TLMT

Joe Zirkman

General Counsel – Scouting America

Mr. Zirkman is BSA’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel. He has over 30 years of experience as a public and private company general counsel, having served as Vice President and General Counsel of Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc., as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Fiesta Restaurant Group, and as General Counsel at DIRTT Environmental Solutions LTD. Career highlights include guiding Carrols through its initial public offering and its subsequent spin-off of Fiesta Restaurant Group, a listing of DIRTT Environmental Solutions on the NSADAQ, an array of significant M&A transactions, and quarterbacking the successful defense of a high-profile proxy contest.

As Scouting America's general counsel, he has helped guide them through what the Wall Street Journal has described as the largest and most complex bankruptcy filing in US history. Before his in-house roles, Mr. Zirkman was a senior corporate associate in the New York City law firm Baer Marks & Upham.

Mr. Zirkman is a respected figure in the legal and business community, frequently sharing his expertise at forums. His topics of discussion include corporate governance, activism defense, M&A, SEC reporting and compliance, franchising, complex litigation strategy & management, and employment law. A graduate of Brooklyn Law School and holder of a B.S. degree in Psychology from Duke University, Mr. Zirkman is admitted to practice in New York and Texas.

Diandra “Fu” Debrosse

Partner with Dicello Levitt

Diandra “Fu” Debrosse is Managing Partner of DiCello Levitt’s Birmingham office and Co-Chair of the firm’s Mass Tort division. Fu is also a member of the firm’s Public Client, Environmental, Personal Injury, Civil Rights, and Trial practice groups. Widely known for her relentless client advocacy, Fu represents individuals and public entities injured by wrongful conduct, whether from defective medical devices or drugs, environmental contamination, corporate misconduct, or civil rights abuse. Nationally recognized as a powerhouse in mass torts, class actions, products liability, discrimination, and sexual assault claims, Fu has secured almost a billion dollars in client damages.

Fu holds prominent leadership positions for several multidistrict litigations, including Co-Lead Counsel for In re: Abbott Laboratories, et al., Preterm Infant Nutrition Products Liability Litigation; Co-Lead Counsel for In re: Hair Relaxer Marketing Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation; Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for In re: Paraquat Products Liability Litigation; Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/ Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation; and Plaintiffs’ Committee for In re Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAS) Products Liability Litigation. She also represents municipalities in both In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation and In re: McKinsey & Company Inc., National Prescription Opiate Consultant Litigation, and is counsel in In re: Proton Pump Inhibitor Litigation. Fu formerly held a seat on the In re: Smith & Nephew Birmingham Hip Resurfacing Hip Implant Liability Litigation Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee and the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for In re: Higher One Account Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, and has represented plaintiffs in many other MDLs. Fu also leads many systematic civil rights and sexual assault cases and represents states and municipalities in litigation.

In addition to other significant representations, she currently represents the City of Baltimore in relation to the devastating collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

In 2022, 2023 and 2024, Lawdragon recognized Fu as one of the 500 Leading Consumer Lawyers. In 2024 Lawdragon recognized Fu as one of the 500 Leading Global Plaintiff Lawyers. Chambers USA 2022 and 2023e ranked the firm’s Litigation: Mainly Plaintiffs team among Chambers USA 2022 and 2023 ranked the firm’s Litigation: Mainly Plaintiffs team among the top five in Alabama. The Birmingham Business Journal honored Fu with a Best of the Bar Award and Who’s Who in the Law recognitions in 2021 and 2022. In 2024, Forbes recognized Fu as one of America’s Top 200 Lawyers in their inaugural list.

Fu is a founding member of Shades of Mass, an organization dedicated to encouraging the appointment of black and brown attorneys in national mass tort actions. She is a board member of Public Justice and the Southern Trial Lawyers Association. Fu previously served as a hearing officer for the Alabama State Bar, held leadership roles in the American Association for Justice and the Alabama Access to Justice Commission, and acted as Alabama State Bar vice president and commissioner.

Fu is fluent in French and Haitian Creole and functional in Spanish. Her steadfast pursuit of justice is motivated in large part by her experience as a mother of two young girls.

John Hooper

Partner with King & Spalding LLP

John Hooper defends multinational companies in complex litigations, including a variety of commercial, product liability, financial services, false and misleading advertising and other consumer class actions where he has served as national, regional and/or strategic counsel. He provides clients with all-inclusive strategic litigation management and counseling services to mitigate the reputational and financial risk associated with high exposure, viral and bet-the-company litigations.

John advises companies to create and execute litigation and strategic resolution options in some of the largest, most complex class actions, commercial litigations and mass torts in federal and state courts. Hooper's experience ranges from trials and arbitrations to mediations and settlements, and all stages of a case, from prelitigation to appeal. John's clients include some of the world's largest manufacturers of automobiles, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, building materials, tires, sporting goods and apparel as well as retailers, railroads, hedge funds, life insurance companies, private equity firms, banks and other financial services institutions.

Chambers noted that John Hooper is “24/7 responsive and very strategic” and “he thinks of end-game solutions in a way that other attorneys do not.” The Legal 500 United States has noted that, "John Hooper in New York is 'strongly recommended to anyone seeking a practical approach to managing complex litigation matters, particularly those with national scope.” John has just been recognized by the National Law Journal as one of its “50 Litigation Trailblazers” for his practice of advising multi-national clients on creating and implementing end game strategies in "Viral Litigations". The American Lawyer has recognized his skills in the management and resolution of "bet the company" litigation and as a "great master strategist." He has been nominated to the BTI "Client Service All-Star Team" for multiple years. He is also recognized in the Association of Corporate Counsel's 2014 Value Champion award. The New York Law Journal stated that John Hooper “has worked on some of the most high-profile litigation matters in the last decade.”

He has also been appointed by the federal and state courts as a Special Master, Special Settlement Master and Special Arbitration Master. He has also been appointed as the Lead Defense Settlement Liaison Counsel in MDL and other federal and state class and mass actions. He is a member of the Academy of Court Appointed Special Masters. John is a frequent speaker in the United States and Canada on topics related to class and mass actions.

Hon. Vince Chhabria

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California

Vince Chhabria is a federal district judge in the Northern District of California, based in San Francisco. He was nominated by Barack Obama in July 2013 and confirmed by the Senate in March 2014.

Before taking the bench, Judge Chhabria was Chief of Appellate Litigation for the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, as well as a deputy on the Government Litigation Team for that office. He successfully defended a challenge to San Francisco’s universal health care program, and was part of the legal team that successfully challenged California’s ban on same-sex marriage. He also defended the City in: a First Amendment challenge to an ordinance requiring cell phone retailers to warn customers about possible health risks from rf energy exposure from cell phones; an Establishment Clause challenge to a resolution passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors criticizing Vatican statements and policies regarding adoption by same-sex couples; separate First Amendment and Equal Protection challenges to an ordinance banning tobacco sales in drug stores; a state law preemption challenge to an ordinance requiring landlords to pay relocation assistance to evicted tenants; and a Due Process challenge to the City's red light camera program. Chhabria was also a member of the City Attorney’s Affirmative Litigation Task Force. In that capacity he served as lead counsel in several matters involving the failure of businesses to pay employees the minimum wages and benefits required by San Francisco law. Prior to joining the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, Chhabria worked in the San Francisco office of Covington & Burling, where he focused primarily on criminal defense litigation.

Chhabria served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer during the 2001-2002 term. Before that, he clerked for James R. Browning on the Ninth Circuit and Charles Breyer on the Northern District of California.

Chhabria attended law school at Berkeley from 1995-1998. Before that, he spent three years working as a Legislative Assistant to Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey in Washington, D.C. He received his undergraduate degree in Politics at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1991.

On the bench, Judge Chhabria’s cases have included a challenge to the Trump Administration’s decision to cut Affordable Care Act subsidies, a challenge to the federal government’s detention of unaccompanied minors accused of gang affiliation, a challenge to the conditions of confinement at ICE detention facilities during the COVID pandemic, a case about whether Lyft Drivers are employees or independent contractors, an MDL involving allegations that Monsanto’s Roundup causes cancer, and an MDL arising from Cambridge Analytica’s acquisition of Facebook user data.

Paul Geller

Managing Partner with Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP

Paul Geller, managing partner of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP’s Boca Raton, Florida office, is a founding partner of the Firm, a member of its Executive Committee, and head of the Firm’s Consumer Practice Group. Paul’s 30 years of litigation experience is broad, and he has handled cases in each of the Firm’s practice areas. Notably, before devoting his practice to the representation of consumers and investors, he defended companies in high-stakes class action and multi-district litigation, providing him with an invaluable perspective. Paul has tried bench and jury trials on both the plaintiffs’ and defendants’ sides and has argued before numerous state, federal, and appellate courts throughout the country.

Paul was recently selected to serve in a leadership position on behalf of governmental entities and other plaintiffs in the sprawling litigation concerning the nationwide prescription opioid epidemic. In reporting on the selection of the lawyers to lead the case, The National Law Journal reported that “[t]he team reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ in mass torts.” Paul was also a critical member of the team that negotiated over $50 billion in settlements against certain opioid distributors, manufacturers and dispensers. Prior to the opioid litigation, Paul was a member of the leadership team representing consumers in the massive Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” emissions case. The San Francisco legal newspaper The Recorder labeled the group that was appointed in that case, which settled for more than $17 billion, a “class action dream team.” Paul was recently one of the Lead Counsel in In re EpiPen (Epinephrine Injection, USP) Mktg., Sales Pracs. & Antitrust Litig., a nationwide class action that alleged that pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Mylan N.V. engaged in anti-competitive and unfair business conduct in its sale and marketing of the EpiPen auto-injector device. The case recently settled for $609 million.

Some of Paul’s other recent noteworthy successes include the then largest privacy class action settlement in history – a $650 million all cash recovery in In re Facebook Biometric Info. Privacy Litig., concerning the use of biometric identifiers through Facebook’s “tag” feature. In addition to the monetary recovery, Facebook disabled the tag feature altogether, deleting user facial profiles and discontinuing the use of facial recognition software.

Paul serves on the Trial Lawyers of Mass Torts Advisory Board and was formerly on the Advisory Board of Emory University School of Law and the separate Board of The Institute for Complex Litigation and Mass Claims at Emory. He is a member of the Trial Law Institute and the Diversity Law Institute of the Litigation Counsel of America. Paul is also a member of the Supreme Court Historical Society. Additionally, he served for many years as a member of the Board of Advisors for The Center on Civil Justice at New York University School of Law. In these roles and others, Paul frequently lectures on class action and MDL issues at judicial seminars, bar conferences, and academic programs. Paul is also a recurring member of the faculty of the Mass Torts MDL Certificate Program at the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke University School of Law, as well as the Baylor MDL Judicial Summit.

Paul is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell (the highest rating available), twice named one of the nation’s top “40 Under 40” by The National Law Journal, and named one of “Florida’s Top Lawyers” by Law & Politics and South Florida Business Journal. He has also been named a Legend, a Leading Lawyer in America, a Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer, and a 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyer by Lawdragon; a Leading Lawyer by Chambers USA; a Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Trailblazer by The National Law Journal; one of Florida’s “Legal Elite” by Florida Trend magazine; and one of “Florida’s Most Effective Lawyers” by American Law Media’s Daily Business Review. Additionally, Best Lawyers® named Paul a Best Lawyer in America and a Florida Best Lawyer in the area of “Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs,” and he was additionally chosen as Lawyer of the Year in that same category. Super Lawyers Magazine has also named Paul a Florida Super Lawyer for 16 consecutive years.

Paul earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Florida, where he was a member of the University Honors Program. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Emory University School of Law, with Highest Distinction, where he was an editor of the Emory Law Journal, a member of the Order of the Coif Legal Honor Society, and awarded multiple American Jurisprudence Book Awards for earning the highest grade in class.

Hassan Zavareei

Partner with Tycko & Zavareei LLP

Mr. Zavareei has devoted the last two decades to recovering hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of consumers and workers. He has served in leadership roles in dozens of class action cases and has been appointed Class Counsel on behalf of numerous litigation and settlement classes. An accomplished and experienced attorney, Mr. Zavareei has litigated in state and federal courts across the nation in a wide range of practice areas; tried several cases to verdict; and successfully argued numerous appeals, including in the D.C. Circuit, the Fourth Circuit, and the Fifth Circuit.

After graduating from UC Berkeley School of Law, Mr. Zavareei joined the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. There, he managed the defense of a nationwide class action brought against a major insurance carrier, along with other complex civil matters. In 2002, Mr. Zavareei founded Tycko & Zavareei LLP with his partner Jonathan Tycko.

Mr. Zavareei has served as lead counsel or co-counsel in dozens of class actions involving deceptive business practices, defective products, and/or privacy. He has been appointed to leadership roles in multiple cases. As Lead Counsel in an MDL against a financial services company that provided predatory debit cards to college students, Mr. Zavareei spearheaded a fifteen-million-dollar recovery for class members. He is currently serving as Co-Lead Counsel in consolidated proceedings against Fifth Third Bank, and on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in MDL litigation against TD Bank. As Co-Lead Counsel in Farrell v. Bank of America, a case challenging Bank of America’s punitive overdraft fees, Mr. Zavareei secured a class settlement valued at $66.6 million in cash and debt relief, together with injunctive relief forcing the bank to change a practice that will save millions of low-income consumers approximately $1.2 billion in overdraft fees. In his order granting final approval, Judge Lorenz of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California described the outcome as a “remarkable” accomplishment achieved through “tenacity and great skill.”

In March 2023, Mr. Zavareei argued before the Supreme Court of the United States in Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski, asserting that the Federal Arbitration Act does not require stays of district court litigation when a defendant appeals the denial of its motion to compel arbitration.

Steven Zalesin

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Steve Zalesin is a nationally renowned trial lawyer with extensive experience in false advertising, intellectual property and complex commercial matters. He has successfully tried cases and argued appeals in numerous courts throughout the United States.

For more than 30 years, Mr. Zalesin has represented the nation’s leading consumer products companies in a series of landmark cases that have shaped the laws of false advertising, while helping to preserve and grow the markets for our clients’ products. In the past year he has won dismissal of several high-profile “greenwashing” cases, in which our clients were accused of misrepresenting the environmental impact of their operations. In addition, he has successfully defended multiple clients in putative class actions that alleged that their products contained dangerous contaminants. Mr. Zalesin is currently defending major beverage, consumer healthcare, household goods, and confectionary companies in litigation over their product labeling and advertising.

In 2016, Mr. Zalesin secured a federal jury verdict for the world’s leading beverage company in a closely-watched dispute over juice labeling. He initially obtained summary judgment dismissing the claims against our client, and successfully defended that ruling before the Ninth Circuit. The U.S. Supreme Court then vacated the Ninth Circuit’s decision and remanded the case for trial. The Los Angeles jury rejected the competitor’s claims in full, returning a verdict in our client’s favor after a six-day trial and less than a day of deliberation. As a result, Mr. Zalesin was named “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer (March 24, 2016). In 2020, he obtained a noteworthy dismissal of a class action complaint that targeted a leading online petitioning platform and its efforts to promote racial justice following the murder of George Floyd.

The National Law Journal recently named Mr. Zalesin to its 2023 list of “Media & Entertainment Law Trailblazers.” He is also listed in Chambers USA as a leading practitioner in the area of Advertising: Litigation, where he is described as “absolutely terrific.” Clients note, he “is one of the top advertising litigators in the country. He is a very good writer and a very effective oral advocate who is excellent in court. He’s an all-round top lawyer.” Clients praised his “good, calm demeanor as an advocate in the courtroom.”

Mr. Zalesin is listed as “Litigation Star” in Benchmark: America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys. He has been named as a “Client Service All-Star” by The BTI Consulting Group for the past several years. This award recognizes attorneys who “stand above all the others in delivering the absolute best in client service."

Rosemary Pinto

Attorney Owner, Feldman & Pinto Law Offices

With more than two decades of practicing personal injury law, Rosemary Pinto has earned an impressive record of courtroom victories, most of which were in cases that other lawyers had rejected as unwinnable. Even in law school, Ms. Pinto stood out among her peers as one of the preeminent litigators. She won the Villanova Law School Theodore F. Riemel Moot Court Competition, in which law students presented a series of arguments before trial and appellate judges.

As a trial lawyer representing injured victims, she has achieved some of the largest verdicts in Philadelphia against corporations and medical treaters in cases that were against seemingly insurmountable odds. Ms. Pinto has an extensive background litigating mass tort actions. In the past, she represented asbestos manufacturers and insurance companies in complex matters. Currently, she confines her practice to the representation of victims, including victims of defective drugs and products that have been irresponsibly marketed to the public. Ms. Pinto also has the added advantage in the courtroom of having practiced insurance defense law early in her career. With this background, Ms. Pinto is able to predict what the defense will do in nearly every case.

Ms. Pinto has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a “Top Rated Products Liability Attorney in Philadelphia, PA” since 2005, and has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America© since 2006. She is frequently asked to lecture to other lawyers in the areas of medical malpractice, product liability and improvement of trial skills by the Philadelphia Bar Institute, the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association and the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association. Ms. Pinto has taught at the Beasley School of Law in the Trial Advocacy Program. She also participated in the Philadelphia Bar Association’s program, teaching civics to high school students. She has appeared on television and radio in relation to cases litigated, her pro bono work and her work in the legal community.

Ms. Pinto credits her success in the courtroom to her background. Her father was one of the preeminent trial lawyers in the country and thus she developed a love of the law at an early age. In addition, as a former high school history teacher, Ms. Pinto believes that courtroom trials are very similar to teaching, because in both situations you are exposing a captive audience (that might prefer to be somewhere else) to a new set of facts or evidence, and you need to present the information in a way that is interesting so that the audience becomes involved in the process. Ms. Pinto is a firm believer in our justice system and the ability of a jury of one’s peers to weigh the evidence and come up with a fair decision. She says that it is the collective wisdom of a jury that gives it the ability to see through false statements and red herrings to achieve a just result. Ms. Pinto takes an active role in politics by supporting both political candidates and judicial candidates that support the Constitution of the United States and our justice system in the hopes of ensuring access to justice for all, not just the wealthy corporations and insurance companies. Giving back to the community is important to Ms. Pinto as an attorney, so she continually represents indigent clients, donates to and helps raise money for charitable causes and holds receptions for candidates seeking public office who support the rights of all of our citizens. Ms. Pinto has been on the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, the Philadelphia Bar Association, and the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers. She has also served on the Board of Delegates to the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Norman E. Siegel

Partner with Stueve Siegel Hanson

Norman E. Siegel litigates high-stakes cases for companies and individuals. He has earned a reputation locally and nationally for his ability to strategize, negotiate and deliver results. He was recently named by Best Lawyers as a 2020 “Lawyer of the Year” and by Law360 as a “Titan of the Plaintiff’s Bar” for his work in class action litigation following big wins against some of the largest corporations in America.

Norm has successfully tried to verdict a wide range of cases, obtaining several multimillion- dollar jury verdicts, and has obtained billions in settlements for his clients.

Norm concentrates his practice in three principal areas:

Business Litigation. Norm successfully deploys the firm’s contingency fee business litigation model in bet-the-company and “David vs. Goliath” matters involving intellectual property, breach of contract, fraud, misrepresentation and more. In one such matter, he prosecuted a groundbreaking antitrust case on behalf of Heartland Surgical Specialty Hospital, which claimed the region’s dominant hospital systems conspired to prevent it from obtaining in-network provider contracts. After Norm secured a key admission from a defense witness, Heartland settled with all defendants.

Data Breach and Privacy. Named one of Law360's “MVPs of the Year” for Cybersecurity and Privacy, Norm has served as lead counsel in several of the largest data breach cases litigated to date, including the sprawling multidistrict litigation alleging Equifax compromised the personal information of more than 148 million Americans in a 2017 data breach. More than 250 cases were filed against Equifax, and Norm was selected lead counsel over scores of other applicants. A leader in this burgeoning field of law, Norm has prosecuted data breach claims against Capital One, Quest Diagnostics, Target Corp., The Home Depot Inc., Marriott, the Office of Personnel Management, and the National Board of Examiners in Optometry, and he is the co-founder of the American Association for Justice’s data breach and privacy group.

Class Actions. Norm’s recent work includes multimillion-dollar jury verdicts and settlements on behalf of consumers who were overcharged for life insurance policies. In Vogt v. State Farm Insurance Co., Norm delivered the closing argument to the jury that returned a $34 million verdict for Missouri owners of State Farm life insurance. Norm also served as lead counsel in Larson v. John Hancock Life Insurance Co., a nationwide class action that ultimately settled for $59.75 million just before trial. For his work in the field, Best Lawyers recently named Norm “Lawyer of the Year” for class action litigation.

Norm began his career as an Assistant Attorney General at the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, where he gained a broad range of experience in complex litigation. He was later named partner at the firm now known as Dentons before starting Stueve Siegel Hanson in 2001. Norm was recognized as a 2020 Missouri Lawyers Awards Influential Lawyer by Missouri Lawyers Weekly; has been named among the “500 Leading Plaintiffs’ Lawyers in America” by Lawdragon; and is listed among Best Lawyers in America and Kansas City Business Journal’s “Best of the Bar.” He has been honored several times as a Top 100 Missouri/Kansas “Super Lawyer” and a Benchmark Plaintiffs “Local Litigation Star.”

Norm has served on the boards of the Healthcare Foundation of Greater Kansas City, the Kansas City Bar Foundation and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Outside the office, he enjoys tennis, collecting art, and spending time with his family and his dog, a Whoodle named Lucky.

Eric Gibbs

Partner with Gibbs Law Group

Eric Gibbs prosecutes consumer protection, antitrust, whistleblower, financial fraud and mass tort matters. He has been appointed to leadership positions in dozens of contested, high profile class actions and coordinated proceedings, and currently serves in leadership positions in In re Equifax, Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, In re: Wells Fargo Auto Insurance Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, In re Risperdal and Invega Product Liability Cases, In re Banner Health Data Breach Litigation. Eric has recovered nearly a billion dollars for the clients and classes he represents, and has negotiated groundbreaking settlements that resulted in meaningful reforms to business practices, and have favorably impacted plaintiffs’ legal rights.

Reputation and Recognition by the Courts

In over twenty years of practice, Eric has developed a distinguished reputation with his peers and the judiciary for his ability to work efficiently and cooperatively with co-counsel, and professionally with opposing counsel in class action litigation.

[Mr. Gibbs] efficiently managed the requests from well over 20 different law firms and effectively represented the interests of Non-Settling Plaintiffs throughout this litigation. Judge Wu, In re Hyundai & Kia Fuel Economy Litigation (C.D. Cal)

The attorneys who handled the case were particularly skilled by virtue of their ability and experience.

Judge Debevoise, In re: Mercedes-Benz Teleaid Contract Litigation (D.N.J.)

They are experienced and knowledgeable counsel and have significant breadth of experience in terms of consumer class actions.

Judge Sabraw, Mitchell v. American Fair Credit Association (Alameda County Superior Court)

Representation was professional and competent; in the Court’s opinion, counsel obtained an excellent result for the class.

