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.

Elizabeth J. Cabraser

Partner with Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein

Under Elizabeth Cabraser’s leadership, Lieff Cabraser has become one of the country’s largest law firms serving clients seeking redress for financial and consumer fraud, anti-competitive practices, harmful drugs and products, and illegal employment practices. For four decades, Elizabeth has made sure that our firm remains dedicated to its clients and its core values.

Possessing unparalleled expertise in complex civil litigation, Elizabeth has served as court-appointed lead, co-lead, or class counsel in scores of federal multi-district and state coordinated proceedings. These cases include multi-state tobacco, the Exxon Valdez disaster, Breast Implants, Fen-Phen (Diet Drugs), Vioxx, Toyota sudden acceleration, numerous securities/investment fraud cases, and Holocaust litigation. Today, Elizabeth serves in court-appointed leadership positions in several of the nation’s highest profile civil cases, including serving as Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel in the GM ignition switch defect litigation, as Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel in the Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” and Fiat Chrysler Ecodiesel Emissions MDLs. She is currently immersed in nationwide Opioids litigation. In January 2018, she was appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee and Settlement Negotiating Committee in the National Prescription Opiates MDL, and earlier this year was appointed Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel in the McKinsey & Co. National Prescription Opiate MDL.

Thomas E. Loeser

Partner with Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy LLP

Tom Loeser is a Partner in the Seattle office of Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, where he represents consumers in nationwide class action cases and individuals in qui tam whistleblower cases. Tom is a Martindale-Hubbel AV Preeminent Rated Superlawyer and member of Law Dragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America and the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers. Mr. Loeser adds a hard science and high-technology career to his 25 years of litigation, including 18 years in class actions and five years as a federal prosecutor.

Mr. Loeser’s technology career included an MBA, writing code for the Treasury at Microsoft, a financial analyst position at the Hewlett-Packard Company, and two years of technology licensing in Silicon Valley.

In 2002, Mr. Loeser was appointed an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles, where after two years of prosecuting various federal crimes, he joined the elite Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section. This role required months of training in the investigation and prosecution of hacking, computer intrusion, malware, and data breach cases. The training was cutting-edge, required Top Secret clearances, and continued throughout Mr. Loeser’s government service. Mr. Loeser resolved hundreds of criminal cases—including federal hacking and data theft cases—and brought over a dozen federal cases to trial and through appeal.

Mr. Loeser’s practice has included the prosecution and resolution of dozens of complex actions against the titans of industry, including national banks, insurers, builders, title companies, carmakers, mortgage lenders, trucking companies, and nationwide retailers. Mr. Loeser specializes in the prosecution of cases that are complex not only because of the legal and procedural issues involved but also due to the technological sophistication of the products, services, or misconduct underlying the legal claims.

Mr. Loeser has worked extensively on many of the largest consumer class cases in U.S. history. These include significant auto defect cases such as the $10 billion Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” MDL and the related $1.3 billion Volkswagen Franchise Dealer litigation. Mr. Loeser has worked on numerous data breach and privacy cases, including the antitrust case against Meta for its abusive data collection practices, and played leadership roles in the massive 2022 T-Mobile data breach case and the recent AT&T data breach affecting 75 million past and present customers. Mr. Loeser’s role in these cases encompassed all aspects of litigation, including leadership, strategy, discovery, depositions, legal briefing, and settlement.

Mr. Loeser’s work has garnered praise from the plaintiffs class action bar, who regularly invite him to speak at class action conferences, and from judges, including Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose, who remarked on the record:

“It’s not simple, you make it look easy, and that's the art of what you do, Mr. Loeser, and the Court certainly appreciates the good work in this case, and in recognition of the many cases that your firm has handled over the years.”
Dean Sheikh et al v. Tesla, Inc. Final Approval of Settlement Hearing, The Honorable Beth Labson Freeman, United States District Judge for the Northern District of California San Jose Division.

Outside of work, Tom enjoys spending time with his family cycling, skiing, snowboarding, surf-foiling, and engaging in various ocean activities.

Hon. Casey Rodgers

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of Florida

Sean Fahey

Partner with Troutman Pepper

Sean P. Fahey is a partner and chair of Troutman Pepper’s Health Sciences Department where he leads the group’s litigation, white collar, regulatory, intellectual property, and transactional practices. He has extensive experience serving as national coordinating and trial counsel in complex, multidistrict products liability and health care litigation. He represents several of the largest pharmaceutical, medical device, and life science companies in their high-stakes cases, and also serves as strategic settlement counsel and coordinating counsel in parallel litigation, including DOJ and regulatory investigations, and congressional hearings. He is nationally recognized by clients and peers in Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation, The Legal 500, LMG Life Sciences, and The Best Lawyers in America.

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.

Michelle Six

Of Counsel, Gunster, Florida’s Law Firm for Business

Michelle is a nationally recognized litigator focused on electronic discovery law, data privacy, cross border discovery, and AI technology exploration. She counsels clients on the development and execution of defensible eDiscovery processes in connection with contentious, high-stakes commercial litigation, products liability cases, antitrust matters, and internal and government investigations. Michelle regularly advises multinational corporations on data loss and records retention, as well as challenges and solutions generated by emerging technologies.

Michelle frequently writes and speaks about issues and solutions related to electronic discovery. She was recognized by Relativity as a 2023 AI Visionary.

Anand Agneshwar

Partner with Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

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.

Sharon Nelles

Managing Partner with Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

James Pizzirusso

Partner with Hausfeld

James has led Hausfeld’s consumer protection practice group since the firm’s inception and courts have personally appointed him to leadership positions in numerous successful consumer fraud class actions. He has a diverse practice centering on consumer protection and cybersecurity/privacy law, antitrust law (with an emphasis in agriculture), environmental torts, and sports and entertainment law. James’ practice also includes domestic and international environmental and public health litigation.

James has pursued justice on behalf of his clients, both domestically and abroad, in a wide variety of practice areas and on behalf of notable clients -- including musicians and professional athletes. He has successfully resolved the claims of numerous farmers and landowners in Barbados who suffered reduced crop yields and property damages as a result of a massive jet fuel spill. James has also represented farmers and other entities seeking damages related to unauthorized releases of genetically modified crops. Domestically, he has represented municipalities and individuals suffering harm related to lead paint and other toxic products.

