Audrey Perlman Raphael

Audrey Perlman Raphael is a partner at Levy Konigsberg LLP. Audrey is included in the 2013-2015 editions of The Best Lawyers in America in the practice area of Mass Tort Litigation. She was also recently honored with membership in the 2014 National Trial Lawyers' list of Top 100 Trial Lawyers.

Since joining Levy Konigsberg in 1990, she has specialized in asbestos litigation and every year achieves numerous multimillion-dollar settlements against manufacturers and suppliers of dangerous asbestos products. Audrey also currently manages the asbestos bankruptcy trust department.

Audrey led the way discovering that many different types of equipment and products contain asbestos. For example, Audrey was one of the first attorneys to conduct depositions of mesothelioma and lung cancer victims who were exposed to asbestos from cigarette filters. She also conducted some of the first depositions of asbestos victims who were exposed to asbestos from pizza ovens, welding rods, automotive friction products and residential boilers. Today, as a result of those earlier depositions, it is well known and accepted in courts across the country that these products contain asbestos. Audrey continues to lead the way discovering sources of asbestos exposure currently unknown to the general public.

Audrey also works closely with victims of asbestos exposure who were exposed to asbestos in often overlooked non occupational settings. For example, many asbestos victims were exposed through home renovations, household products and contaminated work clothes worn home from job sites. She has been a leader in the fight for the rights of women who didn't work with asbestos themselves, but unfortunately suffer from asbestos related diseases.

Aside from her work in asbestos and mesothelioma litigation, Audrey has represented victims injured during construction accidents, automobile accidents and accidents involving household equipment and devices. She has also represented women and children who were injured from the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES).

Audrey has also obtained payment for injured clients by uncovering hidden assets and insurance policies. For just one example, she successfully tried a case in the United States Bankruptcy Court against an uninsured motorist who declared personal bankruptcy in an effort to escape paying for the injuries he caused. Importantly, the Court ruled that the perpetrator of an intentional tort may not hide behind bankruptcy laws - In re Kaperonis, 156 B.R. 736 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 1993).

Audrey graduated Phi Beta Kappa from University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. She earned a Master's Degree in psychology from New York University and graduated from Fordham Law School where she was a member of the Fordham Urban Law Journal. Prior to and while attending law school, Audrey interned at the Special Narcotics Department of the New York County District Attorney's Office.