Judge Fogel, Sugarman v. Ducati North America (N.D. Cal)

Achievements and Leadership

Eric has been widely recognized for his professional excellence and achievements, and has been selected by numerous publications as a leading lawyer in the field of Class and Mass Actions.

In 2019, Law360 recognized Eric among its “Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar,” one of only 10 attorneys nationwide to receive the award, honoring “influential plaintiffs lawyers who had significant wins in 2018.” He also received the 2019 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award for his work in the Anthem Data Breach Litigation. The Daily Journal named Eric to its prestigious list of “Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California” for 2019 and 2016, and Law360 recognized Eric as a “2016 Consumer Protection MVP,” the only plaintiff-side lawyer in the country selected in that category. In 2018, Law360 named Eric a “Cybersecurity & Privacy MVP,” one of only five attorneys who received the honor nationwide. Consumer Attorneys of California selected Eric and co-counsel as finalists for the Consumer Attorney of the Year award for their work in achieving $100 million settlement in the Chase “Check Loan” Litigation.

His cases have been chronicled in major legal and news publications including NBC News, CNN, the National Law Journal, The New York Times, Auto Week, Market Watch, and Bloomberg News.

Eric holds a variety of leadership positions in professional associations dedicated to consumer advocacy, and he is frequently called upon to present on developing trends in the law at conferences throughout the country. Eric heads our California whistleblower attorney practice group.

Litigation Highlights

In re Anthem, Inc. Data Breach Privacy Litigation

Served as a court-appointed member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee representing the interests of plaintiffs and putative class members following a massive data breach of approximately 80 million personal records. The lawsuit settled in August 2018 for $115 million, the largest data breach settlement in history.

In re Chase Bank U.S.A., N.A. “Check Loan” Contract Litigation

Multidistrict litigation that alleged Chase Bank wronged consumers by offering long-term fixed-rate loans, only to later more-than-double the required loan payments. Eric led negotiations in the case, which resulted in a $100 million settlement with Chase eight weeks prior to trial.

In re Adobe Systems Inc. Privacy Litigation

As court-appointed lead counsel, Eric and his team reversed a long line of decisions adverse to consumers whose personal information was stolen in data breaches. Judge Koh issued a 41 page decision in plaintiffs’ favor and Eric negotiated a comprehensive reform of Adobe’s data security practices. The court’s landmark decision on Article III standing in this case marked a sea change and has been cited favorably in over twenty cases in the year since it was issued.

Skold v. Intel Corp.

After more than a decade of litigation, Eric as lead counsel achieved a nationwide class action settlement on behalf of approximately 5 million consumers of Intel Pentium 4 processors. The lawsuit changed Intel’s benchmarking practices and Intel agreed to a cash settlement for the class, along with $4 million in charitable donations.

Parkinson v. Hyundai Motor America

Eric served as class counsel in this lawsuit alleging that the flywheel and clutch system in certain Hyundai vehicles was defective. After achieving nationwide class certification, Hyundai agreed to a settlement that provided for 50-100% reimbursements to class members for their repairs and full reimbursement for rental vehicle expenses.

De La Cruz v. Masco Retail Cabinet Group

Eric served as lead attorney litigating the collective claims of dozens of misclassified account representatives for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Successfully certified a class of current and former Masco account representatives and personally arbitrated the case to judgment obtaining full recovery for the class.

In re Providian Credit Card Cases

Eric played a prominent role in this nationwide class action suit brought on behalf of Providian credit card holders alleging that Providian engaged in unlawful and fraudulent business practices in connection with the marketing and fee assessments for its credit cards. The Honorable Stuart Pollack approved a $105 million settlement, plus injunctive relief—one of the largest class action recoveries in the United States arising out of consumer credit card litigation.

H. Minor Pipes, III

Founding Member of Pipes | Miles | Beckman

H. Minor Pipes, III is a founding member of the firm Pipes Miles Beckman, LLC. He provides counsel in insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, construction law, general litigation, corporate litigation, and class actions. Since being admitted to the Bar, Minor has tried numerous cases to decision, in both state and federal courts. Minor was the lead negotiator for the defendants in the Global Settlement of a national class action involving eight hundred settling defendants – the matter of In re: Chinese Manufactured Drywall Products Liability Litigation (E.D. La. MDL No. 2047). Minor was also lead counsel for Bob Dean in various class actions related to the Hurricane Ida evacuations of Mr. Dean’s nursing homes. These matters were settled in a class settlement that required a contested fairness hearing.

Minor is a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers, Member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, Past President of the Louisiana Bar Foundation, Past President of the Louisiana State Bar Association, past Treasurer of the Louisiana State Bar Association and past member of the Louisiana State Bar Association's Nominating Committee. Minor was selected as a member of the inaugural class of Leadership LSBA. Minor currently serves as Co-Chair of the Louisiana State Bar Association Summer School Committee. His community involvement includes working with Hogs for the Cause through Team Fleur de Que and numerous non-profits in the area.

PRACTICE AREAS

Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith
Commercial Litigation
Construction Litigation
Class Actions and Complex Litigation

EDUCATION

Louisiana State University School of Law, J.D., 1996
Pennsylvania State University, B.A., 1991
Vandebilt Catholic, 1986

FAMILY

Minor is married to Jill McKay and has three children, Henry, Charlie, and George.

EXPERIENCE

Pipes Miles Beckman, LLC
Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, L.L.C.
Stone Pigman Walther Wittman, L.L.C.

HONORS & ACHIEVEMENTS

International Society of Barristers, Fellow
International Academy of Trial Lawyers
Best Lawyers
Benchmark Litigation, Litigation Star
Louisiana Super Lawyers, Top 50 in the State of Louisiana
New Orleans CityBusiness Leadership in Law, 2012
New Orleans Magazine, Top Lawyers
President's Award, Louisiana State Bar Association
AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated in Martindale-Hubbell
Order of the Coif
Louisiana Law Review, Member

Jay Edelson

Founder and CEO of Edelson PC

Jay Edelson is the founder and CEO of Edelson PC. He is considered one of the nation’s leading plaintiff’s lawyers, with his firm having helped secure over $45 billion in settlements and verdicts on behalf of classes, individuals, and governmental entities. Law360 recognized Jay as a “Titan of the Plaintiff’s Bar” in 2014, 2021, and 2023.

Jay has been recognized as one of “America’s top trial lawyers” in the mass action arena, with his firm serving as lead trial counsel in the Portland Wildfire Litigation, securing class-wide liability and punitive damage findings and, according to the defendant, paving the way for as much as $25 billion dollars to the class.

He has been called “probably the best known, and most innovative, consumer privacy lawyer on the planet,” with he and his firm holding records for the largest trial verdict in a consumer privacy case ($925m), the largest single-state consumer privacy settlement ($650m) and the largest TCPA class settlement ($76m).

Jay has been appointed to represent state and local regulators on some of the largest issues of the day, ranging from opioids suits against pharmaceutical companies, to environmental actions against polluters, to breaches of trust against energy companies and for-profit hospitals, to privacy suits against Google, Facebook, and others.

Other commentators have similarly singled out Jay’s willingness to tackle problems other lawyers shy away from and his creativity in finding winning strategies that were not readily apparent. He successfully litigated cases of first impression against the national banks in the wake of the housing collapse, leading to the reinstatement of over $3 billion in home credit lines. Through his privacy cases, he has “fostered a reputation for his uncanny ability to come up with creative standing and damages arguments” leading to “momentum-shifting rulings in challenges to the data security and information-gathering practices of companies.”

The American Bar Association recognized Jay as one of the “most creative minds in the legal industry.” Law360 noted that he has “taken on some of the biggest companies and law firms in the world and has had success where others have not.” Yet another put it even more simply, explaining “when it comes to legal strategy and execution, Jay is simply one of the best in the country.”

Jay has received special recognition for his success in taking on Silicon Valley. The national press has dubbed Jay and his firm the “most feared” litigators in Silicon Valley and, according to the New York Times, tech’s “babyfaced … boogeyman.” Chicago Lawyer Magazine dubbed Jay “Public Enemy No. 1 in Silicon Valley.” Fortune Magazine has also singled out Jay’s work in the privacy space. In the emerging area of privacy law, the international press has called Jay one of the world’s “profiliertesten (most prominent)” privacy class action attorneys. The National Law Journal has similarly recognized Jay as a “Cybersecurity Trailblazer” — one of only two plaintiff’s attorneys to win this recognition. LawDragon named him one of the top Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in the country for his work against Silicon Valley companies.

Jay is a frequent speaker and writer on class, mass, and governmental action issues, the practice of law more generally, and training and law firm management. In recognition of the fact that his firm runs like a start-up that “just happens to be a law firm,” Jay was recently named to “Chicago’s Top Ten Startup Founders over 40” by Tech.co and was recognized by The Unicorn in the Room’s “The 45 Over 45: Entrepreneurs Over Age 45 Who Are Disrupting the Way We Do Business.” In 2022, Jay was named one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business.”

Jay has taught privacy litigation at UC Berkeley School of Law and class actions and negotiations at Chicago-Kent College of Law and has guest lectured at law schools throughout the country, including Harvard Law School, the University of Chicago Law School, Northwestern Law, Georgetown Law, and many others. He has written a blog for Thomson Reuters, called Pardon the Disruption, where he focused on ideas necessary to reform and reinvent the legal industry and has contributed opinion pieces to TechCrunch, Quartz, the Chicago Tribune, Law360, and others.

Jay is also the leading voice of the “reform wing” of the Plaintiff’s Bar, bringing suits, pushing for legislation, and speaking out about critical issues needed to reform plaintiff’s litigation.

Jay is also the host of the Non-Compliant podcast and is the head of Edelson Creative, which recently put out the music video “We don’t talk about claims rates (A “Bruno” parody).

Alyson Bustamante Jones

Attorney with Butler Snow

OVERVIEW

Alyson serves as Practice Group Leader for our Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare Group. Frequently called upon to assemble teams and manage both coordinated proceedings and individual plaintiff cases, Alyson represents pharmaceutical and medical device companies in product liability litigation across the country. She has “considerable MDL experience,” “continues to impress as the result of her aptitude at handling coordinated proceedings and individual plaintiff cases,” and is “attuned to understanding the underlying business implications.” The Legal 500 US Editorial (2021, 2022 and 2023). She is well-versed in MDL procedures, having represented major companies in high-profile MDL proceedings. Her recent experience includes serving as lead counsel successfully obtaining summary judgment in favor of a medical device manufacturer in the Middle District of Florida and serving as co-lead MDL counsel for a major pharmaceutical company in litigation consolidated in the Eastern District of New York. She has also served as MDL defense liaison counsel for another major pharmaceutical company in litigation consolidated in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and lead counsel for national litigation in multiple jurisdictions across the country for a medical device company.

PRACTICE AREAS

INDUSTRY

Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare

ABOUT

Adept at coordinating national and local teams of attorneys and non-attorney partners in order to successfully defend against mass torts, Alyson understands the big picture and business implications for her clients, in part due to a three year secundment with a major pharmaceutical company. Her experience involves overseeing and managing all aspects of mass tort litigation including MDL representation, management of bellwether selection, oversight of local counsel, oversight of all pleadings, defensive discovery, and expert development. In addition to her mass tort management capabilities, she has served on numerous trial teams, including Jackson v. McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Case No. ATL-L-880-13, Superior Court of New Jersey, Atlantic County, named one of CVN’s Top 2015 Defense Verdicts. Alyson also serves as discovery counsel in major pieces of pharmaceutical litigation.

In addition to being recognized by The Legal 500 US as Next Generation Partner, Alyson has been selected by Law360 as a Rising Star (2019), Lawdragon 500 (Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Litigation and Class Action Litigation), Mid-South Super Lawyers, Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Stars, and Mississippi Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 (2014). In 2017, she was selected to PORTICO 10, a group of promising attorneys who have made significant accomplishments in their career. She is a member of the Mississippi Bar Leadership Class (2014) and a graduate of the prestigious International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Trial Academy.

Alyson obtained her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Tennessee and her B.A., cum laude, from the University of Mississippi. She is admitted to practice in Mississippi and Tennessee.

EXPERIENCE

MDL and Mass Tort Management

Coolsculpting® Litigation, (National Counsel), including Cates v. Zeltiq Aesthetics, Inc., Case No. 6:19-cv-1670-PGB-LRH, U.S.D.C. (M.D. Fla.) in which we obtained summary judgment, affirmed by the 11th Circuit, based on adequate labeling. “11th Circ. Freezes CoolSculpting User’s Product Liability Suit,” Law360, July 24, 2023
In re: Propecia® (Finasteride) Product Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2331, E.D.N.Y. (Co-Lead Counsel).
In re: Propecia® Litigation, Case No. 623, Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division: Middlesex County (Co-Lead Counsel).
In re: Tylenol® (Acetaminophen) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2436, E.D. P.a. (Defense Liaison Counsel).

Trial Team Support

Jackson v. McNeil-PPC, Inc., and Johnson & Johnson, Inc., No. ATL-L-880-13, Superior Court of New Jersey, Atlantic County: Tried in September 2015 - defense verdict; obtained summary judgment dismissing punitive damages.
Sessner v. Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division, Atlantic County: Second New Jersey bellwether product liability case involving prescription drug Fosamax®; defense verdict, 2012.
Maley v. Merck Sharpe & Dohme Corp., No. 1:06-cv-04110-JFK, S.D.N.Y., 2010: Second bellwether MDL trial in the Fosamax® litigation.
Boles v. Merck & Co., Inc., No. 1:06-cv-09455-JFK, USDC SDNY, 2009: First bellwether MDL trial in the Fosamax® litigation.
Brierton Johnson v. Johnson & Johnson, et al., No. TC 018540 - Los Angeles Superior Court in Malibu, 2008: California trial involving first product liability case in connection with Children’s Motrin® and Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
Kozic v. Merck & Co., Inc., No. 03-9248, Hillsborough County Circuit Court, Florida, 2007 (Vioxx® Litigation).
Cona v. Merck & Co., Inc., No. ATL-L-3553-05-MT -- Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division: Atlantic County, New Jersey, 2006 (Vioxx® Litigation).
McDarby v. Merck & Co., Inc., No. ATL-L-1296- 05-MT-- Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division: Atlantic County, New Jersey, 2006 (Vioxx® Litigation).
Albright v. Merck & Co., Inc., No. CV-05-02316 -- Jefferson County Circuit Court, Alabama, 2006 (Vioxx® Litigation).
Humeston v. Merck & Co., Inc., No. ATL-L-2272-03-MT -- Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division: Atlantic County, New Jersey, 2005 (Vioxx® Litigation).

Additional Experience

Client Secundment, January 2010 – 2013
Hunter v. Covin, et al., Forrest County – Second chair in three-day jury trial.

DISTINCTIONS

The Legal 500 U.S.
- Next Generation Partner, 2018-2023
Lawdragon, 500 Leading Lawyers in America, Pharmaceutical & Medical Device, Class Action
- 2022, 2024

BAR ADMISSIONS

Mississippi, 2004
Tennessee, 2004
U.S. District Courts
- Mississippi: Northern, Southern
- Tennessee: Eastern, Middle, Western

EDUCATION

University of Tennessee, J.D., cum laude, 2004
University of Mississippi, B.A., English and Spanish, cum laude, 2001

ASSOCIATIONS

Emory University Institute for Complex Litigation and Mass Claims
American Bar Association
Defense Research Institute (DRI)
International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
Capital Area Bar Association
Hispanic National Bar Association
Mississippi Bar Association
Tennessee Bar Association

PAPERS, PRESENTATIONS & PUBLICATIONS

Speaker, "Steering Committee Appointment Process," Advanced Strategy Mass-Tort MDL Certificate Course, GW Certificate Course, February 24, 2022.
Speaker, Emory University Institute for Complex Litigation and Mass Claims Rising Stars Conference, Atlanta, GA, January 2018.
Co-Author, “Physician Depositions: Who Goes First?," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 10 No. 3 (2017).
Author, “Off-Label Promotion: Is It Free Speech?” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 7, No. 4, December 2014.
Author, "Document Preservation Notices and the Lists of Who Receive Them: Are They Discoverable?," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 5, No 4 (November 2012).
Author, "Update on Tort Reform Caps: Are They Constitutional?" Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 3 No. 3, 6-7 (August 2010).
Author, "Mississippi Tort Reform Faces Judicial Nullification Effort," Legal Opinion Letter, Washington Legal Foundation, February 12, 2010.
Co-Author, "To Catch A Thief," Defense Research Institute, Drug and Device Seminar.
Author, "Case Law: Sales Representatives, Diversity Jurisdiction and Fraudulent Joinder: Where do the Courts Stand," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 2 No. 3, 13 (July 2009).
Author, "Limiting Adverse Verdicts: Tort Reform in Mississippi," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 1 No. 4, 2-5 (October 2008).
Author, "Navigating Through the Serious Implications of an FDA Warning Letter," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 1 No. 2, 12-17 (April 2008).
Speaker, Mississippi Dental Society Annual Meeting.

CIVIC INVOLVEMENT

Friends of Children's Hospital, Board of Directors
Century Club Charities, Board of Directors

Brian Glasser

Partner with Bailey Glasser

Brian Glasser, a Rhodes scholar and Harvard law graduate has tried cases in 16 different states, including two mass actions and four class actions. He served as counsel to creditors in seeking dismissal of both the first LTL/J&J bankruptcy and the 3M/Aero earplug bankruptcy. He is currently counsel to a class of claimants suing J&J for abuse of process in bringing two bad faith bankruptcies.

You can find the decision on several of the cases mentioned below on the firm website at: baileyglasser.com/lawyers-brian-a-glasser

2024

Brian recently won a $5 million arbitral judgment by “proving to 100% certainty” that the data Mike Lindell claimed to possess showing votes were moved from Mr. Trump to Mr. Biden was not 2020 election data, at all.
Recognized by Forbes as one of the “Top 200 Lawyers in America” in its first-ever top lawyers list: “[t]hey all share reputations for integrity, records of excellence—and Forbes’ recognition as the best in the business.”

2023

Obtained, as part of the national trial team, a dismissal of the attempted bankruptcy of 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies. The fake bankruptcy was intended to dictate resolution to more than 260,000 veterans. 3M was offering $1 billion to settle the cases going in; they have now resolved for approximately $6 billion.
Obtained, as co-lead trial counsel, final dismissal of Johnson & Johnson’s first attempt to create a special purpose entity to bankrupt and manage its talc liabilities. We lost at the bankruptcy court, but were vindicated on appeal. Mr. Glasser's opening argument slides at the trial court level can be viewed as referenced above.
Obtained, as lead counsel, judgment for $19.96 million in a lease dispute over mining royalties.

2022

Served as co-trial counsel in a Roundup case that settled for a confidential sum on the fourth day of trial.

2021

Obtained, as co-trial counsel, a verdict on behalf of Ramaco Resources Inc. of approximately $32.7 million against Chubb-related insurance companies for breach of contract in a denial of insurance coverage case.

2020

Tried two cases in Delaware concerning the interpretation of a shareholder rights agreement and a Limited Liability Company Agreement’s restrictions on transfer of units.
Obtained a confidential settlement on behalf of more than 120 residents, including many who were killed and injured, of an apartment building complex in Maryland that was destroyed by a natural gas explosion.

2019

In the DISH Network case discussed below, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the $61.34 million trial verdict.
Obtained, as co-trial counsel, an arbitration award of over $10 million for client S&N Communications, Inc. against Bechtel Infrastructure Corporation for breach of contract in the engineering and construction of a high-speed fiber optic network.

2018

Resolved damage suits for more than $800 million arising out of events of force majeure, alleged lease defaults, and for lost coal, against Hillsboro Energy LLC and Macoupin Energy LLC for approximately $190 million, paid over 15 years.

2017

Obtained, as co-trial counsel, a verdict on behalf of ERISA plan participants of approximately $29.7 million against Wilmington Trust for breach of fiduciary duty in the valuation and purchase of a defense contractor on behalf of an ESOP plan.
Obtained, as lead trial counsel, a verdict on behalf of a class of consumers of approximately $20.5 million against DISH Network, Inc., for over 51,000 violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act for calling numbers protected by the National Do Not Call registry. Verdict Sheet The Court then increased the jury award up to $61.34 million because we proved willfulness.

2016

In the Yellowstone Mountain Club case discussed below, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected all defendant Tim Blixseth’s challenges to the verdict and reversed the trial court’s reduction to $40 million, reinstating the original fraud judgment for more than $286 million.
In the Yellowstone Mountain Club BLX case discussed below, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the trial court’s breach of contract judgment for over $219 million against Tim Blixseth.
In the Sallyport case discussed below, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the trial court verdict for more than $21 million.

2015

Lead counsel to Foresight Reserves, L.P., in the sale of a non-controlling 50% interest in its subsidiary Foresight Energy L.P. (NYSE: FELP) to Murray Energy Corporation for $1.375 billion.

2014

Obtained, as Trustee of the Yellowstone Club Liquidating Trust, judgment against Tim Blixseth for $219.8 million for breach of a promissory note contract.
Served as counsel to Foresight Reserves, L.P., in the $2.4 billion initial public offering of common units of its subsidiary Foresight Energy Partners, L.P.
Obtained, as lead trial counsel, a $21.1 million dollar verdict against Sallyport Global Holdings, Inc., in a breach of contract valuation case in federal court in New York City. Published Decision

2013

Counsel to Foresight Energy LLC in connection with its $1.55 billion refinancing, involving a bond, term loan and revolver combination.

2012

Served on the Board of Directors of Tory Burch, LLC as the Chris Burch designee during the period of a contentious dispute over investor rights. The case was resolved by agreement.

2011

Lead counsel defending International Industries Inc. from a $127 million breach of contract claim. After five years of litigation, the Court limited the plaintiff's maximum recovery to $2 million and the case was quickly resolved.

2010

Co-lead trial counsel in the Yellowstone Mountain Club fraud case in Montana, obtaining a $286 million verdict against property developer and former owner Tim Blixseth for fraud. The trial court reduced the judgment to $40 million and upon defendant's appeal, we cross-appealed.

Earlier Matters

Co-lead trial counsel for plaintiffs in a mass action under the Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act obtaining compensation for damage to water wells and homes.
Lead trial counsel for the plaintiffs in a mass action of first impression under the Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act, establishing rights for off-permit damages from dust fall.
Served as co-counsel in the Petition and Briefing stage at the United States Supreme Court in Buckhannon Board and Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, 532 US 598 (2001).
Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of West Virginia in the Mountaintop Removal, Cumulative Hydrologic Impact Analysis, and Bonding Litigations from 1999-2003. This series of cases involved several injunction hearings and numerous complex federal and state issues resulting in fundamental changes in the mining and environmental laws of West Virginia and the region.
Tried numerous civil and criminal cases to verdict in state and federal court, in arbitration, and before state and federal agencies.