James’ distinctive approach to litigation has resulted in recoveries of hundreds of millions of dollars for his clients and class members.

Hon. Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers

United States District Court Judge Northern District of California

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers received her commission to serve as a United States District Court Judge for the Northern District of California in November 2011. She is the first woman of Mexican-American heritage to occupy that seat. Prior to her role on the federal bench, she served as a Superior Court Judge for the State of California in Alameda County and before that was an equity partner for the law firm of Cooley LLP.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers received her commission to serve as a United States District Court Judge for the Northern District of California in November 2011. She is the first woman of Mexican-American heritage to occupy that seat. Prior to her role on the federal bench, she served as a Superior Court Judge for the State of California in Alameda County and before that was an equity partner for the law firm of Cooley LLP.

In addition to her judicial duties, Judge Gonzalez Rogers serves on numerous national, circuit, and district committees, including the U.S. Conference Committees on Defender Services and International Judicial Relations. In 2010, she was elected as the first state court judge to the Council of the American Law Institute. She has worked on projects related to Privacy, Employment, Unjust Enrichment, and Copyright and will be an Advisor to the new project on Constitutional Torts. She also chaired the Membership Committee for six years.

She is the Judicial Representative to the ABA Section on Antitrust and Competition. She currently serves as an Officer for both the Ninth Circuit District Judges Association and for the Northern District’s Historical Society, and related Ninth Circuit committees, and the Board of the Northern District Chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. In the past, she served on the Board of Trustees for Princeton University and numerous Latinx organizations.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers was born and raised in Texas. She graduated cum laude from Princeton University and received her J.D. from the University of Texas, Austin after completing her final year of classes at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

Hon. Jacqueline Corley

United States District Court Judge Northern District of California

Hon. William H. Orrick

United States Senior District Court Judge Northern District of California

Federal Judicial Service:

• Judge, U. S. District Court, Northern District of California
• Nominated by Barack Obama on June 11, 2012 and renominated on January 3, 2013, to a seat vacated by Charles R. Breyer. Confirmed by the Senate on May 15, 2013, and received commission on May 16, 2013.
• Assumed Senior Status on May 20, 2023.

Education:

• Yale University, B.A., 1976
• Boston College Law School, J.D., 1979

Professional Career:

• Attorney, Georgia Legal Services Program, Savannah, Georgia, 1979-1984; acting managing attorney, 1981; supervising attorney, 1982-1984
• Private practice, San Francisco, CA, 1984-2009, 2013
• Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 2009-2012; counselor, 2009-2010; deputy assistant attorney general, 2010-2012

Hon. Karen K. Caldwell

United States District Court Judge, Eastern District of Kentucky

EDUCATION

Transylvania University University of Kentucky College of Law

Karen K. Caldwell is a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. She is also Chair of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Judge Caldwell is a former United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Kentucky and prior to her appointment to the federal bench in 2001, she was a partner in the law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP. Before taking the bench, Judge Caldwell served as Chair of the Kentucky Bar Association’s Publication Committee, the editor of Bench & Bar Magazine and a member of the Character and Fitness Committee of the Kentucky Board of Bar Examiners. Judge Caldwell serves as a trustee of Transylvania University.

In 1995, Judge Caldwell received Kentucky's Outstanding Lawyer Award from the Kentucky Bar Association. In 2005, she was awarded an honorary degree from Transylvania University and in 2007, she received the Outstanding Alumnus of Kentucky Award from the Kentucky Counsel on Post Secondary Education and the Kentucky Advocates for Higher Education. In 2010, Judge Caldwell was inducted into the Hall of Fame at University of Kentucky College of Law.

Hon. Edward M. Chen

United States Senior District Judge San Francisco Courthouse

Born 1953 in Oakland, CA

Federal Judicial Service:

Judge, U. S. District Court, Northern District of California
Nominated by Barack Obama on August 6, 2009 and renominated on January 20, 2010, September 13, 2010, and January 5, 2011, to a seat vacated by Martin J. Jenkins; Confirmed by the Senate on May 10, 2011, and received commission on May 12, 2011
U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 2001-2011

Education:

University of California, Berkeley, A.B., 1975
University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, J.D., 1979

Professional Career:

Law clerk, Hon. Charles B. Renfrew, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 1979-1980
Attorney, Asian Law Caucus, San Francisco, California, 1980-1981
Law clerk, Hon. James R. Browning, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1981-1982
Private practice, San Francisco, California, 1982-1985
Staff attorney, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California, 1985-2001

Mark Lanier

Founder Lanier Law Firm

Attorney, author, teacher, pastor and story teller, Mark Lanier is consistently recognized as one of the top civil trial lawyers in America. For almost 40 years, Mark has taken on some of the biggest challenges in the legal field. In doing so, he has achieved some of the largest verdicts in history; accomplishments that have changed business practices to protect the public and have gained justice for the victims of dangerous drugs, medical devices, and other consumer products.

Best known as a zealous advocate for individuals in personal injury and product liability claims against major corporations, Mark brings passion, creativity, and an unparalleled ability to connect with juries in courtrooms across the nation.  In addition, he has successfully represented clients in claims involving fraud, breach of contract and other forms of business litigation.

These results cumulatively have put Mark close to $20 billion in verdicts during his highly acclaimed career.

Mark’s success in the courtroom and perspectives on litigation have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Bloomberg News, and the Houston Chronicle, among many other publications. He is also a frequent guest on news and business programs for a wide range of broadcast and cable networks.

Mark was twice named the National Trial Lawyers Association’s Trial Lawyer of the Year and was further inducted into the National Trial Lawyers’ Hall of Fame. He was further honored as The National Law Journal’s Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year. The American Association of Justice honored Mark with their Lifetime Achievement Award.

Holding three honorary doctorates, he was bestowed the Ambassador of Peace award by the Guatemalan government. Mark is published in both legal and theological arenas and has six books, numerous published articles and two movies among his works.

Mikal C. Watts

Founder of Watts Law Firm, LLP

Mikal C. Watts is more than just an attorney – he’s a driver of change and a powerful force in the battle for justice. His commitment is about more than just winning cases, it’s about empowering people who have been harmed in their struggles against large corporations after their lives have been upended by catastrophe.

