members of the community. Beyond his legal work, Michael frequently speaks at firefighter houses, police associations, community and charity organizations, and survivor groups, educating people about their rights and the importance of enrollment in the Health Program.
Michael’s mission is deeply personal: to honor the sacrifice of those who risked their lives after 9/11 by fighting tirelessly for their health, security, and dignity.
Harminder Bains – United Kingdom: Legacy Asbestos in Supermarkets
Harminder Bains, is a partner at Leigh Day, a law firm in London, UK. Her father died from mesothelioma and as a consequence she has campaigned and successfully used the law to protect the rights of victims of asbestos related diseases. Many of her cases have been reported as a result of setting precedents and have shaped current legislation for other lawyers in the UK. She has a formidable reputation as one of the country’s leading litigators. Due to this reputation, she represented the Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK pro bono in their application for historical documents which revealed that Cape knew that simply handling Asbestolux released asbestos fibres and could cause mesothelioma. Cape deliberately prevented warning labels being placed on Asbestolux due to their concerns about loss of profitability.
Perry Browder – Navigating Challenging Bankruptcies: The Ongoing Battle for Justice
Partner Perry Browder is head of the Asbestos Department at Simmons Hanly Conroy. He has worked for more than 30 years, helping numerous families
Today, Perry manages the firm’s almost 100 asbestos attorneys, who are organized into multiple trial teams. He oversees all asbestos cases to ensure they are handled efficiently, maximizing results and minimizing hassle for clients and their families so they can focus on their health.
Under Perry’s direction, the firm has developed extensive resources, including an in-house medical department, a dedicated research department, a nationwide network of medical experts, and more.
Perry currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI). He is a past president of both the Illinois Bar Foundation and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. Perry is currently the Illinois State Bar Association 2nd Vice President.
Jessica Dean – Chapman v. Hyster: Trial Success with Lasting Consequences for Those Harmed by
Jessica Dean works at Dean Omar Branham Shirley, LLP. She is from St. Louis, MO and now lives in Dallas, TX with her husband and three dogs. She was lead trial counsel and obtained successful verdicts in Texas, Washington, Oregon, North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and California. She won the National Law Journal’s Top 100 verdicts for 4 of those verdicts. She argued to the Washington Supreme Court, who wrote an opinion validating the role and power of the jury to assess damages. The jury verdict of 81.5 million dollar was reinstated. See, Coogan v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec, Inc., 197 Wn.2d 790, 815, 490 P.3d 200 (2021). She is grateful to represent people who typically would not know how to navigate the legal system and very much hopes she is a source of comfort and strength for them and their families. Most of her clients were diagnosed with mesothelioma, a preventable cancer.
David McCumber – Lasting Impacts: BNSF Railway Company v. Center for Asbestos Related Disease
David McCumber has spoken at ADAO twice before, as keynote speaker in 2017 and as Andrew Schneider Memorial lecturer in 2019. He and Schneider co-authored “An Air that Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of a Montana Town Revealed a National Scandal.”
McCumber is executive editor of the Arizona Daily Star. His journalism career spans 56 years. A Nebraska native, he started work at age 16 at the Scottsbluff (Nebraska) Star-Herald. He has held reporting and editing positions at a dozen daily newspapers, including leading newsrooms at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Santa Barbara News-Press, Hearst Connecticut Newspapers, the Montana Standard and Lee Montana newspapers; and the Star. He has also served as Hearst Newspapers’ Washington bureau chief; Rocky Mountain regional editor, and West Regional News Director for Lee Enterprises. In that position he supervised the newsrooms of 27 newspapers across 13 states.
McCumber first worked at the Arizona Daily Star in 1978. He helped to direct a series of stories on problems with the University of Arizona football program that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1980, and in 1984 was himself a finalist for the Pulitzer as part of a team that revealed misconduct at the Hughes Aircraft defense plant.
Also under his supervision the Star produced a major expose of the Arizona prison system and a series of stories revealing serious health problems caused by trichloroethylene contamination of groundwater at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
He is the author of three other books of nonfiction: The Cowboy Way: Seasons of a Montana Ranch (Avon); Playing off the Rail: A Pool Hustler’s Journey (Random House); and X-Rated: The Mitchell Brothers (Simon & Schuster), which was made into a Showtime movie starring Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez.
Linda Reinstein – Moderator
Linda Reinstein is a leading public health advocate and serves as the President & CEO of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO). Her journey into advocacy began in 2003 when her husband, Alan, was diagnosed with mesothelioma — a cancer caused by asbestos exposure. In response, she co-founded ADAO in 2004, focusing the organization on increasing awareness about the hazards of asbestos, advocating for a global asbestos ban, and providing support to those affected by asbestos-related diseases.
ADAO has grown into the largest independent nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated to preventing asbestos exposure, eliminating asbestos-related diseases, and pushing for regulatory reform. Reinstein has been a vocal presence, frequently testifying before Congress and other governmental agencies, and influencing national and international policies related to asbestos.
Reinstein’s work has significantly contributed to asbestos awareness and the protection of public health around the world. She continues to be a key figure in advocating for a global asbestos ban and supporting individuals and families affected by asbestos-related diseases. Currently, she is involved in organizing the 18th Annual ADAO Awareness and Prevention Conference and advancing the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act (ARBAN).
Jordan Zevon – Personal Story
Jordan Zevon, ADAO’s tremendous National Spokesperson and Celebrity Board Co-Chair, is a singer/songwriter and film composer.
Jordan was the executive producer for his father, Warren Zevon’s, final album, The Wind. He also co-produced Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon, which features an all-star cast of singers and musicians.
Jordan’s own work includes his self-titled EP and the New West release, “Insides Out”. He’s performed multiple times on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Grammys, and his music has been featured on numerous television shows.
Jordan’s immeasurable commitment to asbestos victims and concerned citizens has provided a united voice that will continue to help ensure that their rights are fairly represented and protected, while raising public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure and often deadly asbestos-related diseases.