Awards & Accolades

2024 Forbes: Top 200 Lawyers in America.
2024 LawDragon: 500 Leading Litigators in America.
Chambers USA, West Virginia: General Commercial (2015 - 2024) and Corporate/Commercial (2018 - 2024)
Best Lawyers in America, Bet-the-Company Litigation (2023) Commercial Litigation and Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Energy Law (2010 - 2024)
Best Lawyers in America, Lawyer of the Year, Energy Law (2023)
Best Lawyers in America, Lawyer of the Year, Criminal Defense: White Collar (2019)
Super Lawyers, West Virginia, General Litigation and Business Litigation (2007 - 2024)

CHAD R. HUTCHINSON

Partner, Butler Snow

Chad Hutchinson is an experienced trial attorney who has defended clients in the products, pharmaceutical and medical device industries the majority of his career. He has successfully tried multiple cases to verdict in first chair trial roles and assisted teams in multi-district litigation and various state courts all over the country. Chad has previously been selected as a winner of the Law360 Distinguished Legal Writing Award by The Burton Foundation for his published work. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America^® and Super Lawyers^® and is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

ABOUT CHAD

Chad serves as national/regional counsel in the defense of various manufacturers and distributors in both commercial and product liability litigation. He also handles catastrophic loss/high exposure tort matters around the country for several insurers. As part of his medical device practice, Chad routinely prepares and defends company witnesses and 30(b)(6) representatives. His work with expert witnesses focuses on the fields of biomaterials, polymer science, chemistry, toxicology and epidemiology. He has deposed numerous Plaintiffs’ experts in these fields, several of which concluded with successful Daubert/Frey challenges that limited or excluded the admissibility of their opinions. He has also presented to judges presiding at court- ordered Science Days, as well as led all work-up phases for experts, including selection, preparation, defending their depositions, and directing their testimony at trial.

In 2018, a client selected Chad as its “Attorney of the Year.” He graduated from the prestigious International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Trial Academy. In 2019, Chad served as a faculty member of the trial academy. Chad is active in several industry organizations, including IADC, where he serves as Vice Chair of Programs and Projects within the Drug, Device & Biotechnology Committee. Chad is also a member of the Trial Attorneys of America.

Chad obtained a J.D., cum laude, from Mississippi College. He obtained both an M.A., cum laude, in Taxation and a B.A., cum laude, in Accountancy from the University of Mississippi. He is admitted to practice in Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi.

PRACTICE AREAS AND INDUSTRY TEAMS

Drug & Device Litigation - Trials
Drug & Device Litigation
Professional Liability
Premises Liability
Insurance
Products, Catastrophic & Industrial Litigation
Trucking Litigation
Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare

EXPERIENCE

Jarrett v. Ethicon, Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, Case No. 4:20-CV-01517-BRW, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas; October 12, 2022; Trial Counsel; defense verdict. See “J&J Ethicon Unit Prevails In 2 Pelvic Mesh Trials,” Law360, October 13,
Knoth v. Apollo Endoscopy US, Inc. et al., Case No. 5:18-CV-00049-DCB-MTP, United States District Court of the Southern District of Mississippi; June 30, 2022; Lead Trial Counsel; defense
Cheryl Lankston v. Ethicon Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas; Houston Division; No. 4:17-CV- 00323; November 9, 2017; Trial Counsel; defense
Kimberly Adkins Ethicon Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; No. 130700919; June 9, 2017; Trial Counsel; defense verdict.
Keckley v. Estes Equipment Corp. et al., Circuit Court of Rankin County, Mississippi; Cause No. 2014- 46; May 15, 2017; summary
Pilot Travel Centers, LLC v. Mid-Continent Cas. Comp., 2016 WL 1633060, USDC of S. Miss; April 21, 2016; summary
Whitener Baxter Healthcare Corp., USDC of E.D. LA; Apr. 22, 2014; summary judgment.
James Orams Pilot Travel Centers, LLC, Circuit Court of Hinds County, Mississippi; Civil Action No. 251-09-6909; August 15, 2013; summary judgment.
Suzanna Davis The Young Men’s Christian Association, Circuit Court of Rankin County, Mississippi; Civil Action No. 2012-653; April 23, 2013; summary judgment.
Lyles Maselle & Associates et al.; Mississippi Arbitration Association; April 2, 2013; Lead Trial Counsel; defense verdict.
Savage Pilot Travel Centers, LLC, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; Civil Action No. 11-60406; March 9, 2012; summary judgment affirmed.
Magee Covington County School Dist., 96 So.3d 742 (Miss. App. Ct. 2012); summary judgment affirmed.
Mayers Burke Handling Systems, Inc.; Circuit Court of Scott County, Mississippi; May 31, 2011; Lead Trial Counsel; directed verdict.
Marie Ellison et v. CareGivers, LLC d/b/a Clarksdale Nursing Home, Circuit Court of Coahoma County, Mississippi; Civil Action No. 14-CI-02-0141; August 30, 2010; summary judgment.
Derse, v. Haas Outdoors, Inc. dba Mossy Oak; August 17, 2010; American Arbitration Association; No. 69 152 00513; Lead Trial Counsel; judgment for client for full amount requested.
State Farm Auto Co. v. Tiffin Motor Homes, Inc., Caddo Parish, LA; June 1, 2009; summary judgment.
Thelma Mitchell, et v. Nutrition & Management Services, Inc., et al., Circuit Court of Coahoma County, Mississippi; Civil Action No. 14-CI-03-0063; February 17, 2009; summary judgment.
McIntosh Dillards Department Stores; S.D. Miss.; February 12, 2008; Lead Trial Counsel; defense verdict.
Veal J.P. Morgan Trust Co., N.A., 955 So.2d 843 (Miss. 2007).
Eaton Vance Municipals Trust Conegie, 2007 WL 1484539 (N.D. Miss. 2007).
McKenzie v. Highland Home Nursing Center, et al.; Rankin County Circuit Court; Cause No. 2002-393; September 17, 2003; obtained first order from a Mississippi trial court compelling arbitration in a nursing home
Smith Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 286 F.Supp.2d 777 (S.D. Miss. 2003).
Backwell v. Tiffin Motor Homes, Inc.; Circuit Court of Smith County, Miss.; Trial Counsel; 2002; defense

BAR ADMISSIONS

Tennessee, 2024
Alabama, 2023
Mississippi, 2001
Texas – Admission Pending
S. District Courts
- Mississippi: Northern, Southern
S. Court of Appeals
- 5th Circuit
Admitted pro hac vice in numerous states

DISTINCTIONS

The Legal 500 US
- Recognized in the editorial for nationwide Dispute Resolution: Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices – Defense, 2023
Client Designated MVP Presenter, Medical Device Seminar, 2022
Client Designated Attorney of the Year, 2018
2018 Law360 Distinguished Legal Writing Award, The Burton Awards
Best Lawyers in America^®
- Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, 2013-2025
Super Lawyers^®
- Personal Injury Defense: Medical Malpractice, 2008-2016, 2018-2020, 2023
Martindale-Hubbell^®
- AV^®-Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated
Member, Trial Attorneys of America
Faculty Member, International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Trial Academy, 2019
Graduate, International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Trial Academy, 2006
Leadership Mississippi, Class of 2005
Adjunct Professor – Meditation Advocacy, Mississippi College School of Law, 2022
Certified Public Accountant

ASSOCIATIONS

American Bar Association
Federal Bar Association
Defense Research Institute (DRI)
- Medical and Health Care Law Committee
Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association
Mississippi Bar Association
International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
- Vice Chair, Programs and Projects
- Drug, Device & Biotechnology Committee
  - Vice Chair, Publications

EDUCATION & HONORS

Mississippi College, D., cum laude, 2001
- Managing Editor, Mississippi College Law Review
University of Mississippi, A., Taxation, cum laude, 1996
University of Mississippi, A., Accountancy, cum laude, 1995

PAPERS, PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

Speaker, "Wearable Data: The New “Black Box” in Personal Injury Litigation,” Industry Litigation Conference, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, January 26,
Co-Author, "SPEAK UP: Practical Recommendations for Rule 34 Product Inspections," Pro Te: Solutio, 16, No. 4, January 2024.
Speaker, "The Wearable Revolution: How to Use Personal Health Device Data in Litigation;” Industry Litigation Conference, Austin, Texas, September 29,
Speaker, “Human Body Meets Medical Device: Regulatory and Litigation Risk in Biocompatibility Analysis,” Product Liability Advisory Counsel (PLAC) Webinar Presentation, September 12,
Speaker, "Examining the Challenges for a Wearables Revolution in Healthcare," International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Seminar Presentation, Austin, Texas, February 19,
Speaker, “From the Trenches: Litigation Tips & Tricks” Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Seminar, Cooperstown, New York, June 9,
Podcast Guest, "Defense Counsel Journal Highlight: Turning the Tables: Non-Retained Experts for Defendants," IADC Speaks Podcast, February 7,
Co-Author, "Turning the Tables: Non-Retained Experts for Defendants," IADC Defense Counsel Journal, 88, No. 4, October 20, 2021.
Speaker, “Battle of the Experts: Cross-Examination Strategies and Techniques,” Client-Industry Sponsored Seminar, Miami, Florida, October 6,
Speaker, “Best Practices of Working with Experts (If You Need One),” Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Seminar, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, June 10,
Co-Author, “The Case for Non-Retained Expert Witnesses,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 14, No. 1, February
Co-Author, “The Mongoose Strikes Back: How to Thwart a Reptilian Attack,” Pro Te: Solutio, 12 No. 3, September 2019.
Speaker, “Digital Communication Etiquette: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly,” Medical Device Presentation, Denver, Colorado, August 28,
Speaker, “The Mongoose Strikes Back: How to Kill a Reptilian Attack,” Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Seminar Presentation, Austin, Texas, June 6,
Speaker, “Strategies for Trial Success,” Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Seminar Presentation, Santa Fe, New Mexico, June 15,
Speaker, “Strategies for Minimizing the Likelihood of a Punitive Damages Verdict,” International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Drug, Medical Device and Biotec Committee Presentation, Palm Springs, California, February 12,
Author, “Epidemiology for Lawyers,” Trial Attorneys of America, June
Author, “Epidemiology and the NFL Collide,” Pro Te: Solutio, 10 No. 1 (2017).
Speaker, “Epidemiology – What Trial Lawyers and Jurors Really Need to Know;” International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Seminar Presentation, Scottsdale, Arizona, February 19,
Speaker, “Epidemiology by Lawyers for Lawyers;” Defense Research Institute (DRI) Drug and Medical Device Committee Webinar, December 15,
Co-Author, “Voir Dire,” International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Defense Counsel Training Manual, Third Edition,
Speaker, "Effective Use of Epidemiology in the Courtroom,” Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Seminar Presentation, La Jolla, California, June

Speaker, "Drug and Medical Device Litigation: Recent Trends in Products Liability Litigation," Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Seminar Presentation, Sea Island, Georgia, June
Speaker, "Recent Developments in the Pharmaceutical/Product Liability Industry," In-house Client Presentation, New Brunswick, New Jersey, May
Speaker, "Epidemiology Concepts and Applications," In-house Client-Industry Seminar Presentation, August
Speaker, "Drug and Medical Device Litigation: Navigating the Social Media Maze," Panel Counsel Seminar Presentation, Lake George, New York, June
Author, "The Path to Aggregate Settlements," American Bar Association Mass Torts Litigation, 10 No. 3, Spring 2012.
Author, “The Final Rule: FDA's Security Reporting Requirements for Investigational New Drug Applications," Pro Te: Solutio, 5 No. 1, 8-11, February 2012.
Speaker, "Tips for Impeaching and Discrediting Plaintiffs’ Expert Witnesses," ACI Long Term Care Conference, Miami, , April 2011.
Speaker, "Sanctions for Failure to Properly Preserve Electronic Evidence," In-house Client- Industry Presentation, Whitehouse Station, , June 2010.
Speaker, "ABA’s Ethics Opinion on Aggregate Settlements," Professional Liability Seminar, New York, New York, May 2010.
Author, “Understanding the Inherent Risks of Dual Representation in Internal Investigations and Civil Litigation,” Pro Te: Solutio, 2 No. 4, Fall 2009.
Author "Caves: Clarity or Confusion?" Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association Quarterly, April
Author, “Oops! The Dog Ate My Pacemaker, A Lower Standard of Spoliation Claims,” Pro Te: Solutio,

Fall 2008.

Speaker, "Advanced Expert Witness Deposition Tactics," National Business Institute Seminar, October
Speaker, "Advanced Deposition and Trial Techniques for Cross-Examining the Combative Plaintiff’s Expert Witness," DRI’s Nursing Home/ALF Litigation Seminar, Miami, Florida, September
Author, "Cross-Examinations of Lay Witness," In-house Defense Quarterly, Winter

Sarah Ruane

Partner with Wagstaff & Cartmell

Sarah Ruane is a partner and Chair of the Litigation Management Committee at the Kansas City- based Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP. Sarah has served as trial counsel, including lead counsel, in 10 jury trials in federal and state court, nearly all of which were cases involving drugs, medical devices, and health care services. As Chair of her firm’s Litigation Management Committee, she assigns and manages teams of lawyers and staff for all of the firm’s national mass tort and class action cases to ensure optimal, efficient performance for the firm’s clients.

Sarah has gained broad experience in pharmaceutical and medical device cases under the supervision and leadership of Tom Cartmell, who has served as plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel and co-lead trial counsel in several large MDLs that resolved successfully. Sarah worked extensively on trials and in discovery over the past decade in the national Pelvic Mesh Repair System Products Liability Litigation, which included In Re: C.R. Bard, Inc., MDL No. 2187; In Re: American Medical Systems, Inc., MDL No. 2325; In Re: Boston Scientific Corp., MDL No. 2326; and In Re: Ethicon, Inc., MDL No. 2327. In these cases, Sarah assisted in general causation expert reports, briefed and argued Daubert motions, defended case-specific depositions and deposed case-specific physician, sales representative and expert witnesses. Sarah also second-chaired the first (and only) pelvic mesh jury trial against the defendant Coloplast, which resulted in a $2.5 million verdict for the plaintiff.

In the National Opioid MDL No. 2084, Sarah helped build the liability case against the Teva defendants. She performed all aspects of discovery in the MDL, from ESI negotiation and document review to taking depositions of corporate witnesses. She also represented Buchanan County, Missouri, which had one of the highest rates of opioid prescriptions in the country.

Sarah’s entire career has been with Wagstaff & Cartmell, which has grown during her tenure to 34 attorneys and 52 other employees. The firm handles complex litigation nationwide in the areas of product liability, consumer fraud, class actions, antitrust, corporate malfeasance, professional liability, and representation of public entities.

Sarah is a current member of the District of Kansas Bench-Bar Committee. In this role, she works with six sitting judges from the District of Kansas to study and consider the Rules of the Court and serves as a liaison among the court, its bar and the public. Sarah has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Lawyers Association of Kansas City – Young Lawyers Section and Lawyers Encouraging Academic Performance. Sarah received her undergraduate degree in Spanish and Sociology from Wake Forest University in 2003. She graduated from The University of Kansas School of Law in 2006. She speaks frequently at seminars which focus on trial advocacy.

Jim Murdica

Partner with Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Jim's practice focuses on the defense of pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer product litigation in state and federal courts nationwide, particularly consolidated mass torts and multi-district litigations.

In Chambers, clients describe Jim as having "[a]n incredible ability to synthesize complex scientific issues into very persuasive arguments that can be used both in court and in negotiations with the other side."

He serves as national coordinating counsel and MDL counsel for consolidated litigations across the U.S. involving thousands of plaintiffs as well as in numerous single-plaintiff cases involving pharmaceuticals, consumer products and medical devices. In conjunction with those roles, Jim emphasizes efficient discovery and manages significant mass tort e-discovery undertakings for his clients.

Jim has also coordinated the resolution of some of the largest, mass torts of the last decade.

Jim also counsels clients on product liability due diligence related to potential acquisitions and divestitures.

Regarding pharmaceutical and biologic manufacturers, Jim's experience includes:

Coordinating the national defense of a prescription diabetes drug alleged to have caused a multitude of injuries
Coordinating the national defense and acting as MDL counsel for the defense of several thousand litigations and claims alleging serious nervous system and vascular injuries from the use of a prescription antibiotic
Coordinating the national defense of hundreds of consolidated litigations alleging birth defects from exposure to an anticonvulsant medication in the Philadelphia Mass Torts Division
Coordinating the defense of consolidated state litigations in California alleging a life-threatening skin condition and tendon injuries from the use of a prescription antibiotic
Defending or assisting in the defense of consolidated and single plaintiff litigations regarding: anticoagulant medication, antidiabetic mediation, antipsychotic medications, antiepileptic medication, antibiotic medications, and various biologics that inhibit factors and bind proteins

Regarding medical device and consumer products manufacturers, Jim's experience includes:

Coordinating the national defense and serving as MDL counsel in the defense of a laparoscopic gynecologic surgical instrument for a medical device manufacturer
Coordinating the national defense of more than a thousand litigants and serving as lead counsel in a consolidated state proceeding regarding vena cava filters for a medical device manufacturer
Coordinating the national defense of contact lenses and vision devices for multiple medical device manufacturers
Coordinating the national defense of personal injury litigations for a cardiac catheter manufacturer
Defending the manufacturer of cardiac stents in a nationwide litigation alleging personal injuries from use of the device
Acting as national counsel for a manufacturer of skincare products

Michael Mallow

Managing Partner with Shook Hardy & Bacon

Michael is a highly experienced trial lawyer who has represented clients in class action and complex litigation matters, including cases related to economic product defects, unfair competition, false and deceptive advertising, business torts, privacy, entertainment and intellectual property. He has defended consumer protection actions and investigation initiated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Department of Justice, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, as well as numerous state enforcement agencies. A client states that Michael is “a very smart lawyer and a very good strategist; he’s really excellent.”

For more than 20 years, Michael has been at the forefront of representing clients in significant consumer protection matters, including:

Defending the first enforcement action prosecuted by FTC related to the National Do Not Call Registry;
Securing a major automotive industry victory before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit mooting injunctive claims for relief brought by private plaintiffs following a product recall; and
Defeating a federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action by persuading the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals that internet classified ads constitute an express invitation.

He regularly counsels clients on marketing and advertising issues, and has substantial experience in the automotive, fashion retail, dietary supplement, telemarketing, electronic mail marketing, consumer products and payment processing industries.

He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including recognition by Chambers USA in the categories of California Litigation: General Commercial, and Product Liability: Consumer Class Action, and The Legal 500 United States in Dispute Resolution – Product Liability, mass torts and class actions: automotive/transport and consumer products. Law360 named him one of the “Transportation MVPs of the Year” in 2018, and a “Privacy & Consumer Protection MVP” in 2012. BTI Consulting Group recognized him as a “BTI Client Service All-Star” in 2012. Southern California Super Lawyers has honored him for Class Action/Mass Torts, Business Litigation and Civil Litigation Defense. Michael also has received the President’s Volunteer Service Award from the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.

Michael also has served as outside counsel to the State Bar of California on issues related to its member programs. Before joining Shook, he was a partner with Sidley Austin, where he was the co-leader of the firm’s Consumer Class Action Defense practice. He also is an avid marathoner, triathlete and four-time Ironman, completing competitions in Maryland (2018), Vineman (Sonoma County, California, 2016), Cozumel (2015) and Boulder (2014).

Virginia E. Anello

Partner with Douglas & London

Partner Virginia E. Anello was born and raised in Covington, Louisiana, and currently heads up the firm’s New Orleans office. She attended Louisiana State University on an honors scholarship. Ms. Anello graduated from LSU magna cum laude and received a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a minor in Italian. She went on to attend the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU where she received her Juris Doctor Degree and her Bachelor of Civil Law Degree, graduating in the top 30% of her class. Ms. Anello is admitted to practice law in the States of New York, Massachusetts, and Louisiana. She is also admitted to practice law in the Eastern, Southern and Northern Districts of New York, the Eastern and Western Districts of Louisiana, the District of Massachusetts, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Since obtaining her law degree, Ms. Anello has devoted her entire career to always representing injury victims and consumers, primarily in mass tort and class actions. Her practice areas in the law have always focused on, and continue to focus on, products liability litigation and complex litigation, with an emphasis on consumer fraud and mass tort litigation. Consistent with the firm’s philosophy, she is dedicated to ensuring that an underdog can be heard.

Ms. Anello joined Douglas & London in 2007 and she focuses her work primarily on representing individuals nationwide who have been injured as a result of defective pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices and vaccines. Currently, Ms. Anello is actively involved in representing individuals who have been injured as a result of the prescription drugs Elmiron and Belviq. Regarding Elmiron, Ms. Anello was appointed in January 2021 by U.S. District Court Judge Brian Martinotti as co-lead counsel in the action styled as In Re: Elmiron (Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2973), pending in the District Court of New Jersey. This consolidated action involves hundreds of individual plaintiffs claiming severe eye injuries as a result of ingesting Elmiron to treat interstitial cystitis. In her role as co-lead counsel, Ms. Anello is involved in all aspects of pre-trial discovery and management, retention of experts and motion practice, as well as oversight of a Plaintiff Steering Committee of 24 other lawyers.

With respect to Belviq, a weight loss drug, Ms. Anello is actively pursuing individual lawsuits across the country on behalf of individuals who have suffered cancer as a result of their ingestion of the drug.

Before commencing her work with Elmiron and Belviq, Ms. Anello was actively involved in multidistrict litigation involving the diabetic drug Invokana pending in the District Court of New Jersey, where she served on the science, law and briefing and discovery committees. In July 2017, Ms. Anello was just one of two lawyers asked to present at Science Day before Judge Martinotti, defense counsel, and other plaintiffs’ counsel from across the country about the then-current state of medical and scientific knowledge regarding Invokana, including how it works and how it causes the injuries alleged (diabetic ketoacidosis, acute kidney injury and amputations). This litigation ultimately resolved through individual confidential settlements.

In addition to her work identified above, Ms. Anello is actively involved in the firm’s vaccine litigation department, which she currently manages. Since 2007, she has represented children and adults who have been injured by vaccinations and has handled numerous cases in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Many of these cases have settled or been successfully adjudicated on the merits within the Vaccine Program.

In 2018, Ms. Anello began litigating cases specific to a Shingles vaccine, Zostavax, which is not covered by the Vaccine Program. Because of the multitude of cases that have been filed relating to this particular vaccine, a multidistrict litigation was created in the District Court of Pennsylvania before the Honorable Judge Harvey Bartle, and, in September 2018, Ms. Anello was formally appointed by Judge Bartle as a member of the Plaintiff Executive Committee charged with the responsibility of overseeing and assisting with the national ligation. Ms. Anello represents hundreds of injured individuals in this endeavor.

Other nationwide pharmaceutical and medical device litigations in which Ms. Anello has been involved and worked on through settlement include those relating to hip replacement systems (DePuy ASR, DePuy Pinnacle, Biomet M2A, Wright Conserve, and Stryker Rejuvenate), proton pump inhibitors (Prilosec, Nexium, Prevacid, Protonix,) the acid concentrate Granuflo, the prescription pain drug Vioxx, the Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Lead Wire, and the Contaminated Heparin litigation.

