Law 2024: JEFFREY A. BREIT

A Hampton Roads native, Breit is known for representing plaintiffs in high-profile personal injury cases.

In recent months, Breit’s name frequently has shown up in news articles for being part of the legal team representing Abby Zwerner, the Newport News elementary school teacher shot by a 6-year-old student in January 2023. In November, a Newport News Circuit Court judge gave Zwerner the go-ahead to proceed with a $40 million lawsuit against Newport News Public Schools.

In 2010, a federal judge appointed Breit to the 15-lawyer plaintiff steering committee for the consolidated BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill lawsuits. Breit oversaw the case against Halliburton, which settled its portion for $1.24 billion. Alabama also retained Breit as one of its attorneys and recovered $1 billion.

Breit also represented plaintiffs in Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia in a decadelong national lawsuit against Chinese drywall manufacturer Taishan Gypsum Co., which settled for $248 million in 2019.

In 2022, Breit Cantor Grana Buckner split into two firms: Breit Biniazan and Cantor Grana Buckner Bucci. Breit and Kevin Biniazan reportedly wanted to practice national cases, while the others  preferred to focus on Virginia lawsuits.