As an advocate, Mikal strives to make the legal world less intimidating, more accessible, and ultimately, a platform where anyone can stand up and voice their grievances, no matter how powerful the opponent.

As a founder of Watts Law Firm LLP, Mikal has powered change, enabling over 200,000 clients to realize their right to have their voices heard against the largest corporations worldwide. This determination has led to the recovery of billions of dollars for clients who have fallen victim to catastrophic personal injury, toxic torts, product liability, and other unfortunate circumstances caused by corporate negligence and greed.

His goals have always been clear: to secure the maximum compensation for his individual clients, to hold the mighty accountable, to establish precedents that inspire societal change for the greater good, and to empower the voiceless.

Mass Tort Attorney Committed to Personal Communication with Clients

Mikal C. Watts deeply understands that the key to a successful client-lawyer relationship lies in personalized, regular communication. Despite the inherently complex and large-scale nature of mass tort litigation, Mikal is dedicated to ensuring that every client feels individually acknowledged and truly understood. In an industry where clients can often feel lost in the crowd, Mikal has developed a thoughtful and effective strategy to guarantee each person feels genuinely recognized and represented.

The first facet of this strategy involves a significant investment in resources and staffing at Watts Law Firm LLP. Mikal has meticulously assembled a robust team of skilled attorneys, paralegals, and legal professionals who embody his commitment to client-focused service. This team is charged with the task of responding promptly to all client inquiries, and they are steadfast in their mission to make each client feel valued and heard. A vital part of this mission includes providing regular updates on case statuses, ensuring clients are never left in the dark about their legal journey.

Moreover, Mikal’s dedication to personalized communication extends well beyond the boundaries of conventional legal practices. Recognizing the importance of face-to-face interactions in fostering trust and mutual understanding, Mikal makes it a point to personally meet with his clients. Despite the challenging logistics of representing thousands of clients spread across the country, Mikal has prioritized maintaining a direct, physical presence in his clients’ lives.

To realize this ambitious approach, Mikal travels to each city affected by catastrophe at least once every 90 days. These visits aren’t just formal courtesy calls; they involve Mikal hosting town-hall meetings, where he personally answers questions, addresses concerns, and discusses the ongoing litigations. These in-person sessions underscore his commitment to individualized service and serve as a testament to his dedication to empowering his clients.

This two-pronged approach reflects Mikal C. Watts’ unwavering commitment to not just represent his clients legally, but to ensure they feel heard, valued, and empowered throughout their legal journey. It underscores his philosophy that in mass tort litigation, the power lies in each individual’s story and each client’s voice.

“One of the most effective plaintiff trial lawyers in the United States.”

Harnessing the Power of Law for Systemic Change

Mikal C. Watts understands the real power of the law lies in its commitment to systemic change. Every case taken on is seen not just as a battle to be won, but as an opportunity to shift paradigms, to raise standards, to effect lasting change. Mikal’s relentless pursuit of justice in the face of powerful adversaries has resulted in unprecedented settlements in product liability cases, environmental mass torts, and more.

Corporations frequently prioritize profit over safety, sometimes resorting to reducing safety standards and cutting corners to protect their bottom line. Mass tort law firms play a pivotal role in interrupting this cycle of corporate negligence. By compelling corporations to pay damages to all affected parties, these firms hit corporations where it hurts the most – their finances.

This financial impact is twofold; not only does it provide much-needed compensation to the victims of negligence, but it also serves as a powerful deterrent to corporations. Faced with hefty financial penalties, corporations are often compelled to reassess and revamp their safety standards and policies. After experiencing such a substantial financial blow, the threat of another such penalty can act as a potent motivator for corporations to prioritize safety over profit in the future.

One example of this type of corporate change can be demonstrated by Mikal’s litigation against Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. and Ford Motor Company, which resulted in resolving the most significant product liability case in the country. Watts Law Firm LLP was nationally recognized as one of two firms leading in the pursuit of hundreds of claims brought nationwide against Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. and Ford Motor Company. Mikal was instrumental in bringing to light Ford’s quiet efforts to recall these defective tires in foreign countries while consumers in the United States continued to be injured or killed riding on the same tires. The terms of the settlement were unprecedented in American history for a case of this type; not only monetarily, but by virtue of what the companies agreed to do with respect to the disclosure of information relating to their own investigations into the alleged defects with their products and their corporate safety policies. As a result, these automotive giants changed their practices to produce better and safer products.

In this way, mass tort law firms aren’t just advocates for victims; they are instrumental in driving systemic change. By forcing corporations to face the financial consequences of their negligence, Mikal fosters an environment where safety takes precedence over profit, making industries safer for everyone.

Tireless Champion for the Everyman

In a society often dominated by corporate interests, Mikal stands out as a tireless champion for the everyman. The Texas Lawyer aptly noted, “In the driver’s seat, trial lawyer Mikal Watts doesn’t even know where the brake pedal is.” He consistently pushes the boundaries of what is possible in a courtroom, wielding the power of the law to drive change and empower his clients.

Mikal’s reputation as a powerful advocate for his clients is echoed by the San Antonio Express News, which describes him as a “hardworking, smart and formidable courtroom adversary who also drives a hard bargain in settlement talks.” The National Law Journal affirms that “Watts has established a record as one of the most effective plaintiff trial lawyers in the United States.”

Mikal’s unyielding dedication to his clients and the pursuit of justice resonates in every case he handles. His work has garnered national attention, with major news outlets including ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and The Wall Street Journal featuring his victories. Yet, for Mikal, his true success lies not in recognition, but in the knowledge that his work has empowered individuals and communities, altering lives and society for the better.

Join Our Mission to Empower the Voiceless and Power Change

Mikal is proud of his background and his journey from the University of Texas, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with high honors and then earned his law degree, to his position today as the leader of a law firm dedicated to systemic change for the greater good. As a Board-Certified Attorney in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and a Martindale-Hubbell AV Rated Lawyer, Mikal embodies the power of the law. His commitment to clients not only assists them as individuals, but forces necessary changes that make our collective society a better and safer place to live.