In addition, Ms. Anello works alongside firm partner, Michael A. London, in representing women who have been diagnosed with cancer as a result of their in utero exposure to the drug Diethylstilbestrol (‘DES’).

While proud to represent individuals from across the country in the products liability arena, Ms. Anello is equally as proud of her legal efforts focused on issues of importance to New York City and the surrounding areas, where she spend her early career. She is actively involved in representing individuals who have been injured as a result of their exposure to toxins at the World Trade Center site following September 11, 2001. She originally represented these victims in the World Trade Center Disaster Site Litigation pending before the Honorable Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and she oversaw the firm’s settlement of that matter. Since Congress reopened the September 11, 2001 Victims’ Compensation Fund in 2010 and continued it in 2015, Ms. Anello has been directing her efforts at ensuring that these injured individuals, as well as those injured as a result of their working, living and going to school in the Lower Manhattan area, are compensated under the Act.

Additionally, in her role in the Firm’s class action litigation department, Ms. Anello represents New York residents who lost power due to the grossly negligent conduct of the Long Island Power Authority and its managing contractor, National Grid, prior to and following Superstorm Sandy. A proposed class action is currently pending in Nassau County Supreme Court.

As a class action attorney, Ms. Anello represents consumers and union health funds and other insurers who have been deceived and misled by product manufacturers. She is particularly involved in all of the firm’s class action work, including the firm’s class action against Bayer in which it was alleged that Bayer falsely represented to consumers that its over-the-counter combination aspirin drugs, Bayer Women’s Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium and Bayer with Heart Advantage delivered certain health benefits, which they, in fact, did not. Thanks to her hard work and dedication, as well as that of the firm, the Bayer combination aspirin class action settled for $15 million. Ms. Anello and Douglas & London are always investigating new class actions.

Ms. Anello is an active member of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA) and American Association of Justice (AAJ). Since 2014, Super Lawyers has selected Ms. Anello as a Rising Star in New York, and, in 2018, she was selected by Peer Recognition as one of Best Lawyers in New York City as published in the Wall Street Journal, and this status continues today. Most recently, in 2021, Ms. Anello was selected as one of the Top Women Attorneys in New York.

Ms. Anello attributes her success to her parents, who raised her with a strong work ethic, did whatever they could to promote her thirst for knowledge, and instilled in her a sense of integrity to stand up for and protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Christopher Seeger

Founding Partner of Seeger Weiss LLP

A founding partner of Seeger Weiss, Christopher A. Seeger is widely recognized as a highly innovative and accomplished plaintiff attorney. Chiefly known for multidistrict mass torts and class actions involving drug injury, toxic injury, and personal injury, Chris’ versatile practice also includes product liability, property damage, antitrust, and third-party payer litigation, as well as consumer, insurance, and securities fraud. Chris has led some of the most complex, groundbreaking, and high-profile litigations in the U.S. at the state and federal levels. He has received more multidistrict litigation (MDL) appointments than any other lawyer between 2016 and 2019, according to a 2020 ALM study.

Chris served as co-lead counsel in the 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation, having been chosen by Judge M. Casey Rodgers from a pool of nearly 200 other applicants to represent more than 250,000 service members and veterans who suffered hearing injuries while using 3M earplugs. After more than four years of litigation, Chris secured a landmark settlement worth over $6 billion in August 2023, successfully resolving the largest mass tort in American history.

Appointed by Judge Joy Flowers Conti to lead the Philips Recalled CPAP, Bi-Level Pap, and Mechanical Ventilator Litigation, Chris represented patients impacted by the company’s recall of more than 10.8 million devices. He was the lead negotiator for an uncapped class action settlement worth a minimum of $479 million that was announced in September 2023, resolving economic loss claims of users and payers impacted by the recall. After receiving final approval for the economic loss settlement, Chris negotiated additional agreements in April 2024 to resolve plaintiffs' personal injury claims for $1.075 billion and medical monitoring claims for $25 million, providing compensation to patients who suffered significant physical injuries caused by the recalled machines.

In the National Prescription Opiate litigation, Chris was appointed to the Executive and Settlement Committees by Judge Dan A. Polster. In 2022, he played an instrumental role in securing settlements worth more than $15 billion with Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, and Kroger. Also, in 2022, a $6.6 billion settlement was reached with pharmaceutical manufacturers Teva and Allergan (AbbVie). Previously, in July 2021, the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the federal opioid litigation formally announced the terms for a $26 billion global settlement agreement with opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and the “Big Three” drug distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson. To date, Chris has been involved in over $50 billion in settlements through the National Prescription Opioid Litigation.

Chris serves as co-lead counsel in the Proton-Pump Inhibitor Litigation on behalf of patients who suffered kidney injuries while using proton-pump inhibitor drugs. On October 3, 2023, he announced a $425 million settlement with AstraZeneca and additional agreements with GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, and Takeda, bringing the total value of the resolution to $590.4 million.

Chris’s unprecedented run of recent settlements adds to his impressive legacy of resolving major cases and obtaining billions in compensation for injured plaintiffs. This includes a $4.85 billion landmark global settlement with Merck on behalf of patients who suffered heart attacks and strokes while taking Vioxx, a $21 billion-plus settlement with Volkswagen and Audi over the “clean diesel” scandal—the largest consumer auto industry class action settlement in U.S. history, a $1.5 billion settlement for farmers impacted by Syngenta GMO seed contamination—the largest agricultural settlement in U.S. history, and a $1 billion-plus uncapped settlement for retired NFL players and their families in the historic NFL concussion case.

After starting his career as a corporate defense lawyer representing the interests of big business, Chris was struck by the imbalance of power between corporations and the individuals harmed by them. As a result, he left to become a plaintiff attorney. The son of a union carpenter who worked his way through school, Chris is a former amateur boxer and a current Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. Now, whether working on a class action involving thousands of people against a multinational conglomerate or an individual case protecting one client’s rights, he fights with the same passion and conviction.

Chris has been recognized for his outstanding work and unmatched success in leading complex federal cases. He has received the National Law Journal Elite Trial Lawyers Lifetime Achievement Award, been named a Lawdragon Legend, a Law360 Titan of the Plaintiff Bar, and been inducted into both the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame and the Legal 500 Hall of Fame. He is consistently named to annual award lists, including Chambers USA Tier 1 for Product Liability, Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, and Best Lawyers in America. Regularly quoted by the press regarding his work on nationally and internationally prominent cases, Chris has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Reuters, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR, and ESPN.

Jayne Conroy

Partner with Simmons Hanly Conroy

Jayne Conroy is a named partner at Simmons Hanly Conroy and oversees practice areas in the Complex Litigation Department. Under her leadership, the firm has become one of the country’s largest plaintiff law firms dedicated to helping those injured by corporate wrongdoing.

With a legal career spanning more than three decades, Jayne has earned a superb national reputation as an elite trial lawyer, skilled strategist and decisive negotiator. She has consistently helped secure billions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for thousands of individuals, families and communities in numerous courtrooms nationwide.

“We are a threat to defendants because we are everywhere,” Jayne said while talking about the depth of experience in her department. “They know they have to deal with us, and we are prepared to try cases.”

Jayne focuses her practice on helping plaintiffs exclusively in mass torts, class actions, product liability, pharmaceutical and sexual abuse litigation. She serves or has served on dozens of court-appointed leadership committees in complex legal actions of national scope. These complex mass tort cases, called multidistrict litigations or MDLs, involve thousands of cases originating from state courts around the country and consolidated before a single federal judge.

Jayne’s most recent MDL appointment includes the Plaintiff’s Executive Committee in the In re: Camp Lejeune Water Litigation in the North Carolina Southern Division which alleges drinking may have been contaminated with toxic chemicals that can cause multiple types of cancer, birth defects, Parkinson’s disease and more. She has also been appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee Leadership in the In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, which alleges social media platforms encourage addictive behavior in adolescents and the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee for the multidistrict litigation against McKinsey & Company in the In re McKinsey & Co Inc National Prescription Opiate Consultant Litigation, Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, which alleges McKinsey knowingly engineered marketing tactics that caused an avalanche of opioid addiction.

Other high-profile appointments include serving:

As co-lead and interim class counsel to represent plaintiffs in the case against Norfolk Southern, the company responsible for the East Palestine train derailment
As a co-lead of the sprawling National Prescription Opiate Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) before Judge Polster in the Northern District of Ohio
As lead counsel in the NY state bellwether trial alongside Nassau County and the Attorney General of NY, against the entire opioid industry and resulting in over $1.7B in settlements and a plaintiff’s verdict against a manufacturer and a distributor
On the lead trial team that secured over $325 million in settlements for two Ohio counties related to the first bellwether trial in the ongoing opioid MDL
On the lead trial team that secured three consecutive bellwether 9-figure verdicts on behalf of patients injured by Johnson & Johnson/DePuy’s Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip replacement
On leadership in the Volkswagen emission scandal MDL
As legal representative of several thousand victims and families impacted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks
As the co-chair of the Environmental Testing Committee for the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster MDL
In individual cases against a variety of religious, educational and civic organizations for hundreds of sex abuse victims

“Terrible things have happened to my clients that I can’t change, but what I can do is try to get them the justice they deserve,” Jayne said. “We are the best at doing that.”

The results Jayne has helped secure for her clients underscore the quality of her legal work. Her vast experience orchestrating large and multifaceted multidistrict litigations has resulted in multiple, significant settlements for her clients and thousands of others nationwide.

A sampling of her results includes:

Over $1.7 billion in settlements with multiple opioid manufacturers and distributors as part of the consolidated New York State opioid trial;
$26 billion global settlement with McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. and Johnson & Johnson as part of the National Prescription Opiate MDL;
Over $1.7 billion in verdicts for those affected by J&J/DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement devices after four bellwether trials;
$650.5 million in abatement fees against CVS, Walgreens and Walmart in Lake and Trumbull counties in Ohio for contributing to the opioid epidemic;
$60 million to a class of 170+ Haitian boys abused by a convicted pedophile at a school sponsored by a Connecticut-based university;
$16 billion global settlement for owners of VW vehicles involved in the 2016 emissions scandal;
Multiple billions of dollars in claims for businesses and individuals harmed by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill;
$1.69 billion global settlement for women injured by Yaz birth control; and
Hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements for the families and victims of the 9/11 tragedy.

Jayne’s legal track record demonstrates her stature as one of the preeminent litigators of the nation’s plaintiffs’ bar. National legal publications and well-respected legal organizations recognize this fact. In 2022, Law360 named her a Titan of the Plaintiffs’ Bar. Previous honors include induction into the National Trial Lawyers Association’s Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, election as a member of the exclusive American Law Institute, recognition as an Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar Winner by The National Law Journal, and the American Association for Justice’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Fighting the Opioid Epidemic

Jayne and the firm are at the forefront of unprecedented litigation that seeks to resolve the ongoing opioid epidemic. The litigation seeks to secure meaningful funds for communities that incurred millions in costs related to dealing with the estimated 400,000 opioid-related deaths since 1996.

“Every one of those communities has a story about how the opioid epidemic has devastated the families who live there,” Jayne said. “The opioid litigation allows us to get some relief to these communities faster, which could actually help someone who has not been hurt yet.”

National Prescription Opiate MDL

Jayne has a long track record of holding opioid manufacturers accountable for misleading marketing. In 2003, she and Partner Paul Hanly, who served as co-lead of the ongoing opioid MDL, represented more than 5,000 individuals against Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin.

By implementing a successful discovery plan, Jayne and her legal team uncovered evidence proving the full extent of Purdue’s criminality and its fraudulent marketing campaign designed to persuade physicians that OxyContin was not addictive. Following a 3-year battle, which included Jayne, Paul and the firm filing more than 1,200 cases in various courts across the country, Purdue Pharma settled the litigation for a significant confidential settlement in 2007.

The litigation also led to a Department of Justice investigation that resulted in Purdue Pharma paying more than $600 million in fines. Three of its executives also pled guilty to criminal charges that they misled regulators, doctors and patients about the drug’s risk of addiction and personally paid millions of dollars in fines.

After Paul Hanly’s untimely passing in early 2021, Jayne took over as co-lead counsel of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee (PEC) that leads the ongoing National Prescription Opiate MDL. After years of advocating for their over 3,000 community clients, Jayne and the PEC endorsed a $26 billion global settlement with opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and the “Big 3” drug distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson.

As part of the MDL, in November 2021, Jayne and her legal team secured the first nationwide jury verdict in an opioid case, holding pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Wal-Mart responsible for their role in the opioid epidemic in Lake and Trumbull County in Ohio. In August 2022, U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster ordered them to pay $650.5 million in abatement fees over a 15-year span.

San Francisco Opioid Trial

The opioid team also won a key verdict in San Francisco in 2022; in the first bench trial to decide in the plaintiff’s favor in the national opioid litigation, a federal judge found Walgreens liable for contributing to the epidemic in the city. In May 2023, Walgreens reached a $230 million settlement with San Francisco over the company’s role in the opioid epidemic, which may be the largest award to a local jurisdiction against an opioid defendant nationwide.

New York State Opioid Trial

In addition to her work on the national opioid MDL, Jayne served as lead counsel for Suffolk County in the New York State opioid trial, whose defendants encompass the entire opioid supply chain.

As part of the New York State trial, Jayne and her team secured over $1.7 billion in settlements from multiple major opioid manufacturers and distributors for Suffolk and Nassau County as well as the state of New York, its counties and New York City. The NY trial plaintiffs were the first to finalize the Big 3 and J&J settlement, serving as a catalyst for the remainder of the country.

Building upon that success, Jayne and her team secured a landmark verdict in December 2021 that found the remaining defendants, opioid manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals and distributor Anda, liable for their role in the opioid epidemic.

This was the first opioid case to be heard before a jury and is considered to be one of the largest and longest jury trial proceedings in New York history.

Helping Victims of Child Sexual Abuse

Jayne has helped hundreds of victims of sexual abuse secure justice from the institutions responsible for their abuse. In 2019, she helped achieve a landmark $60 million class action settlement on behalf of 170-plus Haitian boys harmed by a convicted pedophile and former school administrator associated with a Jesuit school in Connecticut. In 2013, the same defendants paid $12 million to settle similar claims brought by 24 other young men victimized when they were children.

Protecting Rights of Patients Injured by Hip Implants

Jayne previously served on the Plaintiff Executive Committee in the DePuy Pinnacle federal litigation involving more than 9,000 patients injured by Johnson & Johnson’s metal-on-metal hip replacement device. As a member of the trial team, she secured three consecutive 9-figure bellwether trial verdicts, including a $1 billion result for six families. In early 2019, amidst a retrial led by Jayne and her legal team, Johnson & Johnson agreed to a significant global settlement to resolve all pending litigation.

Litigating on Behalf of Volkswagen Owners and Dealers

A member of the Volkswagen MDL Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, Jayne has been on the front lines of helping thousands of VW and Audi diesel owners impacted by the emission scandal. The litigation recently resolved with VW agreeing to pay more than $16 billion in fines and buybacks to thousands of car owners impacted by the company’s deceitful actions. Jayne also leads the firm’s efforts in representing dealers who were in competition with Volkswagen and lost sales as a direct result of the company’s misleading advertising efforts and falsified emissions reports.

Beyond the Courtroom

Whether in or out of the courtroom, Jayne is instantly recognizable by her vintage couture style and can often be seen wearing beautifully constructed suits from the 1940s in the courtroom and around the New York office where she is based. She credits her innate sense of style to her mother, as well as her grandmother, a master seamstress who made most of her clothes growing up. Jayne currently resides in New York City and Cape Cod.

Representative Cases Include

$650.5 million in abatement | County of Lake v. Purdue Pharma LP et al., case number 1:18-op-45032, County of Trumbull v. Purdue Pharma LP et al., case number 1:18-op-45079, and In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, case number 1:17-md-02804, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
City and County of San Francisco, et al., v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al., Case No. 3:18-cv-07591-CRB (Co-Lead of Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee);
In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL 2804 (N.D.Ohio 2018) (Co-Lead of Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee);
$1.7 billion in settlements | In re: Opioid Litigation, case number 400000/2017; County of Suffolk v. Purdue Pharma LP et al., case number 400001/2017; County of Nassau v. Purdue Pharma LP et al., case number 400008/2017; and State of New York v. Purdue Pharma LP et al., case number 400016/2018, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Suffolk. (Lead counsel for Suffolk County);
In re McKinsey & Co Inc National Prescription Opiate Consultant Litigation, Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, No. 2996. (Court-appointed member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee);
In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3047 (Court-appointed member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee Leadership);
$60 million settlement | St. Louis v. Perlitz et al., case number 3:13-cv-01132, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. (Class action settlement on behalf of 170+ Haitian nationals alleging negligent supervision on part of Connecticut-based defendants of convicted pedophile, resulting in sexual abuse);
$247 million DePuy Hip Verdict | In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 2244, Alicea et al. v. DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. et al., case number 3:15-cv-03489; Barzel v. DePuy et al., case number 3:16-cv-01245; Kirschner v. DePuy et al., case number 3:16-cv-01526; Miura v. DePuy et al., case number 3:13-cv-04119; Stevens v. DePuy et al., case number 3:14-cv-01776; and Stevens v. DePuy et al., case number 3:14-cv-02341, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. (Six cases consolidated for trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Dallas Division alleging injuries from J&J DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implants.) (Co-counsel and member of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee);
$1 billion DePuy Hip Verdict | In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 2244, No. 13-3631, Rosa Metzler, et al. v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 12-2066, Michael Weiser v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 13-3631, Judith Rodriguez v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 13-3938, Linda Standerfer v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 14-1730, Kathleen Davis, et al. v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 15-1767, Marvin Andrews, et al. v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 15-3484. (Six cases consolidated for trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Dallas Division alleging injuries from J&J DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implants.) (Co-counsel and member of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee);
$502 million DePuy Hip Verdict | Aoki v. DePuy Orthopedics, et al., No. 3:13-cv-01071-K; Christopher v. DePuy Orthopaedics, et al., No. 3:14-cv-01994-K; Greer v. DePuy Orthopaedics, et al., No. 3:12-cv-01672-K; Klusmann v. DePuy Orthopaedics, et al., No. 3:11-cv-02800-K; and Peterson v. DePuy Orthopaedics, et al., No. 3:11-cv-01941-K. (Five cases consolidated for trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Dallas Division alleging injuries from J&J DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implants; verdict of $502 million including $142 million compensatory and $360 million punitive damages.);
In re: Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Marketing, Sales Practices, And Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2672 (Court-appointed member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee);
$12 million settlement | Jean-Charles v. Perlitz, 3:11-CV-00614-RNC (D. Conn. 2013) (consolidated actions on behalf of 24 Haitian nationals alleging negligent supervision on part of Connecticut-based defendants of convicted pedophile, resulting in sexual abuse);
In re: Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices, and Product Liability Litigation, MDL 2151 (C.D. Cal.) (court-appointed member of Lead Counsel Committee for Economic Loss Claims);
In re: Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, No. 21 MC 97 (S.D.N.Y.) (Consolidated 9/11 negligence actions against airlines and airport security companies);
In re: Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, MDL 1570 (S.D.N.Y.) (Anti-terrorism Act actions against financial sponsors of terrorism);
In re: DePuy Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2244 (N.D. Tex. Jan. 9, 2012) (Court-appointed member of Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee);
In re: DePuy ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2197 (N.D. Ohio) (Court-appointed member of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee);
In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010 litigation, MDL 2179 (E.D. La.) (Co-chair of Environmental Testing Committee);
In re: Syngenta AG MIR162 Corn Litigation, MDL 2591 (D. Kan. Jan. 21, 2015) (court-appointed member of Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee);
In re: Lipitor Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2502 (D.S.C. April 9, 2014) (court-appointed member of Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee);
In re: Zoloft Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2342 (E.D. Pa. 2012) (court-appointed member of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee);
In re: Propecia (Finasteride) Product Liability Litigation, MDL 2331 (E.D.N.Y. 2012) (court-appointed member of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee);
In re: Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2325, 2326 & 2327 (S.D. W. Va. 2012) (court-appointed member of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee);
In re: Actos Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2299 (W.D. La. 2012) (court-appointed member of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee);
In re: Yazmin and Yaz (Drospirenone) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2100 (S.D. Ill.) (court-appointed co-chair of Plaintiffs’ Law and Briefing Committee);
In re: Chantix (Varenicline) Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2092 (N.D. Ala.) (court-appointed Plaintiff State and Federal Court Co-Liaison);
In re: Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1909 (N.D. Oh.) (court-appointed member of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee);
In re: Zyprexa Litigation, MDL 1596 (E.D.N.Y.) (court-appointed member of Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee);
In re: Bextra and Celebrex Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1699 (N.D. Cal.) and New York State Coordinated Proceedings (court-appointed member of Discovery and Science Committees, Trial Team and Common Benefit Allocation Committee);
Owens-Illinois, Inc. v. T&N Ltd. , 191 F.R.D. 522 (E.D. Tex. 2000) (successful vacation of $1.66 billion default judgment);
Chase Manhattan Bank v. T&N plc, 1997 WL 221203 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 28, 1997), aff’d, 162 F.3d 1147 (2d Cir. 1998) (successful defense of largest asbestos property damage case ever tried in U.S.) (trial profiled in “Chase’s Case Turns to Dust,” The American Lawyer (May 1996); and
Prudential Ins. Co. v. T&N plc (D. Mass. 1992) (successful defense of $200 million asbestos property damage action).

Fidelma L. Fitzpatrick

Member, Motley Rice LLC

Fidelma Fitzpatrick represents people and communities in toxic tort and environmental matters, including property damage and personal injury claims. Her experience with complex civil litigation has led her to represent other victims of corporate malfeasance, including thousands of women who suffered health problems after receiving medical devices such as Essure®, pelvic mesh/sling products and IUDs, as well as people harmed by consumer products such as chemical hair straighteners.

In addition to her toxic tort and medical casework, Fidelma also represents states, cities, counties and townships in litigation against opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies in their claims the companies engaged in deceptive marketing and over-distribution of highly addictive opioids, creating and fueling the deadly opioid crisis.

In 2023, Honorable Mary Rowland appointed Fidelma as co-lead counsel for MDL 3060 In re: Hair Relaxer Marketing Sales Practices And Products Liability Litigation in the Northern District of Illinois. Plaintiffs in the MDL developed uterine cancer and other illnesses after using certain chemical hair relaxers. They assert defendant manufacturers failed to adequately test the products and warn customers about potential harms. Fidelma is also lead counsel of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for the coordinated Essure® litigation in California against Bayer Corp., and she serves on the PEC for Paragard® IUD multidistrict litigation filed in the Northern District of Georgia for women who suffered severe effects linked to the birth control devices. She also serves as co-lead counsel of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for a Philadelphia mass tort filed for farmers, railroad workers and others who developed Parkinson’s Disease after using Paraquat weed killer.

In 2012, Fidelma was appointed co-lead counsel of the pelvic mesh MDL In re American Medical Systems, Inc., Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation in the Southern District of West Virginia. She also holds leadership roles in pelvic mesh state court litigations, including serving as liaison counsel in the American Medical Systems cases consolidated in Delaware and the Boston Scientific cases consolidated in Massachusetts. She continues to represent women who experienced complications after receiving pelvic mesh/sling products. Filed cases are against defendants including Boston Scientific, C.R. Bard, Inc., and Ethicon.

