Mill Valley

Mill Valley, the sequel to Sausalito, provides a heretofore untapped "window" into the multi-billion-dollar asbestos litigation as it started in the late 1970s and expanded in the 1980s, through the eyes and legal maneuverings of Ronan O'Neill. Overlaying these courtroom and backroom machinations are the relationships of Ronan and the many women with whom he interacts, as well as all of those who came to trust in him.

Written on a palette of not just California, but the United States, and at times parts of Europe, this second work of this author's historical fiction brings the reader along to visit the places and issues that helped to shape modern Mass Tort litigation as we have come to know it today.

A great deal of what is written on these pages is as applicable today as it was decades ago, when these events occurred.

Patrick "Pat" Hagan was born and raised on the East Coast, and attended college at St. Joseph's (Philadelphia) and worked in data processing between D.C. and New York City, including 3 years at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, D.C. At age 28, along with his wife, he moved west, relocating in Marin County, California, went to law school at UCSF Hastings, then practiced as a civil litigation, primarily defense, attorney in Oakland, then San Francisco, for 44 years.In addition to the California Supreme Court, Pat was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, four federal circuits and many other federal and state courts. He has been invited to join numerous honorary legal organizations, published more than a dozen learned legal articles and received copious awards, including 2019 recognition as the leading contributor to the expansion of the International Network of Boutique Law Firms. He was active in the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel for 31 years ceasing his law practice at the end of 2019.