With Mikal C. Watts, you are not just a client; you are part of a powerful mission. You are part of a change, a movement that holds corporations accountable and empowers individuals. Mikal C. Watts doesn’t just practice law; he empowers voices, powers change, and exemplifies the true potential of the legal system.

Hon. Richard Seeborg

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California

Richard Seeborg was nominated on August 6, 2009 by President Obama to serve as a United States District Judge for the Northern District of California. The United States Senate confirmed Judge Seeborg’s nomination on December 24, 2009 and he received his commission on January 24, 2010. Judge Seeborg maintains his chambers and courtroom in San Francisco, California. Judge Seeborg served as a Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division from February 2001 until his appointment as a District Judge.

Judge Seeborg graduated from Yale College in 1978 and from Columbia Law School in 1981. From 1981 to 1982 he served as a law clerk to the Honorable John H. Pratt in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Following his clerkship, Judge Seeborg joined the law offices of Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco, becoming a partner in the firm in 1987. From 1991 to 1998, Judge Seeborg served as an Assistant United States Attorney in San Jose, California, handling federal criminal prosecutions. In 1998, he rejoined Morrison & Foerster as a partner in the firm’s Palo Alto, California office and served in that capacity until his appointment as a Magistrate Judge in 2001.

Judge Seeborg has participated in numerous rule of law projects around the world and for several years served on the adjunct faculty at Santa Clara University School of Law. He served as the chair of the U.S. Judicial Conference Committee on the Magistrate Judge System from 2015 to 2018 and for six years was a member of the Ninth Circuit Jury Instruction Committee. Concurrent with his duties as a federal district judge, since January, 2018 Judge Seeborg has served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. On February 1, 2021, Judge Seeborg succeeded to the position of Chief Judge of the Northern District of California.

Hon. James Donato

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California

MichaelAndolina

Partner with White & Case LLP

Michael Andolina focuses his practice on working with clients to manage crises and defend andresolve complex multiparty and multi-jurisdictional matters. He handles a diverse range oflitigation matters in state and federal courts across the country, with an emphasis on resolvinglarge scale litigation in multiple forums

Mike has extensive experience advising clients in connection with mass tort and other crisismanagement situations, including coordinating and conducting investigations, engaging withregulators and law enforcement, developing litigation strategy, and defending clients throughall stages of litigation. Currently, he serves as lead resolution counsel for the Boy Scouts ofAmerica in their pending Chapter 11 restructuring proceedings. He also represents 3MCompany in connection with the Combat Arms Earplug multi-district litigation pending in theNorthern District of Florida, the largest MDL in US history. Mike was recognized by the MDLCourt as an "MDL MVP" for his role in negotiating a settlement structure to resolve more than250,000 claims again 3M relating to alleged hearing loss.

Mike has also represented Honda in numerous capacities in connection with the Takata airbagrecalls, the largest vehicle recall in history, including in multidistrict litigation pending in the USDistrict Court for the Southern District of Florida, In re Takata Airbag Products Liability Litigation,where plaintiffs allege both economic product defect and personal injury claims againstnumerous automobile manufacturer defendants and Takata within a single proceeding. Mikealso represents Honda in Takata's worldwide restructuring proceedings, which have beendescribed by industry experts as the most complex multinational proceedings in history, and inconnection with litigation brought by state attorneys general.

June 2019, Mike was named by Crain's Chicago Business as a Notable Gen X Leader in Law.He was also recognized in February 2018 with the International Law Office's "2018 Client ChoiceAward," which honors partners and law firms worldwide that provide "excellent client care" andare nominated only by corporate counsel.

Previously, Mike served as the deputy head of litigation at a large firm in Chicago, where hepracticed for more than 20 years.

Hon. Charles Breyer

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California

Judge Breyer received his AB in 1963 from Harvard College and his JD in 1966 from UC Berkeley School of Law. Upon graduation from law school, he clerked for Oliver J. Carter, chief judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. He then served as an assistant district attorney in San Francisco until 1973, when he was appointed assistant special prosecutor, Watergate Special Prosecution Force. He entered private practice in 1974, specializing in the defense of white-collar criminal cases.

He was appointed to the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, in 1997 by President Clinton. In 2011, he was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States to serve on the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation. He was appointed by President Obama (with the consent of the Senate) in 2012 to serve as Vice Chairman of the United States Sentencing Commission, and re-appointed in 2017 by President Trump. During his twenty-five year judicial career, Judge Breyer has presided over a number of criminal matters implicating foreign concerns such as terrorism, theft of intellectual property, sex trafficking, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Additionally, he managed one of the largest civil cases filed in the United States: Volkswagen’s installation of defeat devices in their diesel vehicles intended to circumvent environmental laws. Since 1997, Judge Breyer has advised the governments of Egypt, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, and Ukraine on criminal justice and civil case management issues. In October 2018 he received the prestigious Devitt Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a United States Article III federal judge.

Hon. Jane Milazzo

United States District Court Judge, Eastern District of Louisiana

Judge Jane Triche Milazzo was sworn in as a United State District Court Judge on October 12, 2011, after being unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on October 11, 2011.

Judge Milazzo graduated from LSU Law School in 1992 and immediately went into practice with her family at the Law Offices of Risley Triche, LLC, where she engaged in a general civil practice. Judge Milazzo was the first female to practice law in Assumption Parish and ultimately became the first female elected to Louisiana’s 23rd Judicial District Court.

Judge Milazzo regularly speaks to lawyers on issues of professionalism, advocacy, and complex litigation. She currently presides over the multidistrict litigation, In Re: Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation. She is married to her husband, John. They have six children and five grandchildren.

Hon. Araceli Martínez-Olguín

United States District Judge San Francisco Courthouse

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."

Hon. Nancy J. Rosenstengel

United States District Court Judge, Southern District of Illinois

Judge Rosenstengel was appointed United States District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois May 19, 2014. She earned her B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1990 and earned her Juris Doctorate from the Southern Illinois University School of Law in 1993. Judge Rosenstengel was in private practice from 1993 until 1998 and served as a career Law Clerk for the Honorable Judge G. Patrick Murphy. She served as Law Clerk until being sworn as Clerk of Court for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in October 2009. She served as Clerk of Court until commissioned as a United States District Judge upon the nomination of President Barack Obama and confirmation of the United States Senate.