In addition to her leadership appointments in various mass tort actions, Fidelma regularly serves as trial counsel in varied product liability and medical device cases on behalf of Plaintiffs. She was co-lead trial counsel in the lead paint pigment case, The People of California v. Atlantic Richfield Company et al., in which Motley Rice represented 10 California cities and counties against national lead paint pigment manufacturers. In January 2014, the court ruled Sherwin-Williams Company, NL Industries, Inc., and ConAgra Grocery Products Company created a public nuisance by actively promoting lead for use in homes despite knowing that it was highly toxic. The parties subsequently reached a $305 million settlement that established an abatement fund to remove toxic lead paint from homes and protect the health and safety of thousands of California children.

Fidelma also held a central role in the state of Rhode Island's trial against former corporate manufacturers of lead paint pigment. She continues to litigate cases seeking to hold the lead paint pigment industry accountable for the childhood lead poisoning crisis and provide restitution and compensation to affected children and families. As a result of her work for lead poisoning victims, the Wisconsin State Supreme Court became the first to recognize the legal rights of poisoned children to sue lead paint pigment manufacturers.

Fidelma began working with Motley Rice attorneys in 1997 on the Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island lawsuits against the tobacco industry. She serves on the Board of Regents at Canisius College and frequently speaks on environmental and mass tort topics at conferences for federal and state court judges, attorneys, academic professionals and law students.

Published Works

“Painting Over Long-Standing Precedent: How the Rhode island Supreme Court Misapplied Public Nuisance Law in State v. Lead Industries Association” Roger Williams University Law Review (Summer 2010)
“Access to Justice: The Use of Contingent Fee Arrangements by Public Officials to Vindicate Public Rights” Cardozo J.L. & Gender (Spring 2008)
“Negligence in the Paint: The Case for Applying the Risk Contribution Doctrine to Lead Litigation” in Pace Environmental Law Review (Fall 2008)

Please remember that every case is different. Although it endorses this lawyer, The Legal 500 United States is not a Motley Rice client. Any result we achieve for one client in one matter does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.

Litigation Areas

Medical Devices
Toxic Exposure

Joseph F. Rice

Co-Founding Member of Motley Rice LLC

Motley Rice co-founder Joe Rice is recognized as a skillful and innovative negotiator of complex litigation settlements, having served as the lead negotiator in some of the largest civil actions our courts have seen in the last 20 years.

Corporate Legal Times reported that national defense counsel and legal scholars described Joe as one of the nation's “five most feared and respected plaintiffs’ lawyers in corporate America.” As the article notes, "For all his talents as a shrewd negotiator ... Rice has earned most of his respect from playing fair and remaining humble.”

Joe was recognized by some of the nation’s best-regarded defense lawyers as being “the smartest dealmaker they ever sat across the table from,” Thomson Reuters has reported. Professor Samuel Issacharoff of the New York University School of Law, a well-known professor and expert in class actions and complex litigation, has commented that he is “the best strategic thinker on the end stages of litigation that I’ve ever seen.”

Since beginning to practice law in 1979, Joe has continued to reinforce his reputation as a skillful negotiator, including through his involvement structuring some of the most significant resolutions of asbestos liabilities on behalf of those injured by asbestos‐related products. He negotiates for the firm's clients at all levels, including securities and consumer fraud, anti-terrorism, human rights, environmental, medical drugs and devices, as well as catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases.

NATIONAL PRESCRIPTION OPIATE MDL:

Joe is co-lead counsel in the National Prescription Opiate MDL aimed at combatting the alleged over-distribution and deceptive marketing of prescription opioids. Joe, as Chair of the opioid Negotiating Committee, worked with the committee and the Attorney General Committee to reach over $50 billion in settlements for communities nationwide with defendants in the opioid supply chain. Motley Rice continues to represent dozens of governmental entities, including the first jurisdictions to file cases in the current wave of litigation.

VEHICLE RECALLS:

Joe served as one of the lead negotiators in the $15 billion Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Fraud class action settlement for 2.0-liter vehicles, the largest auto-related consumer class action settlement in U.S. history, as well as the 3.0-liter settlement. Under his leadership, Motley Rice also helped negotiate a pair of Takata bankruptcy resolutions that secured funds for victims who were harmed by the company’s deadly, explosive airbags. Joe also serves as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for In re General Motors LLC Ignition Switch Litigation, and was appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for In re Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep Ecodiesel Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation.

MEDICAL DRUGS AND DEVICES:

Joe led negotiations on behalf of thousands of women who allege complications and severe health effects caused by transvaginal mesh and sling products, including litigation that has five MDLs pending in the state of West Virginia. He is also a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for the Lipitor® MDL, filed for patients who allege the cholesterol drug caused their Type 2 diabetes.

BP OIL SPILL:

Joe served as a co-lead negotiator for the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in reaching the two settlements with BP, one of which is the largest civil class action settlement in U.S. history. The Economic and Property Damages Rule 23 Class Action Settlement is estimated to make payments totaling between $7.8 billion and $18 billion to class members. Joe was also one of the lead negotiators of the $1.028 billion settlement reached between the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., for Halliburton’s role in the disaster.

9/11:

Joe held a crucial role in executing strategic mediations and/or resolutions on behalf of 56 families of 9/11 victims who opted out of the government-created September 11 Victim Compensation Fund. In addition to providing answers, accountability and recourse to victims’ families, the resulting settlements with multiple defendants shattered a settlement matrix developed and utilized for decades. The litigation also helped provide public access to evidence uncovered for the trial.

TOBACCO:

As lead private counsel for 26 jurisdictions, including numerous State Attorneys General, Joe was integral to the crafting and negotiating of the landmark Master Settlement Agreement, in which the tobacco industry agreed to reimburse states for smoking-related health costs. This remains the largest civil settlement in U.S. history.

ASBESTOS:

Joe held leadership and negotiating roles involving the bankruptcies of several large organizations, including AWI, Federal Mogul, Johns Manville, Celotex, Garlock, W.R. Grace, Babcock & Wilcox, U.S. Gypsum, Owens Corning and Pittsburgh Corning. He has also worked on numerous Trust Advisory Committees. Today, he maintains a critical role in settlements involving asbestos manufacturers emerging from bankruptcy and has been recognized for his work in structuring significant resolutions in complex personal injury litigation for asbestos liabilities on behalf of victims injured by asbestos-related products. Joe has served as co-chair of Perrin Conferences’ Asbestos Litigation Conference, the largest national asbestos-focused conference.

SECURITIES AND CONSUMER FRAUD:

Joe is often sought by investment funds for guidance on litigation strategies to increase shareholder value, enhance corporate governance reforms and recover assets. He was an integral part of the shareholder derivative action against Omnicare, Inc., Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust v. Gemunder, which resulted in a significant settlement for shareholders as well as new corporate governance policies for the corporation.

Joe serves on the Board of Advisors for Emory University's Institute for Complex Litigation and Mass Claims, which facilitates bipartisan discussion of ways to improve the civil justice system through the hosting of judicial seminars, bar conferences, academic programs, and research. In 1999 and 2000, he served on the faculty at Duke University School of Law as a Senior Lecturing Fellow, and taught classes on the art of negotiating at the University of South Carolina School of Law, Duke University School of Law and Charleston School of Law.

In 2013, he and the firm created the Ronald L. Motley Scholarship Fund at The University of South Carolina School of Law in memory and honor of co-founding member and friend, Ron Motley.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:

Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center, Co-chair for inaugural Campaign for the Next Child
First Tee of Greater Charleston, Board of Advisors
American Heart Association of the Lowcountry, 2018 Heart Walk Chair

Donald A. Migliori

Member of Motley Rice LLC

Building upon his experience in complex asbestos cases, the historic tobacco lawsuits and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks litigation, Don Migliori is a multifaceted litigator who can navigate both the courtroom and the negotiating table. He represents victims of defective medical devices and drugs, occupational diseases, terrorism, aviation disasters, antitrust, and securities and consumer fraud in mass torts and other cutting-edge litigation that spans the country.

Don serves in leadership roles for a number of multidistrict litigations, including being a key member of Motley Rice’s team that represents dozens of cities, towns, counties and townships in the National Prescription Opiate MDL against opioid manufacturers and distributors. He also represents states in similarly filed litigation. He played a significant role in negotiations on behalf of tens of thousands of women allegedly harmed by pelvic mesh/sling products and served as co-liaison counsel in the N.J. Bard pelvic mesh litigation in Atlantic County. Hundreds of cases have been filed in federal and state courts against multiple defendants.

He is also co-lead counsel for In re Ethicon Physiomesh Flexible Composite Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation, a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for In re Bard IVC Filters Products Liability Litigation, as well as the Depuy® Orthopaedics, Inc. ASR™ and Pinnacle® Hip Implant MDLs. Don has litigated against both Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, and C.R. Bard previously in pelvic mesh litigation and also against C.R. Bard in the Composix® Kugel® hernia mesh multidistrict litigation, In re Kugel Mesh Hernia Patch Products Liability Litigation, the first MDL before the federal court of Rhode Island. Don also serves as co-lead plaintiffs’ counsel and liaison counsel in the federal MDL, and as liaison counsel for the Composix® Kugel® Mesh lawsuits consolidated in Rhode Island state court on behalf of thousands of individuals alleging injury by the hernia repair patch.

As liaison counsel for all wrongful death and personal injury cases in the September 11th aviation security litigation, Don played a central role in the extensive discovery, mediations and settlements of more than 50 cases of aviation liability and damages against numerous defendants. He also represented families of the victims who opted out of the Victim Compensation Fund to seek greater answers, accountability and recourse. Additionally, he manages associated litigation as a lead attorney for In re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, MDL #1570, a groundbreaking case designed to bankrupt the financiers of al Qaeda.

Don contributed his experience in connection with the commencement of and strategy for shareholder derivative litigation brought on behalf Chiquita Brands International, Inc., alleging the defendants breached their fiduciary duties by paying bribes to terrorist organizations in violation of U.S. and Columbian law. He also served as trial counsel for PACE Industry Union-Management Pension Fund in a securities case against Forest Laboratories, Inc., and was involved in the initial liability discovery and trial strategy in an ongoing securities fraud class action involving Household International, Inc.

Don began working with Motley Rice attorneys in 1997 on behalf of the State Attorneys General in the historic lawsuit against Big Tobacco, resulting in the largest civil settlement in U.S. history. He tried several noteworthy asbestos cases on behalf of mesothelioma victims, including the state of Indiana’s first contractor liability verdict and first premises liability verdict for wrongful exposure to asbestos. He continues to manage asbestos cases and actively litigates mesothelioma lawsuits and individual tobacco cases in the courtroom.

Don is a frequent speaker at legal seminars across the country and has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, as well as in print media to address legal issues related to terrorist financing, aviation security, class action litigation, premises liability and defective medical devices. A "Distinguished Practitioner in Residence" at Roger Williams University School of Law for the 2010-2011 academic year, Don taught mass torts as an adjunct professor for more than 10 years. Don is an AV® rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell®.

LICENSED IN:

MA, MN, NY, RI, SC

ADMITTED TO PRACTICE BEFORE:

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First, Fourth, and Eleventh Circuits; U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, District of Massachusetts, and Northern, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York

EDUCATION:

M.A./J.D., Syracuse University, 1993
A.B., Brown University, 1988

AWARDS AND ACCOLADES:

Chambers USA
- 2021 Product Liability: Plaintiffs – Nationwide, Band 3
Best Lawyers® Charleston, SC
- 2020 "Lawyer of the Year" Mass tort litigation/class actions – plaintiffs
- 2011–2024 Mass tort litigation/class actions – plaintiffs
Super Lawyers® lists
- 2018–2021 South Carolina Super Lawyers: Class action/mass torts; Personal Injury – products: plaintiff; Aviation and aerospace
- 2009–2017 Rhode Island Super Lawyers
- 2012–2013 Top 10 Rhode Island Super Lawyers lists
The National Trial Lawyers
- 2010–present Top 100 Trial Lawyers™: Rhode Island
Lawdragon
- 2018–2024 Lawdragon 500
- 2019–2023 Lawdragon 500 Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers
- 2019–2023 Lawdragon 500 Plaintiff Financial Lawyers
- 2010 Lawdragon 3,000
Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly
- 2020 Leader in the Law
- 2011 Lawyer of the Year
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
- 2011 Lawyers of the Year
Benchmark Plaintiff
- 2012–2014 Rhode Island “Litigation Star”: human rights and product liability
Providence Business News
- 2005 Forty Under 40

ASSOCIATIONS:

Law360 Product Liability Editorial Advisory Board, 2019, 2021
American Association for Justice, Board of Governors; former Executive Committee member
American Bar Association
Rhode Island Association for Justice, former President
The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation

Kimberly Branscome

Partner with Paul | Weiss

Co-chair of the Product Liability practice group, Kim Branscome is a nationally renowned trial lawyer and litigation strategist who focuses on complex litigation and trials involving product liability, professional liability, environmental and toxic torts, and securities matters. She has secured several high-profile product liability trial victories on behalf of leading multinational corporations across a broad range of sectors, including the pharmaceutical, consumer products, energy and automotive industries. Kim is widely regarded as one of the most talented and respected lawyers in the product liability and mass tort litigation area, with clients describing her as “one of the leading lawyers in this space” and as “someone clients trust to try their cases.”

Experience

Kim has deep experience litigating in federal and state courtrooms across the country, with a particular emphasis on the most high-profile mass torts and product liability matters, as well as high-stakes securities class actions and other complex civil litigation. Kim’s representations include:

Johnson & Johnson in securing multiple complete defense verdicts as lead trial counsel in product liability litigation where the plaintiffs alleged that J&J’s talcum-based baby powder products contained asbestos that caused the plaintiff to develop mesothelioma. The trial wins were recognized by the Daily Journal as “Top Defense Verdicts” in 2018 and 2019, as well as by Law360 as one of the “Top Product Liability Cases of 2018.”
3M as lead defense counsel and lead trial counsel, notably securing multiple favorable trial verdicts, in a multibillion-dollar product liability litigation involving allegations that a product sold to the military is related to hearing loss suffered by servicemen and women. The case is recognized as the largest federal multidistrict litigation in U.S. history.
GlaxoSmithKline as liaison and lead trial counsel in consolidated proceedings in California involving thousands of claimants who allege that an antacid medication has carcinogenic properties.
GM in multidistrict federal and state civil litigation relating to ignition switches in its vehicles, securing victories in the second federal bellwether trial and the first state bellwether trial.
Omega Flex in product liability litigation involving allegations that its product, CSST flexible steel gas piping, was defective.
BP in multidistrict and related civil litigation arising out of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP in multidistrict securities fraud litigation alleging it and other defendants materially misrepresented the client’s stock prior to and immediately following the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion.
Aon in a professional liability action arising from damage to the Opry Mills Mall after the historic flooding of the Cumberland River in Nashville.
Multiple pharmaceutical industry clients, including Merck, Pfizer, Hoffmann-La Roche and AstraZeneca, among others, in mass tort and multidistrict litigation involving product liability claims related to their prescription medicines.

Awards & Recognitions

Kim is widely recognized by leading publications and legal directories for her trial accomplishments and expertise. The American Lawyer named Kim to its 2022 list of “West Trailblazers,” which recognizes lawyers in the western states who have moved the needle in the legal industry. Chambers USA has recognized Kim in the Product Liability & Mass Torts (USA) category for the past four years, describing her as a “well-regarded trial lawyer who has amassed a broad range of experience in mass torts and class actions.” The Legal 500 US also recognizes Kim in its Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action-Defense categories across consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices and toxic torts, describing her as a “strong practitioner with excellent strategic smarts.” The Daily Journal recognized her as one of the “Top 100 Lawyers” in California in 2019 and one of the “Top Women Lawyers” in California in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Forbes recognized Kim on its inaugural 2024 “America’s Top 200 Lawyers” list. The Los Angeles Business Journal named Kim to its “Top Litigators & Trial Lawyers” and “Most Influential Women Lawyers” lists in 2019 and Law360 named her a “Rising Star” in 2017.

Gary A. Dordick

Dordick Law Corporation

Gary A. Dordick of Dordick Law Corporation is a trial attorney specializing in plaintiff jury trials and has over 150 Jury trials in his career. Mr. Dordick went directly from high school to law school, never attending college. He put himself through a four-year night program while working at a law office, where he started as a file room clerk. Immediately after passing the bar, Mr. Dordick opened his own law firm, starting out with no employees. Now, Dordick Law Corporation has three locations, 56 employees, and 18 lawyers, including his three kids, Michelle, Dylan, and Taylor, as associate lawyers. Mr. Dordick is also on the executive board of the ABOTA Los Angeles chapter and will be The ABOTA President in 2025. He is an Emeritus member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) Board of Governors and was just inducted into the Hall of Fame on June 8, 2023. He won CAALA's Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2001. He has been nominated for CAALA's Trial Lawyer of the Year an unprecedented eleven times. He is CAOC's (Consumer Attorneys of California) 2009 Trial Attorney of the Year. He was announced one of the Daily Journal's Top 100 Lawyers in California in 2017, 2021, and 2022 as well as one of the Daily Journal's Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California for 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Mr. Dordick was named Jury Verdicts Trial Lawyer of the Year. In 2016, he was awarded the Loyola Law School Champion of Justice Award for his career achievements representing Plaintiffs. In 2015, he received the “Civil Advocate Award” from the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel (ASCDC). In 2003, Mr. Dordick received the University of West Los Angeles's highest honor – The Bernard Jefferson Award. Mr. Dordick founded Dordick Trial College in Cabo San Lucas, B.C. which holds an annual trial school with all the proceeds going to cancer research. Mr. Dordick frequently lectures trial practice, ethics, and civility in the courtroom. Some of his recent lectures include: CAALA Teaching PTA, CAOC National Webinar, Brain Injury Association, Loyola Law School, Western Trial Lawyers Association, Law-Di-Gras, ASCDC Annual Seminar, CAALA, and CAOC annual conference. He has held the record for the highest jury verdicts in numerous courthouses, including a record-breaking $125 million dollar jury verdict in Ventura County in 2016. Mr. Dordick is extremely proud of starting The Dordick Trial College in 2020, located in Cabo San Lucas, MX., where 100% of the proceeds go to cancer research at Dana Faber Cancer Center in Boston.

Sasha M. Gurvitz

Partner with KTBS Law LLP

Ms. Gurvitz has represented clients as restructuring counsel in a variety of roles, both out of court and in chapter 11 cases in Delaware, Texas, New York, California, Nevada, and Indiana. Ms. Gurvitz has represented chapter 11 debtors in numerous mid-market Delaware bankruptcy cases. Ms. Gurvitz also has experience representing official creditors’ committees, purchasers of assets, secured lenders, DIP lenders, contract counterparties, landlords, equity holders, independent directors, chapter 11 trustees, and other chapter 11 stakeholders. Ms. Gurvitz’s chapter 11 practice has recently been focused on mass tort, hospital, real estate, retail, and restaurant cases. Ms. Gurvitz serves as official committee counsel to the survivor committee in the bankruptcy case of The Roman Catholic Bishop of San Diego, and represented the interests of sex abuse survivors in the Boy Scouts and USA Gymnastics bankruptcy cases. Ms. Gurvitz served as official committee counsel in 3M’s mass tort bankruptcy case, In re Aearo Technologies. Ms. Gurvitz serves as counsel to the Independent Director in the Amyris bankruptcy case in connection with his investigation of potential breach of fiduciary duty claims and related matters. Ms. Gurvitz has also worked on significant out of court workouts in the healthcare industry, as well as in the retail and marijuana industries. In addition to her primary restructuring work, Ms. Gurvitz has represented clients in federal multi-district litigation, in fraudulent transfer actions, and in appeals, including to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Seventh Circuit, and Ninth Circuit.

Ms. Gurvitz is a member of the California State Bar, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Turnaround Management Association, and the Financial Lawyers Conference. Ms. Gurvitz serves as President for the Southern California chapter of the Turnaround Management Association, as Co-Chair for the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Southwest Conference, and on the Board of Governors of the Financial Lawyers Conference. Ms. Gurvitz is honored to have been named as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for the years 2019 through 2024 and as a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s 2021 class of “40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders in Insolvency.” Ms. Gurvitz has written articles for several bankruptcy publications, including Colliers on Bankruptcy, Colliers Practice Guide, the Norton Adviser, and Law360, and enjoys speaking at conferences on bankruptcy-related topics.

Ms. Gurvitz received her J.D. from UCLA School of Law, where she graduated tenth in her class and was admitted to the Order of the Coif and awarded the 2013 American Bankruptcy Institute Medal of Excellence. Ms. Gurvitz earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated with highest honors.

Edgar C. Gentle, III

Founding Partner with Gentle Turner & Benson, LLC

Ed Gentle was born in Birmingham, Alabama, February 17, 1953. He graduated summa cum laude in 1975 from Auburn University where he was a Danforth Scholar and earned a Bachelor of Science degree. In 1977, he received a Master of Science (summa cum laude) from the University of Miami as a Maytag Fellow where he became familiar with the law of the sea and international resource planning issues involving competing nations.

He was a Rhodes Scholar (Auburn’s second and Miami’s first) at Oxford University where he earned a B.A. degree with honors in Jurisprudence in 1979. He received a M.A. degree from Oxford in 1980. He then attended the University of Alabama School Of Law as a Hugo Black Scholar. He earned his J.D. and was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in 1981.

Mr. Gentle has comprehensive experience in serving as Special Master and Claims Administrator in Mass Tort Litigation, and providing claims administration and financial and business advice to Courts, Settling Parties, and Mass Tort Settlements. He has helped create and administer over $2 Billion in Settlements during the past 20 years.

From 1992 to 2015, Mr. Gentle has served as Special Master and Escrow Agent for the MDL 926 Global Breast Implant Settlement, paying over $1.1 billion dollars in claims. From 2001 until 2003, he was Interim Financial Adviser for the Settlement Facility – Dow Corning Trust (the Dow Corning Breast Implant Settlement) overseeing the investment of over $1 billion and providing tax and accounting support for the Settlement.

Commencing in December 2003, Mr. Gentle was appointed as the Settlement Administrator in the $300 million Anniston, Alabama Tolbert PCB Settlement with Monsanto and Solutia in connection with the administration of a Global Settlement before the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Alabama applicable to approximately 18,000 claimants with respect to PCB contamination of property and PCB personal injury claims. In administering the $300 million settlement, Mr. Gentle has designed the claimant payment program for property damage and personal injury, collected criteria for payments for each of the 18,000 Claimants, ranked the claimants for payment amounts, and remitted payments to each of the claimants. He now helps manage a medical clinic for the claimants in Anniston.