Hon. John R. Tunheim

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

The Honorable John R. Tunheim has served for over 27 years as United States District Judge in the District of Minnesota and served as Chief Judge from 2015 until July 1, 2022. From 1994- 1998, Judge Tunheim served as Chair of the U.S. Assassination Records Review Board, an independent federal agency empowered to declassify the remaining secret records of the assassination of President Kennedy. Before his appointment as a federal judge, he served as Minnesota’s Chief Deputy Attorney General and Solicitor General, and in the U.S. Senate, as Staff Assistant to U.S. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey. He has devoted much of his judicial career to helping develop the rule of law in new democracies, including drafting the Kosovo Constitution and advising over 45 countries on the development of the rule of law, on counter- terrorism measures and on judicial independence, among many other topics. He is a graduate of Concordia College and the University of Minnesota Law School, where he served as President of the Law Review. He was Chair of the U.S. Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management from 2005 to 2009 and currently serves as a Member of the U.S. Judicial Conference. He has served as Chair of the ABA’s Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division and the National Conference of Federal Trial Judges. He is currently a member of the IT Security Task Force established by the Judicial Conference to reform the judiciary’s IT practices. He is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and a former Chair of the Concordia College Board of Regents. Judge Tunheim also serves on the Minnesota Historical Society Executive Council. He has presided over three mass tort Multidistrict Litigation consolidated cases and is now presiding over two major antitrust MDLs.

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.

Christopher Chorba

Partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Chris Chorba is co-chair of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Class Actions Practice Group.  He specializes in defending class actions and complex litigation, and he has been recognized in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and in The Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation. Law360 also named Mr. Chorba a “Class Action MVP,” which profiles attorneys who have “distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.”  The National Law Journal also recognized him as a “Trailblazer” for his work defending consumer class actions.

Mr. Chorba has had substantial experience litigating a broad range of complex commercial matters at the trial and appellate level in California and throughout the country, and in multi-district litigation (MDLs). His litigation and counseling experience includes work for companies in every industry, including automotive, beauty / cosmetic, consumer products, education, entertainment, financial services, food and beverage, health care, insurance, life sciences, retail, social media, sports and gaming, technology, telecommunications, and utility / energy.

Jennifer Saulino

Partner with Sidley Austin LLP

JENNIFER SAULINO is a global co-leader of Sidley’s Product Liability practice. As a fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, Jennifer possesses an unusual ability to translate complex legal theories into simple, clear messages for judges and juries. As a first-chair trial lawyer, she focuses on synthesizing extensive case findings into crisp themes, uncovering and dissecting critical, compelling facts, and shaping successful strategies that position clients for optimal results. With experience trying more than a dozen complex, lengthy cases to jury verdicts, and having appeared in numerous federal and state courts across the country, individuals and corporations consistently seek her leadership when faced with tough litigation.

Jennifer is ranked by Chambers USA for General Commercial Litigation (2022–2024) and Litigation: White Collar Crime & Government Investigations (2023–2024) in the District of Columbia with clients recognizing her trial prowess and high-quality advice. Additionally, she has been ranked by Benchmark Litigation 2025 as a “National Practice Area Star” and “Litigation Star” for Product Liability in the District of Columbia and was named to Benchmark Litigation’s 2025 “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” and “Top 250 Women in Litigation" lists.

Daniel R. Schwartz

Senior Counsel with Dicello Levitt

Dan Schwartz works for individuals, small businesses, and public clients in complex multidistrict, commercial, public client, and class action litigations and arbitrations. An experienced litigator with deep knowledge of a wide range of matters, Dan has successfully represented clients in high stakes disputes involving, among other things, affirmative and defensive antitrust claims, fraud, the False Claims Act, consumer privacy, FLSA class and collective actions, trade secret misappropriation, the Anti-Kickback Statute, defamation, securities fraud, toxic tort, bankruptcy, the Affordable Care Act, and patent matters.

Dan has also represented clients on appeal in a number of significant cases in state and federal courts, including arguing a First Amendment matter of first impression in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He previously worked for several major international law firms and clerked for the Honorable Carlos T. Bea of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Dan graduated magna cum laude from New York University School of Law and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Prior to his legal career, Dan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College and earned a Master of Arts from Brandeis University. He is a proficient Russian speaker.

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

Arthur E. Brown

Partner with Arnold & Porter

Arthur Brown is head of the firm's New York office. He has a broad practice, with deep experience representing and advising clients on mass tort and product liability issues, commercial litigation disputes, significant class actions, investigations by federal and state authorities, and inquiries from Congress.

Arthur is a nationally recognized leader in the product liability arena, serving as national counsel and national coordinating counsel representing pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, Bayer, Pfizer, and Novartis, in bet-the-company mass tort product liability actions. Arthur plays a central, hands-on role directing and implementing overall litigation and trial strategy, preparing high-level executives for testimony, and developing the medical and science defense. Arthur also has extensive experience representing and advising clients on class action litigation for clients like Samsung, and on strategic litigation and settlement decisions. Mr. Brown also advises many Fortune 500 companies on litigation avoidance, in product liability and commercial litigation, and white collar investigations.

Arthur is also an experienced commercial litigator who regularly represents and advises clients in complex securities and fraud cases, government investigations, and significant arbitrations, including his representation of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Society.

From 1994 to 1997, Arthur served as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney's office, where he prosecuted a wide range of cases involving street crime, conspiracy, fraud, and embezzlement.

Megan E. Jones

Partner with Hausfeld

Megan Jones (@MeganJonesEsq) is Co-Chair of the firm's Antitrust practice group and a California Bay Area-based lawyer focused on recovering damages for companies that are victims of antitrust cartels, including those involving price-fixing, tying, restraints of trade, and other competition violations. With 19 years of experience in antitrust class actions, Megan is trusted by courts to lead large and complex antitrust cases:

• In re Local TV Advertising Litigation (Sole Lead counsel)
• In re Diisocyanates Antitrust Litigation (Co-Lead counsel)
• In re Beef Antitrust Litigation (Co-Lead Counsel)
• In re Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation (Plaintiff Steering Committee)
• In re Marriott International Customer Data Security Breach Litigation (Plaintiff Steering Committee)

Megan is known for her creativity in settlement issues. For instance, in the In re Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation (S.D.N.Y.), where she was co-lead counsel, she recovered over $220 million for a class of cities and municipalities. She co-negotiated several settlements in collaboration with Select State Attorneys General, who entrusted class counsel to handle notice and claims processes. In 2016, the American Antitrust Institute awarded Megan and her team the “Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice” for this innovative public/private partnership.

Notable Settlements Negotiated by Megan Jones

• In re Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation – Over $200 million recovered on behalf of the class
• In re Polyester Staple Antitrust Litigation – $63.5 million recovered
• In re Compact Disc Antitrust Litigation – Over $50 million recovered
• In re Rubber Chemicals Antitrust Litigation – Over $100 million recovered
• In re MMA Antitrust Litigation – Over $20 million recovered
• In re EPDM Antitrust Litigation – $81 million recovered

Megan also played a key role in the negotiation of a $300 million global settlement with Bayer, covering three cases (EPDM, Rubber Chemicals, and NBR), and she was responsible for drafting the innovative settlement agreement.

One of the few women in the plaintiffs’ bar inducted into the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for consistent excellence in litigation, Megan has a national reputation for her work. She is known for creating effective multi-firm teams, her strategic precision, and her expertise in electronic discovery, often speaking and training others through the prestigious Sedona Conference®.

Megan Jones is highly regarded for her ability to manage cases of any scale, coordinating with experts to develop economic models that aid in recovery, class certification, settlement, and discovery. She has led teams of over 80 law firms in one case and has consistently promoted diverse and inclusive litigation teams, even creating a conference for women antitrust lawyers to share best practices.

Respected for her relentless pursuit of the facts, Megan is both strategic and efficient. She prioritizes judicial resources by focusing on essential legal issues, and her extensive negotiation experience allows her to craft settlement strategies even in the most challenging cases. Megan has collaborated with Select State Attorneys General to jointly settle cases on behalf of both states and civil litigation classes.

Clients

Megan represents companies that procure cartelized products for manufacturing purposes. By analyzing a corporation’s purchases globally, she provides various recovery options across multiple jurisdictions. Emphasizing non-litigation options where appropriate, Megan is as skilled in securing resolutions in a conference room as she is in the courtroom.

To learn more about Megan's work and insights, listen to her featured appearance on the ABA’s Antitrust Section podcast, “How Do You Get to the Final Yes?” (May 2020).

Arthur E. Brown

Partner with Arnold & Porter

Arthur Brown is head of the firm's New York office. He has a broad practice, with deep experience representing and advising clients on mass tort and product liability issues, commercial litigation disputes, significant class actions, investigations by federal and state authorities, and inquiries from Congress.

Arthur is a nationally recognized leader in the product liability arena, serving as national counsel and national coordinating counsel representing pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, Bayer, Pfizer, and Novartis, in bet-the-company mass tort product liability actions. Arthur plays a central, hands-on role directing and implementing overall litigation and trial strategy, preparing high-level executives for testimony, and developing the medical and science defense. Arthur also has extensive experience representing and advising clients on class action litigation for clients like Samsung, and on strategic litigation and settlement decisions. Mr. Brown also advises many Fortune 500 companies on litigation avoidance, in product liability and commercial litigation, and white collar investigations.

Arthur is also an experienced commercial litigator who regularly represents and advises clients in complex securities and fraud cases, government investigations, and significant arbitrations, including his representation of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Society.

From 1994 to 1997, Arthur served as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney's office, where he prosecuted a wide range of cases involving street crime, conspiracy, fraud, and embezzlement.

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).

Laura Lively

Associate with Morrison Foerster

Laura Lively is an associate in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s Los Angeles office.

Laura represents clients in high-stakes litigation across a broad range of civil and criminal matters in both federal and state court, including on appeal. Laura has significant trial experience including preparing witnesses for examination, conducting witness examination, and preparing opening and closing statements. She has briefed cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts across the country, as well as authored dispositive and pre-trial motions and other briefs in trial courts. Laura has presented oral argument in the Ninth Circuit.

Laura also manages internal and governmental investigations of entities and individuals. Prior to joining the firm, she was a managing associate on an all-women team led by former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, that conducted a year-long independent investigation into abuse and misconduct in women’s professional soccer.

Laura clerked for Chief Judge Sidney R. Thomas of the Ninth Circuit. While in law school, Laura successfully briefed and argued a case in the Ninth Circuit on behalf of a client who was denied necessary medical care while in prison. She worked as Research Assistant to Dean & Distinguished Professor of Law, Erwin Chemerinsky, for two years and she was President of the Student Bar Association, a Style Editor for the UC Irvine Law Review, and Co-Chair of the Women’s Law Society. At graduation, Laura received Pro Bono Honors in recognition of her advocacy work for veterans, victims of domestic violence, and children with disabilities.

Laura maintains a robust pro bono practice and serves on the Board of the California Women’s Law Center.

Hon. Amul Roger Thapar

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Amul R. Thapar serves as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. His judicial career began in 2007 when President George W. Bush nominated him to serve on the Eastern District of Kentucky, making him the first South Asian Article III judge in American history. In 2017, he became President Donald J. Trump’s first appellate court nominee.

Before joining the bench, Judge Thapar served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. While United States Attorney, Judge Thapar worked on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (“AGAC”) and chaired the AGAC’s Controlled Substances and Asset Forfeiture subcommittee. He also served on the Terrorism and National Security subcommittee, the Violent Crime subcommittee, and the Child Exploitation working group.

Judge Thapar has worked in private practice, at Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C., and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Cincinnati, Ohio. He also served as an Assistant United States Attorney in both the Southern District of Ohio and the District of Columbia. Judge Thapar received his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. After graduating, Judge Thapar worked as a law clerk to the Honorable S. Arthur Spiegel of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and the Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Judge Thapar is the author of The People’s Justice: Clarence Thomas and the Constitutional Stories that Define Him. He has also published law review articles in the Yale Law Journal, Michigan Law Review, and Catholic University Law Review. He teaches courses on originalism, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, habeas corpus, and legal writing at Notre Dame Law School, the University of Virginia School of Law, and Vanderbilt Law School.