In 2015, Mr. Gentle successfully mediated a Settlement of the Perrine v. DuPont case in Harrison County, West Virginia, involving a closed Zinc Smelter site in Spelter, West Virginia, with a medical monitoring and a property remediation component. In 2013, Mr. Gentle was appointed Medical Monitoring Administrator in a groundwater contamination settlement in Mingo County, West Virginia.

One of Mr. Gentle’s specialties, such as the Anniston PCB Settlement described above, a groundwater contamination case in Camden, New Jersey, a warehouse fire settlement in Conyers, Georgia, and Zinc Smelter Settlements in Spelter, West Virginia and Blackwell, Oklahoma.

From 2009 to 2015, Mr. Gentle served as Claims Administrator in the Jefferson County, Alabama, Occupation Tax Refund Case before the Honorable David Rains, in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County. On May 14, 2010, the Supreme Court of Alabama upheld $37 million of the Judgment. The Parties entered into a Settlement, which was approved by the Court, tax refunds were issued to over 300,000 claimants.

In June 2010, Mr. Gentle was appointed Special Master and Settlement Administrator in the Total Body Multi-district Litigation, MDL 1985. Working closely with the Court, Mr. Gentle facilitated the aggregate settlement of 222 of the 245 cases, in August 2010. Mr. Gentle and his staff determined the value of each of the settled cases, which was consented to by all 222 settling Plaintiffs, and Mr. Gentle is administering the Settlement.

In March 2012, Mr. Gentle was appointed Special Master of the $140 Million Blackwell, Oklahoma Zinc Smelter Settlement.

Mr. Gentle is Special Master in the national MDL Blue Cross Antitrust Litigation (MDL 2406)….@, with putative provider and subscriber classes, before the Honorable R. David Proctor, having been appointed in 2012.

In November 2014, Mr. Gentle was appointed one of three Special Masters of the $1 Billion Stryker Hip Settlement.

In August 2014, Mr. Gentle was appointed to Administer the Westpoint, KY Train Derailment Settlement and Appointed Special Master.

Ed Gentle is a member of the Birmingham and American Bar Associations—as well as the Alabama State Bar.

In 2015 Mr. Gentle was appointed Common Benefit Special Master in the CHS MDL before The Federal District Court in Birmingham, AL. In December 2015 and July 2016 Mr. Gentle was appointed Special Master to administer two Smith and Nephew aggregate settlements in the State Circuit Court in Memphis, TN. In March 2017 Mr. Gentle was appointed Special Master by the Federal District Court in Louisville, KY to administer the potential aggregate settlement of personal injury and property claims respecting a defunct Federal Mogul plant site in Bowling Green, KY.

In March 2017, Mr. Gentle was elected President of the Academy of Court Appointed Masters, founded by Francis McGovern and Ken Feinberg.

Joanna Wright

Partner with Jenner & Block

A dynamic trial lawyer, Joanna Wright represents plaintiffs and defendants in all stages of litigation and forges creative solutions to her clients’ most complex challenges. With deep experience in complex civil litigation, she has litigated almost every kind of high-stakes dispute, including novel constitutional claims, securities fraud, corporate governance and shareholder disputes, antitrust, white-collar defense, product liability, bellwether trials, copyright, and class actions.

Joanna has first chaired trials in both federal and state courts and arbitrations and served on over 15 trial teams in her career. She collaborates with industry leaders across the firm to leverage her skillset as a generalist litigator in high-stake matters. As a crisis manager, Joanna partners with her clients to advance business goals and build consensus among key stakeholders.

Her reputation as a forceful advocate is recognized across the industry. In 2023, Joanna was named a Notable Woman in Law by Crain’s New York Business. She is ranked among Lawdragon’s Leading Lawyers and Leading Litigators. Benchmark recognized her as a Future Star in 2022 and a 40 & Under honoree in 2023. The American Lawyer named her Young Lawyer of the Year in 2021.

Joanna is deeply committed to her pro bono practice, securing significant victories in the nation’s most critical matters of recent years. Most recently, just 72 hours after the Dobbs decision reversing Roe v. Wade, she obtained injunctive relief against multiple abortion bans in Louisiana—the first in the country. She continues to advocate for women in this matter in partnership with the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Prior to joining Jenner, Joanna was a partner and Executive Committee member at a leading New York litigation firm.

Areas of Focus

Representative Matters

Handling high-impact constitutional litigation in Louisiana following the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization; just 72 hours after Dobbs, Joanna won the first ruling in the nation to block the implementation of a state’s unconstitutionally vague “trigger bans”; she then secured a preliminary injunction enjoining the laws and is now proceeding with the underlying lawsuit challenging the laws.
Defended a multinational investment bank and financial services company in disputes involving tortious interference claims asserted by another investment bank concerning employment relationships of the respective firms’ investment bankers.
Defended a multinational automotive and clean energy company in a spate of litigations and arbitrations involving the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Defended a public company in major shareholder litigation and proxy contest.
Conducted an internal investigation into independent directors on the board of a public company and bringing securities fraud claims against the independent directors.
Sued a multinational technology company and online video sharing platform for copyright infringement on behalf of a putative class seeking billions in damages.
Represented a public-benefit corporation to advocate for consumers’ property rights in their personal data.
Defended a major luxury resort in an environmental CERCLA inquiry.
Defended the CEO of a ride share company in a novel antitrust class action lawsuit.
Sued a multinational automotive manufacturing company for product liability claims that resulted in favorable jury findings at trial.
Represented over 500 women Olympians and professional and collegiate athletes in a first-of-its-kind Supreme Court amicus brief in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, supporting women’s right and access to abortion healthcare.
Represented the former CEO of a major insurance company in a breach-of-contract dispute that settled favorably three days before trial.
Represented one of the co-founders of a major beverage company in a judicial buyout proceeding.
Represented an international airline’s minority shareholder in a potentially hostile takeover.
Defended a major New York restaurateur in a trademark and licensing dispute.
Represented a hedge fund in bringing fraud claims and securing remedies.
Defended an international bank in residential mortgage-backed securities litigation.
Represented women and children trafficked on Backpage in ongoing litigation.
Sued the federal government for a Fifth Amendment taking based on the federal bailout of a multinational finance and insurance corporation, resulting in liability findings in the Court of Federal Claims.
Represented a sexual assault survivor in a civil lawsuit that settled favorably at jury selection.
Represented an Ecuadorean teenager in asylum proceedings.

Stuart A. Davidson

Partner with Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP

Stuart Davidson is a partner in Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP’s Boca Raton office. His practice focuses on complex consumer class actions, including cases involving deceptive and unfair trade practices, privacy and data breach issues, and antitrust violations.

He has served as class counsel in some of the nation’s most significant privacy and consumer cases, including:

In re Facebook Biometric Information Privacy Litigation, No. 3:15-cv-03747-JD (N.D. Cal.) ($650 million recovery in a cutting-edge class action concerning Facebook’s alleged privacy violations through its collection of user’s biometric identifiers without informed consent)
In re Yahoo! Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 5:16-md-02752-LHK (N.D. Cal.) ($117.5 million recovery in the largest data breach in history)
Kehoe v. Fidelity Federal Bank & Trust, No. 9:03-cv-80593-DTKH (S.D. Fla.) ($50 million recovery in Driver’s Privacy Protection Act case on behalf of half-a-million Florida drivers against a national bank)
In re Sony Gaming Networks & Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 3:11-md-02258-AJB-MDD (S.D. Cal.) (settlement valued at $15 million concerning the massive data breach of Sony’s PlayStation Network)
In re Solara Medical Supplies Data Breach Litigation, No. 3:19-cv-02284-H-KSC (S.D. Cal.) ($5 million all-cash settlement for victims of healthcare data breach)

Stuart currently serves as Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel in:

In re American Medical Collection Agency, Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 2:19-md-02904-MCA-MAH (D.N.J.) (representing class of LabCorp customers)
In re Independent Living Systems Data Breach Litigation, No. 1:23-cv-21060-KMW (S.D. Fla.)
Garner v. Amazon.com, Inc., No. 2:21-cv-00750-RSL (W.D. Wash.) (alleging Amazon’s illegal wiretapping through Alexa-enabled devices)
In re American Financial Resources, Inc. Data Breach Litigation, No. 2:22-cv-01757-MCA-JSA (D.N.J.)
In re Fortra Tile Transfer Software Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 1:24-md-03090-RAR (S.D. Fla.) (representing Aetna patients)

Stuart also serves on Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in:

In re Lakeview Loan Servicing Data Breach Litigation, No. 1:22-cv-20955-DPG (S.D. Fla.)
In re FTX Cryptocurrency Exchange Collapse Litigation, No. 1:23-md-03076-KMM (S.D. Fla.)

Stuart also currently represents the State of Arkansas in a major antitrust enforcement action, State of Arkansas ex rel. Griffin v. Syngenta Crop Protection AG, No. 4:22-cv-01287-BSM (E.D. Ark.).

Stuart also spearheaded several aspects of:

In re EpiPen (Epinephrine Injection, USP) Marketing, Sales Practices & Antitrust Litigation, No. 2:17-md-02785-DDC-TJJ (D. Kan.) ($609 million total recovery achieved weeks prior to trial in certified class action alleging antitrust claims involving the illegal reverse payment settlement to delay the generic EpiPen, which allowed the prices of the life-saving EpiPen to rise over 600% in 9 years)
Served as Co-Lead Class Counsel in three cases brought against Genworth Life Insurance Company on behalf of long-term care insureds: Skochin v. Genworth Life. Ins. Co., No. 3:19-cv-00049-REP (E.D. Va.); Halcom v. Genworth Life Ins. Co., No. 3:21-cv-00019-REP (E.D. Va.); and Haney v. Genworth Life Ins. Co., No. 3:22-cv-00055-REP (E.D. Va.) (recovering hundreds of millions of dollars in cash damages for policyholders)
Served as Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel in In re NHL Players’ Concussion Injury Litigation, No. 0:14-md-02551-SRN-BRT (D. Minn.) (representing retired National Hockey League players in multidistrict litigation suit against the NHL regarding injuries suffered due to repetitive head trauma and concussions)
In re Pet Food Products Liability Litigation, No. 1:07-cv-02867-NLH-AMD (D.N.J.) ($24 million recovery in multidistrict consumer class action on behalf of thousands of aggrieved pet owners nationwide against some of the nation’s largest pet food manufacturers, distributors, and retailers)

He also served as Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel in:

In re UnitedGlobalCom, Inc. Shareholder Litigation, C.A. No. 1012-VCS (Del. Ch.) ($25 million recovery weeks before trial)
In re Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. Shareholder Litigation, No. 16-2011-CA-010616 (Fla. Cir. Ct.) ($11.5 million recovery for former Winn-Dixie shareholders following the corporate buyout by BI-LO)
In re AuthenTec, Inc. Shareholder Litigation, No. 5-2012-CA-57589 (Fla. Cir. Ct.) ($10 million recovery for former AuthenTec shareholders following a merger with Apple)

Stuart is a former lead assistant public defender in the Felony Division of the Broward County, Florida Public Defender’s Office. During his tenure at the Public Defender’s Office, he tried over 30 jury trials and defended individuals charged with major crimes ranging from third-degree felonies to life and capital felonies. He has been quoted in numerous major media outlets regarding his cases, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, New York Daily News, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Boston Globe, the Miami Herald, The Globe & Mail, and Law360, and is a frequent speaker at conferences involving class action practice and procedure.

Stuart has been honored in the category of Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Practice at the American Antitrust Institute’s Antitrust Enforcement Awards. He has also been named a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation, a Recommended Lawyer by The Legal 500, a Leading Lawyer in America, a Leading Litigator in America, a Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer, and a Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyer by Lawdragon, one of “Florida’s Most Effective Lawyers” by American Law Media’s Daily Business Review, and a member of The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100-Civil Plaintiffs. He has also been named a Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers Magazine. He is a member of the Sedona Conference Working Group 11 Brainstorming Group, focusing on the California Consumer Protection Act. Stuart currently serves on the 2024 Consumer Protection Editorial Advisory Board for Law360.

Stuart earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the State University of New York at Geneseo. Stuart earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law, where he graduated summa cum laude in the top 3% of his class. While in law school he was the Associate Editor for the Nova Law Review and was the recipient of Book Awards (highest grade) in Trial Advocacy, International Law, and Criminal Pretrial Practice.

Tor Hoerman

Owner/Attorney with TorHoerman Law, LLC

Tor Hoerman is a nationally recognized attorney who has served in the field for more than 25 years. He is most well-known as the founder of the personal injury law firm TorHoerman Law, LLC (THL).

Early Life & Education

Tor was born the youngest of four boys on July 16, 1969, in Bethesda, Maryland to Kirk and Greta Hoerman. With his father serving as a Captain in the Navy, Tor often moved towns during his childhood, eventually landing in the Chicago metropolitan area.

In Chicago, Tor lived in the Great Lakes Naval Base and Lake Bluff before his family settled in Lake Forest, which is where he attended high school. Despite repeatedly switching homes, Tor made the most of his situation. In high school, he played football, basketball, and baseball, and he earned varsity letters in each of these sports.

In addition to varsity recognition, he was recognized as an All-county athlete and awarded the Booster Club Athlete of the Year his senior year. Outside of sports, Tor coached little league baseball, served as a summer camp counselor, and worked as a summertime janitor at his former high school after graduating.

Tor attended Depauw University and majored in Political Science. He played NCAA baseball and football at Depauw, and he was the captain of the baseball team. After graduating from Depauw in 1991, Tor enrolled in the Chicago-Kent College of Law. During law school, Tor bartended at a local bar and clerked for Kravolec, Jambois & Schwartz, LLC.

Legal Career

After graduating from law school in 1995, Tor took on a job doing insurance defense at Bolero, Cart & Stone, LLC, where he worked reluctantly for a year and a half. One day at work, Tor received a phone call from Steve Jambois, his former employer throughout law school, asking if he wanted a job on the plaintiff’s side of insurance law. Tor immediately accepted the job, kickstarting decades to come of fighting corporations on behalf of harmed individuals.

Tor’s Transition To Medical Malpractice Litigation

Tor returned to Kravolec, Jambois & Schwartz to fight on behalf of medical malpractice victims, which mostly consisted of high-intensity trial work in the Chicago courthouse. After seven years at the Jambois firm, Hoerman was recruited by the Simmons law firm, based in an Illinois suburb of St. Louis, to start and lead a branch of the practice that focused on pharmaceutical litigation.

Leading The Pharmaceutical Practice At Simmons Law Firm

Tor became a partner of what is now Simmons, Hanly, and Conroy and led the pharmaceutical practice for seven years. One of Tor most notable achievements while leading the practice was his work against Purdue Pharma and its reckless distribution of OxyContin. Tor was the first to file a case alleging Purdue Pharma’s wrongdoing in distributing OxyContin and failing to adequately warn healthcare providers and the public of the risks of addiction.

Achieving Justice Against Purdue Pharma

He led the litigation process and got Purdue Pharma to agree to a large settlement, which was distributed to thousands of accidental addicts. Tor took a step further to achieve justice in this case, assisting the Department of Justice in obtaining guilty pleas by Purdue Pharma representatives who had a direct role in contributing to the opioid epidemic.

Founding TorHoerman Law

Having garnered success leading the pharmaceutical branch at the Simmons firm, Tor amicably decided to split from Simmons in 2009 and start his own pharmaceutical and personal injury practice called TorHoerman Law, LLC (THL). After negotiating the terms of the split, Tor struck a deal that allowed him to bring his entire staff from Simmons to his new practice, which summed up to more than 25 lawyers and staff members.

Expansion And Success Of THL

Tor opened offices in Edwardsville, IL; Clayton, MO; and Chicago, IL to kickstart operations; all three offices remain open today. In the time since opening THL, Tor and his team have litigated many pharmaceutical malpractice and personal injury cases.

Notable Successes At THL

Tor’s most notable successes while operating THL are perhaps co-leading the litigations against Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa and Takeda’s Actos. Through intense research and vetting, Tor was able to find substantial evidence indicating Actos causes bladder cancer and Pradaxa causes internal bleeding. He then presented the evidence to the companies, which decided to settle the cases.

Tor played a significant role in negotiating these settlements, which ended up being $650 million for Pradaxa and $2.4 billion for Actos. Tor has also had major success in several other product liability lawsuits, such as Zelnorm, Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents, and Incretin Mimetics.

Recognition & Awards

His successes with these cases and beyond earned him the distinction as a Top 25 Notable Alumni from the Chicago-Kent School of Law, which was awarded to him and 24 other lawyers out of the tens of thousands who have graduated from the school since its founding in 1888. Tor is also recognized as a Top 100 National Trial Lawyer by the National Trial Lawyers Organization.

Notable Cases & Results

Pradaxa (Dabigatran Etexilate) – Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2385 – Appointed by Judge Herndon as national lead counsel in the MDL. After protracted litigation successfully negotiated a $650 million settlement.
Actos Related Cases, MDL Case No. 11 L 10011, Et. Al. – Appointed by Judge Dooling as lead counsel in Cook County consolidated docket (over 4400 cases). After protracted litigation, he was one of four lead negotiators (along with Pete Flowers, Mark Lanier, and Andy Birchfield) on a $2.4 billion settlement.
Incretin Mimetics Products Liability Litigation, MDL Case No. 13MD2452 AJB (MDD) – Appointed as lead counsel by Judge Battaglia in the MDL. The case is pending.
OxyContin – Represented thousands of “accidental addicts”. After protracted litigation, he negotiated a large settlement and assisted the DOJ in obtaining guilty pleas by corporate representatives.
Zelnorm Litigation., Case No. 280 – Appointed lead counsel in NJ state court consolidation, took the major depositions and negotiated a confidential settlement.
Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents Litigation Case No. 279 and Products Liability Litigation MDL No. 1909 – Appointed by Judge Polster as both the state and federal liaison and lead counsel in the Cook County consolidated docket. He negotiated large, confidential, individual settlements.

Involvement In The Legal Community

In addition to his litigation work, Tor is on the Board of Managers of the Illinois Trial Lawyer Association and an Executive Board Member of the Mass Torts Trial Lawyer Association. He also attends national legal conferences on a yearly basis.

Personal Life

Personally, Tor is the proud father of Casey, Kirsten, and Quinn, and husband of Jessica. He tries to stay active including still playing baseball.

Jake Plattenberger

TorHoerman Law, LLC

Jacob Plattenberger has taken hundreds of depositions, argued in countless hearings, and tried over 35 cases to a jury. His experience in and out of the courtroom has made him a passionate advocate for those injured due to the negligence of others.

Professional Career

Jake started his career trying cases at one of the busiest civil courthouses in the country – the Richard J. Daley Center in downtown Chicago. He started out doing insurance defense because he knew that afforded him the best opportunity to get courtroom experience.

“When I was working on the defense side, I always knew that I was going to be a plaintiff’s lawyer. I knew that being able and willing to try a case to a jury was a skill that I needed to have if I was going to be able to offer my clients the best legal representation. Insurance companies and corporate defendants need to believe you when you say you will take them to trial – they need to fear that.”

This type of real trial experience is exceedingly rare in complex civil litigation and having seen it from the defense side gives Jake an added advantage.

At TorHoerman Law, Jake manages our Chicago office where he leads trial teams in nationwide, complex litigations such as:

Representing dozens of workers across the United States who were exposed to Diacetyl at work and now suffer lung disease

e.g. The Juul/E-cigarette Litigation

The Incretin Mimetics Products Liability Litigation, currently pending in the Southern District of California, where he was named to the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee
Various Transvaginal Mesh multidistrict litigations that are currently pending

Jake also maintains a personal injury practice in Chicago, representing people and their families who have been victims of catastrophic auto and truck accidents, products liability, maritime accidents, premises liability, and medical negligence.

Jake believes that to successfully represent his clients, it is absolutely necessary to get personally involved.

Notable Cases & Results

Incretin Mimetics – Products Liability Litigation, MDL Case No. 13MD2452 AJB (MDD). Appointed to the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee by Judge Battaglia in the MDL. The case is pending.
JUUL E-Cigarettes – Products Liability Litigation, JCCP No. 5052. Appointed to the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee by Judge Anne Jones in the JCCP. The case is pending.
Diacetyl – Leads the Diacetyl litigation for TorHoerman Law. Previous settlements and verdicts have exceeded $5,000,000.00 to date. Litigation is currently ongoing.
Actos Related Cases, MDL Case No. 11 L 10011, Et. Al. – Actively participated in managing the case for TorHoerman Law which resulted in a $2.4 billion settlement.
Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents Litigation Case No. 279 and Products Liability Litigation MDL No. 1909 – Managed the cases for TorHoerman Law which resulted in a large, confidential settlement.
Bus Accident – Handled a bus accident injury case in which an individual was thrown from a seat. Resulted in a $850,000.00 settlement.
Auto Accident – Handled an auto accident injury case that resulted in a $650,000.00 settlement.
Slip and Fall – Handled a slip and fall accident that occurred on a sightseeing boat in Chicago. Resulted in a $490,000.00 settlement.

Personal Life

Jake was born and raised in Chicago. He now lives in the Chicago suburbs, where his two young sons keep him busy.

When he isn’t working, Jake is a lifelong Bears and Cubs fan and loves participating in the (mostly) healthy rivalry between the Cubs and Cardinals fans at TorHoerman Law.

Doug Monsour

Founder of Monsour Law Firm

Douglas C. Monsour, or Doug Monsour, is a trial lawyer who handles important and significant injury cases in Texas and across the nation. He is one of a handful of trial lawyers who have successfully tried multiple pharmaceutical, medical device, and mass tort product liability cases as the lead lawyer. He also vigorously represents injured oil field workers, victims of 18-wheeler wrecks, industrial accident victims, and those that have been severely burned.

Trial Successes

Doug is known for his abilities in the courtroom. Recently, Doug secured two major trial victories in the 3M Combat Arms version 2 earplug litigation. On December 10, 2021, a Tallahassee, Florida Federal Court jury awarded U.S. Army veteran T.J. Finley $22.5 million for hearing loss suffered due to his defective Combat Arms version 2 earplugs. A few months later, on April 29, 2022, a Federal Court jury in Gainesville, Florida awarded $2.2 million to U.S. Army veteran Jonathan Vaughn for his hearing loss suffered from wearing the defective Combat Arms version 2 earplugs. The Finley v. 3M verdict was listed by The National Law Journal as one of the Top 100 verdicts of 2021. In fact, this verdict was the very first verdict in the entire 3M litigation to ever make the Top 100 list. Both trials were defended by international law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

Previously, in November 2014, Doug served as the lead lawyer in a transvaginal mesh case involving four women implanted with the Obtryx sling system to treat stress urinary incontinence. After an almost month-long trial, the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs in the amount of $18.5 million. This was the first verdict against Boston Scientific in the Federal Multi-District Litigation (MDL) for any of its incontinence sling products. (Wilson et al v. Boston Scientific Corp., WV, MDL 2326).

In 2004, Doug's trial skills were tested by pharmaceutical giant Wyeth. He served as lead lawyer in two very significant Fen-Phen cases. In the first case, Wyeth hired world famous defense lawyer Dan Webb of Chicago's legal Goliath, Winston & Strawn, to defend them. In the third week of the trial, Wyeth relented and settled for a confidential sum. In the second case, Wyeth retained Houston mega-firm Vinson & Elkins to defend them. Wyeth again relented, and just before closing arguments settled for a confidential sum.

In addition to these trials, Doug has tried over thirty cases of various types including oil field injuries, defective drugs, defective medical devices, medical malpractice, trucking (18-wheeler) wrecks, industrial accidents, car wrecks, civil rights and malicious prosecution.

Awards

Doug is triple board certified. He is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. In addition, he is Board Certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Furthermore, he is Board Certified in Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy by the National Board of Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy.

In 2000, Doug became a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an organization reserved for lawyers who have secured more than $1,000,000 in a single case. In 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2009, Doug was selected in Texas Monthly magazine as one of the "Rising Star" Lawyers in Texas. From 2009 through 2022 he has been selected as a Super Lawyer in Texas Monthly magazine every year. He has also been voted the Best Lawyer in Longview, Texas by the Longview News-Journal.

Leadership Roles and Appointments

Doug's abilities as a lawyer have repeatedly been recognized by judges across the country as he has been appointed to help lead many significant litigations.

Doug is currently serving on the Executive Committee for the 3M Combat Arms version 2 earplug litigation. In addition, Doug is the Chair of Science & Experts Subcommittee. Doug was appointed to both positions by U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers. Doug's work in the 3M litigation has included numerous corporate depositions, expert depositions, and development of the entire plaintiffs' slate of experts. In fact, the depositions taken by Doug have been used in every trial against 3M involving the CAEv2 earplug.

Prior to his current role in the 3M earplug litigation, Doug has held the following appointed positions (in chronological order):

In 2001, he was appointed to the Plaintiff's Liaison Committee for Fen-Phen Region 1. In this capacity, he served as the lead lawyer for all Fen-Phen cases in Northeast Texas. Doug tried the only two Round 2 cases to go to trial in Region 1.
In April 2008, United States Federal District Judge Don Middlebrooks of Southern District of Florida appointed Doug to serve on the Plaintiff's Steering Committee of In re Trasylol Litigation. In this capacity, Doug traveled across America, and to Europe, to investigate the conduct of Bayer concerning its drug, Trasylol. He took the depositions of many of the most important Bayer executives in the litigation.
In 2011, Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer appointed Doug as a member of the Plaintiff's Steering Committee for MDL 2172: In re: Zimmer NexGen Knee Products Liability Litigation, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois. In this litigation, Doug has deposed many significant witnesses for the plaintiffs.
In 2012, Doug was appointed to the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee for the Transvaginal Mesh Litigation by Federal Judge Joseph R. Goodwin. In that capacity, Doug has taken the lead in many critical depositions against Boston Scientific Corp. and Ethicon (a Johnson and Johnson company). He has also tried two mesh cases as the lead lawyer.

Education

Rice University, 1991. B.A. in Economics and Political Science.

Texas Tech School of Law, 1994. Magna Cum Laude. Executive Board of Editors, Texas Tech Law Review.

Family

Since 1994, Doug has been married to the former Sarah Lenhart. They have been blessed with three wonderful children, two sons and a daughter. Doug has coached his sons in T-ball, baseball, basketball, and soccer. Doug's favorite activities with his family are hunting with his sons, spending time at the lake, traveling, and being a frustrated Dallas Cowboys fan. All three of Doug's children attend or graduated from the University of Texas in Austin. Sarah Monsour is also a Longhorn. As might be expected, Doug is a dedicated Longhorn fan!

Adam C. Silverstein

Partner in the Litigation Department of Otterbourg P.C.

Mr. Silverstein has been a complex commercial litigator for over thirty years. He has successfully first-chaired both jury and non-jury trials through verdict, litigated arbitrations through award and confirmation, and argued appeals in both federal and state courts, in New York and elsewhere.

Mr. Silverstein has substantial experience litigating corporate attempts to resolve mass tort liabilities in bankruptcy. In the successful multi-firm effort to dismiss the In re Aearo Technologies, LLC (3M) bankruptcy earlier this year, he delivered the opening statement, split the closing argument with Eric Winston of Quinn Emanuel, and examined multiple witnesses at trial on behalf of the Official Committee of Combat Arms Earplug Claimants and the more than 200,000 veterans, service members and independent contractors, who collectively moved to dismiss the bankruptcy as a bad faith filing. The landmark decision of the bankruptcy court, the first ever to dismiss a mass tort bankruptcy at the trial level, largely adopted the movants’ arguments. A year earlier, at the outset of the Aearo bankruptcy, Mr. Silverstein played a significant role at trial in another successful multi-firm effort to defeat the debtors’ attempt to stay and enjoin the 3M Products Liability MDL. The denial of stay protection and preliminary injunctive relief in a mass tort bankruptcy was another first by a bankruptcy court.

In the recent multi-firm effort to dismiss the second LTL Management, LLC (Johnson & Johnson) bankruptcy, Mr. Silverstein directed or cross-examined four experts at trial on the subject of the respective capabilities of the tort system versus the bankruptcy system to globally resolve mass tort disputes involving future claims. In 2021 and 2022, in the first LTL bankruptcy, he litigated, and presented closing argument, on behalf of (initially) MDL leadership and (subsequently) the Official Committee of Talc Claimants in opposition to stay protection and preliminary injunctive relief in favor of Johnson & Johnson. The first LTL bankruptcy was subsequently dismissed on appeal by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the first appellate court to dismiss a mass tort bankruptcy.

Mr. Silverstein’s experience also includes litigating and advising clients in a broad array of other industries and with respect to a wide range of other subjects, including: creditors’ rights and lender liability; corporate governance and control; securities fraud; sponsorships and licenses; trade secrets, unfair competition and employment contracts; trusts and estates; higher education; intellectual property; and insurance coverage.

Mr. Silverstein has been selected for inclusion each year from 2009 through present as a New York Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers Magazine and long has been rated AV Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell. He is a member of the New York State and New York City Bar Associations and of the American Bankruptcy Institute. His closing argument on behalf of MasterCard in the FIFA World Cup injunction trial is quoted in Andrew Jenning’s “FOUL! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote-Rigging and Ticket Scandals” (paperback edition 2008).

Education:

B.A., with distinction in all subjects - Cornell University - 1988

J.D. cum laude - University of Pennsylvania – 1992

Navan Ward

Principal at Beasley Allen Law Firm

Navan is a principal at Beasley Allen Law Firm. He is the firm’s lead attorney on the metal-on-metal hip implant litigation, proton pump inhibitor (PPI) litigation, and practices from the Atlanta office. Navan is licensed to practice in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and New York. He is also an Executive Board Member of “Shades of Mass.” Navan is honored to currently serve as the Immediate Past President of the American Association for Justice (AAJ).

Background

Before he arrived at Beasley Allen, Navan had experience working for an insurance defense firm and an employment law firm. He was involved in cases dealing with medical malpractice, auto accidents, contractor liability, race discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace.

Navan is married to the former Bridget L. Maynor, of Irondale, Alabama, and they have twin sons, Roman and Jaxon. Navan attends church at Northview Christian Church – Communion City.

Notable Cases

Hip Implant Litigation

Navan’s hip implant litigation involves victims who have defective hip implants causing severe pain, metal poisoning, revision surgery, and in some cases, permanent injury. These defective hip devices are manufactured by various companies, such as Johnson & Johnson and DePuy Orthopedics, among others.

He has been instrumental in assisting with the verdicts and global settlements against major hip implant manufacturers, including Johnson & Johnson / DePuy for $4.057 billion, Howmedica Osteonics Corporation / Stryker for over $1 billion, and Biomet Corporation for more than $250 million, as well as additional confidential settlements involving other metal-on-metal and/or modular-neck hip components.

Medication Litigation

Upon arrival at Beasley Allen, Navan was responsible for overseeing the Meridia pharmaceutical drug litigation, a medication that caused heart attacks and strokes, as part of the Mass Torts Section.

Navan’s PPI litigation involve people who use PPI’s (ie: Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix, Nexium, Dexilant, etc.) for acid reflux and suffer severe kidney damage or stomach cancer as a result.

Navan was also heavily involved with the hormone replacement therapy litigation, representing hundreds of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer as a result of ingesting these combination hormone medications. His trial team was responsible for obtaining a $72.6 million verdict for three hormone therapy clients that went to trial in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Navan was heavily involved with the COX-2 inhibitor (Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra) pharmaceutical drug litigation. These drugs were used for the treatment of arthritis, but caused heart attacks, strokes and serious skin reactions. Specifically, he was the firm’s lead attorney for the Celebrex and Bextra pharmaceutical litigation. Navan was one of the leaders in the Bextra/Celebrex Multidistrict Litigation, serving on both the Science and Discovery committees.

Additionally, Navan was responsible for overseeing the Permax and Dostinex pharmaceutical drug litigation. These drugs were used for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease but caused damage to the users’ heart valves. Overall, Navan has obtained more than $360 million for the specific clients that he has represented in the various areas he has practiced.

Litigation Leadership Positions

Navan was selected to a team of lead lawyers, called the Plaintiffs Steering Committee (PSC), for the DePuy “ASR” Hip Implant Recall Multi-District Litigation (MDL), as well as for the DePuy “Pinnacle” Hip Implant MDL. Navan was also appointed as co-lead counsel for the Plaintiffs Executive Committee (PEC) in the Biomet M2a Magnum Hip Implant Products Liability MDL. Navan has also recently been appointed to the PEC for the PPI MDL litigation.

Other Litigation

As a member of the Personal Injury Section, he mostly litigated nursing home neglect and abuse, as well as wrongful death trucking cases in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. Navan has litigated cases where the nursing home resident suffered from injuries such as multiple falls, bedsores, malnutrition, dehydration, aspiration pneumonia and sepsis/infections. He has been successful in obtaining verdicts and/or settlements in the millions for his nursing home and wrongful death trucking clients.

Professional Associations

Navan has served in leadership positions for various legal organizations. He is Past President of the American Association for Justice, which is formerly known as the American Trial Lawyers Association. This is Navan’s tenth consecutive year serving on the Executive Committee. He has also served as a past chairman of the Minority Caucus, past chairman of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee and a member of the Board of Governors. Most recently, Navan is a founding member of the Executive Committee of “Shades of Mass,” which is a group that advocates and facilitates the appointment of minorities to leadership roles in federal and state-based centralized civil actions (including federal MDLs).

In addition, Navan is an American Bar Association (ABA) member, a member of The National Black Lawyers Top 100 Executive Committee, serving as a former Alabama State Bar delegate for the ABA. He is a past president of the Alabama Lawyers Association, the Alabama State Bar’s Young Lawyers Section, and the Montgomery County Association for Justice. Navan also was a member of Leadership Montgomery’s Class XXI, a former chairman of the Father Walters Charity Golf Tournament, and a member of the Alabama Law Foundation Grant Committee.

Awards and Recognitions

Navan has earned a Martindale Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating. In 2017, he was awarded the American Association for Justice’s (AAJ) Minority Caucus Stalwart Award for his dedicated years of service to the organization. Navan has been regularly selected to the Best Lawyers in America list, as well as being named to the Super Lawyers list for the last few years. He has also been named to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, which is the 500 best attorneys across the nation in this category.

Navan also received the AAJ Distinguished Service Award in 2012, and again in 2015. In 2014, Navan was the recipient of the AAJ’s Wiedemann & Wysocki Award. In 2013, he was selected as Beasley Allen’s Litigator of the Year. In 2011 and 2014, Navan was named Beasley Allen’s Mass Torts Section Lawyer of the Year.

Publicity

Navan has given several presentations concerning Talcum Powder litigation, PPI Litigation, the Johnson & Johnson / DePuy hip implant recall, Stryker modular-neck hip implant recall, defective metal-on-metal hip implants, hormone replacement therapy litigation, Cox-2 drug litigation, Permax/Dostinex litigation and nursing home litigation, Mass Tort Litigation, as well as various other practice skills presentations throughout the country.

Cari Campen Laufenberg

Partner with Keller Rohrback

As a partner in Keller Rohrback’s nationally recognized Complex Litigation Group, Cari Laufenberg maintains a national practice representing consumers, employees, and institutions in complex class actions involving corporate fraud, data privacy, breach of fiduciary duty, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).Since joining Keller Rohrback in 2003, she has played a key role in obtaining multi-million-dollar recoveries for consumers, employees, and shareholders in many of the firm’s largest and most complex cases, including cases involving Meta Platforms, Inc., T-Mobile, Anthem Inc., Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Marsh McLennan Companies, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., HealthSouth Corporation and The Williams Cos.

While having excelled in the realms of corporate fraud, fiduciary duty, and ERISA, Cari has also developed an excellent reputation litigating data privacy cases by securing meaningful relief for her clients and class members. She has been instrumental in the foundation and growth of the firm’s data privacy practice group. In that effort, she has served as Co-Lead Counsel in a number of high-profile data breach cases for which she and the KR team have achieved outstanding results: In re T-Mobile Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL No. 3019 (W.D. Mo.) (obtaining the second largest data breach settlement to date); In re 21st Century Oncology Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL No. 2737 (M.D. Fla.) (securing a meaningful settlement despite the company declaring bankruptcy), and as Class Counsel in Fox v. Iowa Health System (W.D. Wis.) (securing a favorable settlement for approximately 1.4 million victims of the UnityPoint Health data breach).

She also currently serves as Co-Lead Counsel in several other multidistrict data breach cases including In re 23andMe, Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL No. 3098 in the Northern District of California—a case concerning the exposure of highly sensitive personal and genetic information for 6.9 million customers and In re T-Mobile 2022 Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL 3037, in the Western District of Missouri—a case involving a November 2022 data breach impacting 37 million customers of U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile.

Cari has served in leadership positions in other prominent consumer class-action cases as well, including as Interim Lead Class Counsel in In re EpiPen ERISA Litigation (D. Minn.) and her appointment to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In re Oral Phenylephrine Marketing and Sales Practice Litigation, MDL No. 3089 (E.D.N.Y.).

She also played a fundamental role in the In re Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, MDL No. 2843 (N.D. Cal.), in which, together with co-lead counsel, KR achieved a $725 million settlement—the largest recovery ever achieved in a private data privacy class action and the most Meta has ever paid to resolve a private class action.

Over the past almost 20 years, Cari’s background in nonprofit management and public administration has served her clients well. She is adept at organizing large complex cases, working collaboratively with other counsel, and developing a cogent strategy which achieves short-term goals and long-term successes. Before joining Keller Rohrback in 2003, Cari served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Barbara Jacobs Rothstein of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. She is a frequent speaker at national conferences on class actions, identity theft and privacy, and other complex litigation topics.

Jean S. Martin

Attorney with Morgan & Morgan

Jean Sutton Martin is a lead attorney in Morgan and Morgan’s Complex Litigation Group. For more than 20 years, Ms. Martin has concentrated her practice on complex litigation, including consumer protection and defective products class action. She has a unique background having handled individual personal injury and mass tort cases as well as managing large consumer class actions.

Jean has considerable experience in data breach cases, including appointments as interim co-lead counsel in In re Morgan Stanley Data Security Litigation, 1:20-cv-05914 (S.D.N.Y.), In re Warner Music Group, Case No. 1:20-cv-07473-PGG (S.D.N.Y.), In Re: Ambry Genetics Data Breach Litigation, No. 20-cv-00791 (C.D. Cal), In re Brinker Data Incident Litigation, 18-cv-686 (M.D. Fla.), and Gordon, et al. v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.,17-cv-01415 (D. Colo.) She is also a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and bellwether trial team in In re: Smith & Nephew Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, No. 17-md-2775 (D. Md.) and a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In re: Allergan Biocell Textured Breast Implant Products Liability Litigation, No. 19-md-2921 (D. N.J).

Recognizing the growing importance of ESI issues, Jean obtained eDiscovery certification from the eDiscovery Training Academy at Georgetown Law Center in 2017. She is often called upon by other members of her firm to negotiate ESI protocols, establish document review protocols and procedures, and select appropriate ESI vendors tailored to the specific litigation.

In 2016, Jean was selected by her peers as the top Litigation attorney in the State of North Carolina for Business North Carolina Magazine’s Legal Elite, gaining membership in the Legal Elite Hall of Fame. Since 2012, she has been selected to the Super Lawyers list for North Carolina in the areas of mass torts and class actions, with additional selection to the Top 50 Women North Carolina list.

Jean has been honored with the prestigious “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell. In

2015, she was inducted as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a prestigious trial lawyer honorary society comprised of less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. For upholding the highest principles of the legal profession and for outstanding dedication to the welfare of others, Ms. Martin has also been selected as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, an honorary legal organization whose membership is limited to one-third of one percent of lawyers in each state.

Jean received her Juris Doctor degree from Wake Forest University School of Law,

where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Wake Forest Law Review and a member of Moot Court. Ms. Martin graduated from Wake Forest University with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Economics and earned a Master of International Business from the University of South Carolina.

Prior to her legal career, she worked in Munich, Germany on the finance team of a global computer company focusing on the company’s expansion into the Eastern European market after the fall of the Berlin wall. Ms. Martin also worked as a marketing manager for an international candy manufacturer where her responsibilities included product development, brand licensing, market research, and sales analysis.

Ms. Martin is a member of the North Carolina bar. She is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of North Carolina.

Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.

Partner with Duane Morris

Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., chair of Duane Morris’ Workplace Class Action group, has nearly four decades’ experience of practicing law and has defended some of the most significant bet-the-company cases ever filed against corporate America. Mr. Maatman has represented companies, executive teams and boards across the country in class action litigation, ranging in size from thousands to hundreds of thousands of claims by employees. Among his accomplishments, he defended and defeated the largest systemic enforcement action ever brought in the history of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the first Attorney General prosecution of a Wall Street company for workplace discrimination and harassment, and the largest wage & hour class and collective actions ever brought in Florida and New York. While he is known to be a fierce litigator, he also helps his clients anticipate large-scale litigations risks before they happen to prevent issues that could turn into litigation. Mr. Maatman pioneered the process of conducting employment-practices audits to assist employers in structuring effective and practical personnel policies and protocols. Profiled in The Wall Street Journal, these audits are designed to minimize the incidence of employment-related class action litigation and to maximize management discretion and workplace productivity. He has served as a legal commentator on PBS, NPR, MSNBC, CNBC and U.S. talk radio, and his comments have appeared in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Business Insurance, USA Today, Fortune and Forbes.

Mr. Maatman also writes and lectures extensively on class action and employment litigation topics. He has authored six books on employment law topics and has spoken to employer groups throughout the United States, as well as in Asia, Europe, Canada and Mexico. Mr. Maatman is the author and editor of a widely circulated, highly regarded industry class action report, published yearly since 2003. The report, called by EPLiC Magazine "the bible on class actions that no corporate counsel should do without," is widely praised for its sharp analysis backed by comprehensive research, helps corporate employers navigate an increasingly volatile class action landscape. Mr. Maatman is recognized regularly by legal publications for his excellent work on behalf of clients. He is a 2021 Law360 MVP for Employment Law, which is his sixth such honor from Law360 since 2013. Winners of this accolade have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing impressive successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals. Overall, Mr. Maatman has received more Law360 MVP awards than any other attorney in the United States.

Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business selected Mr. Maatman as one of the nation’s leading class action defense lawyers in its 2006 to 2023 rankings of U.S. lawyers. In its rankings, Chambers stated that “Maatman is absolutely phenomenal” and is “one of the top class action minds in the country.”

In nine of the last 11 years, BTI Consulting selected Mr. Maatman as one of the top attorneys in the Unites States in terms of client service and by distinguishing him as a Client Service All-Star. In 2014, American Lawyer selected him as “Litigator of the Week” relative to his back-to-back victories in EEOC v. Sterling and EEOC v. Kaplan, the two biggest pattern or practice lawsuits brought by the Commission in the last 10 years. In 2021, Mr. Maatman was inducted into the Legal 500 Hall of Fame in recognition of his continued excellence in representing clients in class actions.

Mr. Maatman is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law (J.D. 1981) and Washington and Lee University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1978). He has served as an adjunct professor of law at Northwestern for more than 30 years.

Dena Sharp

Partner with Girard Sharp

Dena Sharp is dedicated to finding common-sense solutions in even the most complex litigation. She recently served as co-lead counsel in the In re Juul Labs Inc. multidistrict litigation, which resulted in recoveries of nearly $2 billion for individual consumers, school districts, municipalities, and Native American tribes. The last of the Juul settlements—for $235 million with Altria (formerly Philip Morris)—was reached after Dena and her co-lead trial counsel rested the plaintiff’s case in a bellwether jury trial against the tobacco giant.

Dena currently serves as co-lead counsel in In re Xyrem Antitrust Litigation and In re Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation, as well as in leadership positions in various life sciences and statutory damage matters. She also serves as a member of the End-Payer Steering Committee in the massive In re Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation. Dena previously led a team to a $104.75 million recovery on the eve of trial in a certified “pay-for-delay” antitrust class action concerning the drug Lidoderm, which delivered the largest recovery for a class of end-payers in similar federal litigation in more than decade.

Dena tries cutting-edge cases. In a first-of-its-kind jury trial in 2021, Dena and team represented clients whose eggs and embryos were in a freezer tank at a fertility clinic that failed. After a three-week trial, the jury returned a $15 million verdict for the plaintiffs, leading to a global resolution with the tank manufacturer for the dozens of households represented by Girard Sharp.

Outside the courtroom, Dena chairs the board of directors of the Impact Fund, a public interest nonprofit. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, sits on the board of advisors of the Center for Litigation and the Courts at the UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and serves on the executive committee of the local chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Dena co-wrote a chapter in the ABA’s “Class Action Strategy and Practice Guide,” and the widely-cited Sedona Principles: Best Practices and Principles for Electronic Document Production (Third Edition). She is the immediate past co-chair of the Northern District of California’s Lawyer Representatives to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council.

Dena has twice been recognized as the “Lawyer of the Year” in San Francisco for Plaintiffs’ Mass Tort / Class Action Litigation by Best Lawyers in America (in 2023 and 2024), and was selected as a “Titan of the Plaintiffs’ Bar” by Law360 in April 2023. She recently received the prestigious “California Lawyer Attorney of the Year” (CLAY) Award for the JUUL litigation, recognizing its major impact on society and the law. Dena has three times been named to the National Law Journal’s “Elite Women of the Plaintiffs’ Bar,” honoring her as one of only a handful of lawyers nationwide who has “consistently excelled in high-stakes matters on behalf of plaintiffs.” The Daily Journal has also recognized her as one of the “Top Antitrust Lawyers in California” and “Top Women Lawyers” in California. In 2023, Dena was selected as one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers in Northern California, and since 2020 she has been recognized by San Francisco magazine as one of the “Top 50 Women Attorneys in Northern California.”

Dena is a graduate, cum laude, of the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, and earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University, where she graduated magna cum laude. A first-generation American, Dena is fluent in Spanish and German.