Viola Trebicka

Partner With Quinn Emanuel Trial Lawyers

Viola Trebicka is a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles and New York offices and the co-chair of the firm's Data Privacy and Security Practice. Viola maintains a diverse complex commercial litigation and trial practice, with particular emphasis on data privacy and security matters, antitrust litigation, intellectual property disputes, and class actions.

On the data privacy front, Viola is lead counsel for technology companies in state and federal courts across the country, defending high-profile data privacy class actions regarding cutting edge technologies. She has delivered major wins for clients, including a summary judgment win for Google in the Calhoun v. Google data privacy class action, which the Daily Journal featured as one of the Top Verdicts in 2022.

Viola also regularly represents clients in data breach litigation, and has secured motion to dismiss victories for her clients in this space. Viola is equally experienced in addressing data breach incidents, including by leading the incident response, liaising with law enforcement, and addressing regulator and government concerns.

In recognition of her experience and victories, Ms. Trebicka was ranked by Legal 500 USA in the Data Privacy and Data Protection field (Media, Technology, and Telecoms).

Chris Hellums

Partner with Pittman Dutton Hellums Bradley & Mann, PC

Chris T. Hellums earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in business from the University of Alabama in 1990 and graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1993.

Throughout his career, Chris has handled complex civil litigation across the country. His practice has included litigating individual, class action and mass action cases in the areas of antitrust, securities fraud, insurance fraud and bad faith, product liability, commercial disputes, and data privacy. Chris also represents and consults publicly traded companies in large-scale multijurisdictional litigation.

Chris has been appointed to various leadership positions in the following MDLs: MDL 1985, In re Total Body Formula Products Liability Litigation; MDL 2406, In re Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation; MDL 2441, In re Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation; MDL 2595, In re Community Health Systems, Inc., Customer Data Security Breach Litigation; MDL 2734, In re Abilify (Aripiprazole) Products Liability Litigation; and MDL 2885, In re 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation.

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

• Drug & Device Litigation
• Tort, Transportation & Specialized Litigation
• Groundwater & Chemical Exposure Litigation

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

David Proctor

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of Alabama

Judge R. David Proctor was nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama and received his commission on September 22, 2003.

Judge Proctor received his undergraduate degree from Carson-Newman College in 1983. He earned his law degree with honors from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1986. After graduating from law school, Judge Proctor served as a law clerk to United States Circuit Judge H. Emory Widener, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In 1987, he moved to Birmingham to take a position as an associate with Sirote & Permutt P.C. In 1993, he became a founding shareholder of the labor and employment boutique firm of Lehr, Middlebrooks & Proctor P.C.

Judge Proctor served on the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation from 2014-2020. He currently serves on the Civil Rules Advisory Committee and chairs the MDL Rules Subcommittee. He has taught Complex Civil Litigation at Cumberland School of Law and the University of Alabama School of Law, and Multidistrict Litigation at the University of Georgia School of Law, the University of Tennessee School of Law, and the Miami School of Law. He also regularly teaches and serves as a panelist for various programs. Judge Proctor is a member of the American Law Institute, the Alabama Law Foundation, and the Birmingham Bar Foundation.

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)

Natasha J. Fernández-Silber

Partner Edelson PC

Natasha Fernandez-Silber is a Partner at Edelson PC, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her practice focuses on antitrust class actions and other forms of complex litigation. Before joining Edelson PC, Natasha was a partner at a boutique antitrust class action firm, where she specialized in generic drug suppression cases, particularly those involving “pay-for-delay” agreements and other anticompetitive schemes. She has also represented purchasers of e-cigarettes, textbooks, pesticides, and various consumer products.

Previously, Natasha clerked for the Honorable Ann Claire Williams on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She also gained experience in restructuring and finance as an associate at the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

Representative Cases

• Reece v. Altria Group, No. 20-02345 (N.D. Cal.) – Steering Committee member representing direct purchasers of Juul products in a suit alleging an anticompetitive agreement between Juul and Altria.
• In re Inclusive Access Course Materials Antitrust Litig., No. 20-02946 (S.D.N.Y.) – Appointed Co-Lead Interim Counsel on behalf of college students alleging that textbook publishers and retailers conspired to restrict the sale of course materials to a specific online format, limiting competition and raising prices.
• In re Actos Antitrust Litig., No. 15-03278 (S.D.N.Y) – Counsel for direct purchasers in a suit alleging that Takeda delayed generic competition for a diabetes drug by misrepresenting the scope of patents listed in the Orange Book.
• In re Ranbaxy Generic Drug Application Antitrust Litig., No. 19-02878 (D. Mass.) – Counsel for direct purchasers in a suit alleging that Ranbaxy fraudulently obtained tentative ANDA approvals and first-to-file exclusivities, delaying generic competition in three drug markets.
• In re Intuniv Antitrust Litig., No. 16-12653 (D. Mass.) – Counsel for direct purchasers in a suit alleging a reverse payment scheme to monopolize the market for an ADHD drug.

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

Jonathan D. Selbin

Senior Partner with Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, Attorneys at Law

Jonathan D. Selbin is a senior partner in the New York office of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, where he has practiced for 28 years, and a long-time member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He has led complex consumer protection, defective products, and sex abuse class action lawsuits in courts around the country against many of the world’s largest corporations and institutions. Together, cases in which Jonathan played a lead role have resulted in court-approved class action settlements with a combined total cash payout to class members in excess of $3.5 billion, plus other relief such as extended and enhanced warranties and implementation of best-practices institutional reforms. He has extensive appellate experience, having argued in the 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 11th Circuits, as well as before state supreme and appellate courts.

Jonathan served on the Board of Directors of Equal Justice Works, where he and his family also founded the Selbin Voting Rights Fellowship which funds a rolling two-year fellow working to ensure fair access to voting. He also serves on the Board of the Beyond #MeToo Working Group on Corporate Governance, Compliance, and Risk.