Shelley Hutson

Partner with Clark Love Hutson

Shelley Hutson focuses her practice on product liability, mass tort litigation, pharmaceutical and personal injury litigation. She began her career in Houston, Texas as an assistant district attorney, trying a wide variety of cases with a greater than 95% success rate. Afterwards, Shelley began focusing on medical/legal cases in the civil litigation arena. Shelley is nationally recognized for her specialized talent in locating world-renowned medical and scientific experts across all litigations. Additionally, she prepares and oversees the development of liability and medical causation strategies and the building of damage models for every client.

Shelley's relentless attention to the medical issues, her work with treating physicians, and her expert development in every tort has resulted in settlements for thousands of clients. In the last 6 years alone, Shelley has extensively developed medical science and built damage models that collectively were tried and settled.

Most recently, in November 2014, Shelley obtained a verdict as lead counsel in the Southern District of Florida on behalf of four clients who suffered injuries from Boston Scientific's Pinnacle Pelvic Floor Repair Kit. The Pinnacle mesh kit is implanted for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. (Amal Eghnayem, et al. v. Boston Scientific Corporation).

As lead counsel in the second Topamax case to be tried in the country, Shelley obtained a verdict ranking 1st in product liability cases in PA for 2013. (Gurley-Powell v. Janssen, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas).

As co-counsel in the first Topamax trial, Shelley and her colleagues obtained a verdict in October 2013. (Czimmer v. Janssen, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas).

In addition to her active litigation practice, Shelley devotes time training and educating law students on how to become effective advocates for their clients. She gives back to her law school, South Texas College of Law, by participating in their moot court and mock trial programs. While participating in these programs herself during law school, Shelley won Best Speaker in the Nation award at the American Bar Association moot court competition.

Shelley graduated from Texas Tech University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science and a double major in English and French. She then attended graduate school at Texas Tech University studying French literature and graduated from South Texas College of Law in 1993.

In her 19 years of practice, Shelley has proven to be a ferocious advocate on behalf of those who have been injured by corporations that look out for their profits instead of the health and welfare of the public consumer.

Genevieve Zimmerman

Attorney with Meshbesher & Spence

Genevieve presently serves as court-appointed Co-Lead Counsel for plaintiffs in MDL 2666: In re Bair Hugger Products Liability Litigation. Genevieve was trial counsel in the only MDL bellwether trial. The Bair Hugger MDL includes claims brought by patients who allege the Bair Hugger patient warming system caused deep joint infections following total hip and total knee replacement surgeries.

Genevieve is also Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs in MDL 2775: In re Smith & Nephew Birmingham Hip Resurfacing Products Liability pending in the District of Maryland. The MDL includes claims brought on behalf of patients who required revision surgery as a result of defective Smith & Nephew hips. Plaintiffs successfully defeated motions to dismiss based on preemption and tried the first MDL bellwether case in July 2021. After a three-week trial, the jury agreed Smith & Nephew was negligent for its false or misleading communications to orthopedic surgeons. Since the trial, nearly all of the cases in the MDL have settled, and the remaining cases are in the process of being remanded as the MDL winds down.

In October 2019, Genevieve tried the first defamation case against a conspiracy theorist who wrote a book titled “Nobody Died at Sandy Hook”. Together with her husband Jake, she represented Lenny Pozner, who was defamed by James Fetzer’s book. By all accounts, Fetzer was the original source for the absurd contention that Sandy Hook was a “false flag” operation by the so-called Deep State aimed at taking away gun rights, and it was Fetzer’s willfully false information that Alex Jones and Infowars.com amplified nationwide. In her closing argument Genevieve told the jury “truth matters, saying false things about somebody matters.” The jury returned a verdict in favor of Mr. Pozner in the amount of $450,000.

Since 2013, Genevieve has served as a court-appointed member of the Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel Committee for MDL 2441: In re Stryker Rejuvenate and ABGII Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, and is also one of four attorneys appointed to the Settlement Committee for the Stryker MDL. Total settlements in the global resolution programs exceed $2 Billion.

Genevieve was appointed to the Plaintiff’s Executive Committee of the 3M Combat earplug litigation MDL (2019), the PSC in In re Taxotere (2016) and In re Biomet MDL (2014), and some of her past work includes helping heart defibrillator patients after a Guidant recall in 2006, helping patients who suffered serious injuries and death following use of the recalled prescription drugs Vioxx and Yaz, hip implants dating back to 2001 manufactured by nearly every company from Sulzer to St. Gobain to Zimmer, DePuy, Stryker, Wright, Smith & Nephew and Exactech.

During 2007-2009, Genevieve spent nearly 75% of her time providing pro bono legal services to the survivors and families who lost loved ones as a result of the I-35W Bridge Collapse. The consortium was successful in obtaining recoveries exceeding $75 million.

Genevieve serves the community through ongoing pro bono work where she has represented victims of domestic violence seeking to obtain court orders for protection, immigrants seeking to update immigration documents, and high school students seeking protection of their first amendment rights to equal access to school facilities.

Genevieve is a member of the Local Rules Committee for the District of Minnesota, Minnesota Lawyer “Attorney of the Year” in both 2019 and 2021, Past President of the Minnesota Association for Justice, and has served on the Board of Governors since 2009. MAJ named her “Member of the Year” in 2012, and “Star Award” recipient in 2021. She is a past member of the Board of Governors for the American Association for Justice. Genevieve has been rated by SuperLawyers as a Super Lawyer since 2014.

On a personal note, Genevieve volunteers and raises money for scholarship funds for her alma mater, St. Paul Central High School. A noted and enthusiastic “food gatherer”, Genevieve loves travel, skiing, recreational marathons, and discussing the finer points of music by The National and Taylor Swift with her teenaged daughter and son.

Jonathan Orent

Member with Motley Rice LLC

Jonathan Orent litigates for people alleging harm by defective medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs, including all aspects of discovery and expert development. He represents women suffering from painful side effects associated with pelvic mesh/sling products, hernia patients harmed by mesh repairs, as well as military service members suffering from hearing loss due to allegedly defective earplugs.

Jonathan was appointed lead counsel of hernia mesh litigation In re Atrium Medical Corp. C-QUR Mesh Products Liability Litigation, MDL #2753. He serves as co-lead and co-liaison counsel in the largest consolidated hernia mesh litigation in the country, In re Davol/C.R. Bard Hernia Mesh Multi-Case Management Coordination. Jonathan previously served as co-liaison counsel in the In re Bard Litigation in New Jersey state court and as state court liaison counsel in Massachusetts. He is a member of the litigation team that successfully tried the Barba case to a $100 million verdict in Delaware (later reduced by appeal to $10 million). Jonathan also led the successful appeal to the Massachusetts Court of Appeals, which allowed key evidence relating to Boston Scientific’s alleged knowledge of the potential harm caused by its products. Jonathan is co-chair of the AAJ Hernia Mesh Litigation Group.

In addition to his leadership in hernia mesh litigation, Jonathan is also a member of the Science & Experts Subcommittee for multidistrict litigation filed for U.S. troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2015 and suffered hearing loss or tinnitus after using allegedly defective earplugs manufactured by 3M and its predecessor Aearo Technologies.

Jonathan also represents communities and people facing personal injury, property damage and economic loss as a result of negligence, environmental hazards or groundwater and soil contamination. In 2008, he litigated against a large New England utility company on behalf of more than 100 Tiverton, R.I., residents who claimed they suffered damages resulting from environmental contamination of their residential property. More recently, Jonathan played a role in the settlement of contamination litigation between members of the Tallevast, Fla., community and a major aerospace defense contractor involving property damage and emotional distress claims resulting from the alleged release of trichloroethylene (TCE), perchloroethylene (PCE) and other chemicals into the groundwater.

Jonathan has worked on complex litigation against the lead paint industry on behalf of government entities in California, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, as well as lead poisoning cases for individual children and families against property owners. He also assists with discovery and trial preparation of the firm’s asbestos cases.

Prior to joining Motley Rice in 2005, Jonathan served as a law clerk with the Missouri State Public Defender Youth Advocacy Unit and a legal intern for Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois. Recognized as an AV® rated attorney Martindale-Hubbell®, he has made numerous presentations on a variety of legal matters involving medical device litigation and environmental law. He served on the Rhode Island Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a group whose mission is to address key community issues and discrimination matters, such as foreclosure scams and the disparate treatment of minority youth. Jonathan is President of AG Bell Rhode Island, as well as a member of the Rhode Island Early Intervention Work Group, a group that reviews early intervention services provided to deaf or hard of hearing children between the ages of 0-3 in Rhode Island.

Justin Presnal

Partner with Simmons Hanly Conroy

Attorney Justin Presnal is a partner in the Complex Litigation Department at Simmons Hanly Conroy, based in College Station, Texas. Justin’s cases involve dangerous drugs, medical devices, and other complex litigation matters.

Justin has practiced law since 1993, working on a wide array of cases. He has represented individuals and businesses in trial and appellate courts throughout the country, often involving complicated jurisdictional and choice of law issues.

“The Complex Litigation Department at Simmons Hanly Conroy is on the cutting edge of high stakes litigation, constantly looking at novel legal theories to help the clients we represent,” Justin said. “No case is too complicated or difficult for us to handle, and we have the experience and resources needed to creatively and strategically win hard cases.”

Careful Analysis & Compelling Writing

Justin works on the analytical and strategic components of the firm’s cases. Along with other attorneys in the firm, and frequently with co-counsel from other firms, he analyzes potential cases and develops case strategies. He takes the lead on preparing the papers that are filed with trial and appellate courts and has a passion for writing and the law.

Justin had an early introduction to working on complex and unusual cases, working on cases that were international in scope and often involved unusual legal questions — such as the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the Warsaw Convention, federal and state application of the forum non conveniens doctrine, and federal preemption in pharmaceutical, medical device, automobile, and other product liability cases. He once told one of his early mentors, Mike Maloney of Houston, “Mike, every one of your cases is like a law school exam question.”

That early experience was instrumental in Justin learning to find ways to prosecute complicated cases using creative but legally sound strategies, and the importance of not just winning in the trial court but making sure you can preserve that win on appeal.

Justin was fortunate to work alongside some of the finest legal writers in Texas early in his career. That experience inspired him to develop a writing style that is plain and direct, rather than the “legalese” found in so much legal writing. Most issues are decided based on the papers provided to the court, often without having an oral hearing on motions, which puts an emphasis on the quality and persuasiveness of those papers.

Fighting the Opioid Epidemic

Justin currently represents the interests of Simmons Hanly Conroy’s many governmental clients in the massive and far-reaching litigation involving the pharmaceutical industry’s improper promotion and distribution of prescription opioid medications. He is a member of the Law and Briefing Committee in MDL 2804, In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, Northern District of Ohio; he was part of the trial team representing the firm’s clients in the coordinated New York state court litigation, Index No. 400000/2017, In re: Opioid Litigation, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Suffolk.

Opening statements for the New York opioid trial began in June 2021, marking the start of the first opioid case in the United States to be heard before a jury and, ultimately, the longest jury trial in the history of the New York State Supreme Court. The trial included over 800 exhibits and 9,000 filings.

Leading up to the trial’s opening arguments, several original defendants, including Johnson & Johnson and the pharmacies CVS, Walgreens, Rite-Aid and Wal-Mart, settled and were severed from the trial. Additional defendants settled for significant amounts during the seven-month trial, which concluded with a plaintiffs’ verdict in December 2021 against opioid manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiaries, and the distributor Anda Manufacturing.

Key results from the trial totaled more than $1.7 billion in settlements, including:

The three largest U.S. drug distributors — McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation — settled claims with New York State for a combined $1.18 billion.
Endo Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiaries agreed to a settlement with New York State, and Suffolk and Nassau Counties, totaling $50 million.
Johnson & Johnson settled with the state of New York for $263 million, and as part of their agreement, the company agreed to stop making opioids.
Former opioid manufacturer Allergan settled on the eve of closing arguments for $200 million.

These settlements provided recoveries for Suffolk and Nassau counties, the State of New York and numerous other New York counties the firm represents.

In addition to the national opioid MDL pending in the Northern District of Ohio (MDL 2804), Justin works with the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in MDL 2996, In re: McKinsey & Co., Inc. National Prescription Opiate Litigation, Northern District of California, which seeks to hold global consulting giant McKinsey & Co. responsible for its role in helping opioid manufacturers like Purdue Pharma develop strategies to aggressively promote the use of dangerous prescription opioid medications, which contributed to the opioid epidemic that has ravaged so many communities and affected so many lives.

San Francisco Opioid Trial

In May 2022, as part of the fourth bellwether case in the federal prescription opioid litigation, Justin served on the trial team that helped secure a $230 million settlement with Walgreens for the city of San Francisco over the company’s role in the opioid epidemic, which is believed to be the largest award to a local jurisdiction against an opioid defendant nationwide.

After an 11-week liability trial, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer found Walgreens liable for contributing to the opioid epidemic and creating a public nuisance in the city. Walgreens was the last remaining defendant in the trial, after several leading opioid manufacturers and distributors had already settled for over $120 million.

Protecting Rights of Patients Injured by Hip Implants

Justin was appointed to the Law and Motions Committee in MDL 2244, In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He was part of the trial team that obtained jury verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs in that MDL resulting from injuries caused by the “Pinnacle” metal-on-metal hip implants sold by Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, DePuy Orthopaedics:

$1 billion verdict: Rosa Metzler, et al. v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 12-2066; Michael Weiser v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 13-3631; Judith Rodriguez v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 13-3938; Linda Standerfer v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 14-1730; Kathleen Davis, et al. v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 15-1767; Marvin Andrews, et al. v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 15-3484. (Six cases consolidated for trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division)
$502 million verdict: Aoki v. DePuy Orthopedics, et al., No. 3:13-cv-01071-K; Christopher v. DePuy Orthopedics, et al., No. 3:14-cv-01994-K; Greer v. DePuy Orthopedics, et al., No. 3:12-cv-01672-K; Klusmann v. DePuy Orthopedics, et al., No. 3:11-cv-02800-K; and Peterson v. DePuy Orthopedics, et al., No. 3:11-cv-01941-K. (Five cases consolidated for trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division)
$247 million verdict: Alicea v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 3:15-cv-03489-K; Barzel v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 3:16-cv-01245-K; Kirschner v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 3:16-cv-01526-K; Miura v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 3:13-cv-04119-K; Stevens v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 3:14-cv-01776-K; Stevens v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. 3:14-cv-02341-K (Six cases consolidated for trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division)

In addition to these trials, Justin was a part of the team that handled the appeal from the Aoki trial, In re: DePuy Orthopaedic, Incorporated, Pinnacle Hip Implant Product Liability Litigation, No. 16-11051, published at 888 F.3d 753 (5th Cir. 2018). That decision from the conservative Fifth Circuit decided several important issues that were significant not only for other cases in the Pinnacle MDL, but will also impact product liability cases involving medical devices and other products in other courts:

Preemption: The court reaffirmed that design defect claims involving medical devices cleared for sale by the FDA using its “510k” procedure are not preempted by the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.
Safer Alternative Design: The court rejected Johnson & Johnson’s argument that the plaintiffs should have been required to present evidence of a safer metal-on-metal hip implant design, and agreed with plaintiffs that Johnson & Johnson’s cross-linked polyethylene implant was an appropriate safer alternative design because both devices had the same utility.
“Comment k” to the Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 402A: The court also rejected Johnson & Johnson’s argument that this provision categorically bars plaintiffs’ claims, an argument that Johnson & Johnson and other medical device manufacturers have asserted in numerous other courts.
Adequacy of Device Warnings: The court rejected Johnson & Johnson’s argument that the “instructions for use” included with its implants adequately warned of the risk of soft tissue damage, concluding that those instructions were not sufficiently specific.
Personal Jurisdiction: The court reaffirmed the Fifth Circuit’s adherence to the “stream of commerce” basis for exercising personal jurisdiction over companies that sell dangerous products. The court also found that parent company Johnson & Johnson’s involvement in the development and marketing of the Pinnacle hip implants made it subject to the court’s jurisdiction.
Liability of Parent Corporation: The court also agreed that Johnson & Johnson could be liable for product liability claims as a “non-manufacturer seller” under Texas law because it participated in the design of the Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implant and it was aware of the dangers associated with it. The court also found that the evidence was sufficient to show that Johnson & Johnson could be liable under the theory of “negligent undertaking” because of its role in the marketing of the Pinnacle metal-on-metal implant.

Justin was also appointed by the Court to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in MDL 2391, In re: Biomet M2A Magnum Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. In addition to working on behalf of all the plaintiffs in the MDL as a member of the PEC, he represented numerous individual plaintiffs, most of whom were not eligible for the global settlement that Biomet announced in 2014.

Along with the other PEC members in MDL 2391, Justin helped develop a strategy for getting cases in the MDL remanded to their home courts so they could be tried, and helped develop a “trial package” for lawyers representing other Biomet plaintiffs to use in those trials. This led to a wave of additional settlements on behalf of Biomet plaintiffs all over the country, and two trials in federal court in Iowa and Missouri where the plaintiff’s prevailed on their product liability claims. Both of those verdicts were held on appeal.

Additionally, Justin was appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in MDL 3044, In re Exactech Polyethylene Orthopedic Products Liability Litigation, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. That case involves recalled hip and knee implant devices that have forced thousands of patients to undergo “revision” surgeries to replace the defective devices. He is part of the Law & Briefing Team in that litigation and is also helping prepare the first bellwether cases for trial, which are scheduled for Fall 2024 and Summer 2025.

Legal Background

Justin graduated with honors from Texas A&M University in 1990, and graduated with honors from Baylor University School of Law in 1993. He is admitted to the State Bar of Texas, the United States Supreme Court, the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States District Courts for the Southern, Northern, and Eastern Districts of Texas, the District of Colorado, and the Eastern District of Wisconsin. He is board-certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, is a member of the American Association for Justice, and is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Representative Cases Include

In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL No. 2804, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio frequently described as one of the most complex litigations in U.S. history.
In re: Opioid Litigation, Index No. 400000/2017, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Suffolk representing Suffolk County, the City of New York, and SHC’s numerous other New York clients in that state’s coordinated opioid litigation.
In re: Hair Relaxer Marketing Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation,MDL 3060, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (member of Law & Briefing and Trial Procedures teams)
In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3047, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
In re: East Palestine Train Derailment, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (member of Law & Briefing team)
In re: Camp Lejeune Water Litigation, No. 7:23-cv-00897, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
In re: Biomet M2A Magnum Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2391, S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
MCI Sales and Service, Inc. v. Hinton, 329 S.W.3d 475 (Tex. 2010), denied, 563 U.S. 1008 (2011) product liability case involving a motor coach that was defectively designed and unsafe because it was not equipped with seat belts or laminated side window glass; the Texas Supreme Court rejected the defendants’ contention that the plaintiffs’ claims were preempted by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act; United States Supreme Court denied defendants’ attempt to appeal the Texas ruling.
Victor Alarcon MD v. Alcolac, Inc., No. 16-0343, in the Supreme Court of Texas (hired by lawyers for the plaintiff to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court a decision by lower courts dismissing the claims of a former U.S. Army combat field surgeon who was exposed to mustard gas during Gulf War I, against defendants who illegally sold the chemicals used to make mustard gas to the Government of Iraq)
Exxon Neftegas Limited v. Sakhneftegaz Engineering LLC, No. 2014-25508, in the 270th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas (and related litigation in the Southern District of Texas and state court litigation in New York) (representing consortium of owners of offshore oil platform in the Sea of Okhost, near Sakhalin Island, in litigation over defective and delayed engineering in connection with construction of the platform)
Brianne Miller, et al. v. Sikorsky Support Services, Inc., No. 2:11-cv-00087, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division (representing the widow of a Navy instructor pilot killed during a training flight)
Rowan Companies, Inc. v. Signal International, LLC, No. 2007-47010, in the District Court of Harris County, Texas (litigation involving defective construction of offshore “jack-up” drilling rig)
British American Offshore Limited v. TCW Global Project Fund II, Ltd., No. 2005-64490, in the District Court of Harris County, Texas; In re TCW Global Project Fund II, Ltd., 274 S.W.3d 166 (Tex. App.—14th Dist. 2008) (commercial dispute between drilling contractor and North Sea operator and its lender over canceled drilling contract and related mandamus proceeding involving enforcement of forum selection clause)
Rowan Companies, Inc. v. Amoco (UK) Exploration Company, No. 1999-2626, in the District Court of Harris County, Texas (litigation involving canceled offshore drilling contract with parallel proceedings in Texas and the United Kingdom)
Victor C. Baris, et al. v. Sulpicio Lines, Inc., et al., 74 F.3d 567 (5th Cir. 1996) (litigation involving the sinking of the ferry M/V Dona Paz in the Philippines, in which approximately 5,000 Philippine passengers perished)
Ker & Downey Safaris, Ltd. v. Friedkin Adventure Companies Inc., et al., 1994-420767, in the District Court of Harris County, Texas (representing an iconic Kenya-based safari company in trademark infringement and unfair competition dispute)
Cynthia Wilkinson v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., No. 1992-49470, in the District Court of Harris County, Texas (representing the widow of a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter pilot killed in a crash in Germany)
Kathleen Farris v. Wilrig (U.S.A.) Inc., No. 1992-16041, in the District Court of Harris County, Texas (representing the widow of an electrician killed while working on an offshore oil rig in the Port of Galveston)
Lee Kern, et al. v. Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc., et al., No. 1993-45153, In the District Court of Harris County, Texas (litigation involving the 1992 crash of Pakistan International Airlines flight PK268 while en route to Kathmandu, Nepal, killing all passengers and crew aboard)
Elena Lozano, et al. v. GPE Controls, et al., No. 1987-33476, in the District Court of Harris County, Texas (litigation involving death of U.S. airman and Korean civilians in explosion of fuel storage tank at Osan Air Base, South Korea in 1986)

Los Cabos 2024

Los Cabos 2024 Speakers

Hon. Rachel Bloomekatz

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

Hon. Charles Breyer

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California

Hon. Karen K. Caldwell

United States District Court Judge, Eastern District of Kentucky

Hon. Edward M. Chen

United States Senior District Judge San Francisco Courthouse

Hon. Vince Chhabria

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California

Hon. Joy Flowers Conti

United States District Court Senior District Judge, Western District of Pennsylvania

Hon. Jacqueline Corley

United States District Court Judge Northern District of California

Hon. James Donato

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California

Hon. Beth Labson Freeman

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California

Hon. Jeffrey Graham

US Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Indiana

Hon. Kenly Kiya Kato

United States District Court Judge, Central District of California

Hon. Rita F. Lin

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California

Hon. Araceli Martínez-Olguín

United States District Judge San Francisco Courthouse

Hon. Jane Milazzo

United States District Court Judge, Eastern District of Louisiana

Hon. William H. Orrick

United States Senior District Court Judge Northern District of California

Hon. David Proctor

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of Alabama

Hon. Casey Rodgers

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of Florida

Hon. Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers

United States District Court Judge Northern District of California

Hon. Nancy J. Rosenstengel

United States District Court Judge, Southern District of Illinois

Hon. Richard Seeborg

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California

Hon. Amul Roger Thapar

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Hon. John R. Tunheim

Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

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