Jonathan was a Finalist for The American Lawyer’s 2021 Litigator of the Year, a National Law Journal 2021 “Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Trailblazer,” a Law360 2020 “Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar,” and a New York Law Journal “2020 Litigation Trailblazer.” In February 2020, Modern Counsel profiled Jonathan, highlighting his lifelong legacy of fighting for consumer and civil rights in “Jonathan Selbin Levels the Playing Field.”

Jonathan is a 1993 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and a 1989 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan. He clerked for the Honorable Marilyn Hall Patel of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 1993-1995 prior to joining Lieff Cabraser.

Sarah R. London

Partner With Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, Attorneys At Law

Lieff Cabraser partner Sarah London is a true leader in the plaintiffs’ bar and a determined, skilled, and experienced advocate for the injured, employees, and consumers. Sarah has risen to national prominence as a result of appointments to and success in leadership roles in multiple pivotal lawsuits, including as Co-Lead & Liaison Counsel for plaintiffs in the aggregate litigation against Uber in federal court in San Francisco arising from sexual harassment, physical attack, sexual assault, and battery committed by Uber drivers, as well as Co-Lead & Liaison Counsel for plaintiffs in the Juul injury/predatory marketing MDL, where her work led to four historic settlements announced in late 2022 with defendant Juul as well as a comprehensive and historic $235 million settlement that was reached between additional defendant Altria and plaintiffs in the midst of a subsequent JUUL bellwether trial. In 2020, Sarah was appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the Gilead HIV Drug Kidney & Bone Injuries Litigation, and in 2019, Sarah was named Subclass Settlement Counsel in In re Flint Water Cases. Sarah also serves in lead roles in multiple women’s health cases, including as Liaison Counsel in the state court coordinated proceedings involving the destruction of hundreds of frozen eggs and embryos at San Francisco’s Pacific Fertility Center.

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.

Tyler W. Hudson

Partner with Wagstaff & Cartmell

Ty Hudson litigates complex commercial cases in federal and state courts nationwide. He represents individual, corporate, and public entity clients in a wide range of civil matters, focusing on antitrust, business torts, contract disputes, fraud, conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty, and professional liability. He is particularly experienced in developing and successfully prosecuting antitrust and civil RICO cases and representing whistleblowers. He has tried cases in state and federal courts, as well as JAMS, AAA, and FINRA arbitration. He has also successfully argued cases before various appellate courts.

Listed in Lawdragon’s 2024 guide of the nation’s Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, Ty has represented victims of corporate wrongdoing in high-stakes disputes against some of the largest pharmaceutical, tobacco, and financial services companies in the U.S., as well as major private equity firms and banks. He leads the firm’s class action practice which according to Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, is “[k]nown for its expertise in complex commercial and antitrust class actions.” As class counsel, he has helped to recover more than a billion dollars for class members and has been appointed by judges to leadership positions and played key roles in class actions and MDLs across the country. For more than a decade, he has been selected to Super Lawyers, which is limited to no more than 5% of the attorneys in each state. He also has earned recognition as “Best of the Bar” by the Kansas City Business Journal.

Prior to joining Wagstaff & Cartmell, Ty was a Senior Counsel in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement in Washington D.C., a litigator in the trial practice group at the Washington D.C office of Jones Day, and a law clerk to the Honorable John W. Lungstrum, then-Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. He is a graduate of Baker University, magna cum laude, with a degree in accounting. He graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law, magna cum laude, where he was a member of the Law Review, the National Moot Court Team, and Order of the Coif.

Derek W. Loeser

Senior Partner with Keller Rohrback Law Offices

Derek is a senior partner in Keller Rohrback’s nationally recognized Complex Litigation Group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Derek's passion for holding large corporations accountable for wrongdoing has helped recover billions of dollars for consumers, retirees, governments, and institutions. He has served in leadership roles in major complex cases across the country.

Currently, Derek is co-lead counsel in In re Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, the MDL litigation against Facebook stemming from the Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal. In the case, after years of hard-fought litigation, he and the team achieved a historic $725 million settlement, the largest amount paid to date to resolve a privacy-based class action.

In addition to his class action work, Derek helps manage the Keller Rohrback team representing state and local government entities in several matters involving significant public health crises. For example, Derek leads the Keller Rohrback team litigating government cases against opioid manufacturers and distributors in The National Prescription Opioid Litigation. In the Opioid MDL, Derek serves on the Expert and Law & Briefing Committees and leads the litigation against a major opioid manufacturer. He also represents school districts and counties in litigation against the e-cigarette company JUUL for targeting and addicting youth, and in litigation against social media companies for contributing to a youth mental health epidemic. These cases are quintessential examples of the type of litigation Derek and the Keller Rohrback team fervently pursue: corporate fraud and malfeasance causing serious harm to the public.

Derek’s other notable cases include the Wells Fargo unauthorized account consumer class action, in which he served as lead counsel. In the Wells Fargo case, Derek and the Keller Rohrback team achieved a $142 million settlement that required the bank to refund all improper fees and provide first-of-its-kind credit damage reimbursement, among other relief, to Wells Fargo customers. His other cases include multi-billion dollar mortgage-backed securities cases on behalf of the Federal Home Loan Banks of Chicago, Indianapolis, and Boston; ERISA class cases on behalf of employees whose retirement savings were impacted by corporate fraud and abuse on the part of companies such as Enron, WorldCom, Countrywide, and Washington Mutual. He has also litigated fraud, RICO, and antitrust cases against drug manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers, and insurance companies for conspiring to drive up the cost of life-saving medications like insulin.

Many of Derek’s cases have required coordination with state and federal agencies involved in litigation that parallels cases pursued by Keller Rohrback, including state attorneys general, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Labor. In addition, Derek has extensive experience negotiating complex, multi-party settlements, and working with multiple parties and counsel to achieve successful outcomes. He is frequently invited to speak at national conferences about class actions, public health litigation, ERISA, and other complex litigation topics.

In 2024, Derek was recognized by Law360 as a "Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar."

Before joining Keller Rohrback, Derek served as a law clerk for the Honorable Michael R. Hogan, U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. He was also a trial attorney in the Employment Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where he prosecuted discrimination cases on behalf of the United States.

Ellen Relkin

Partner and Practice Group Chair with Weitz & Luxenberg

Ms. Relkin, whose practice focuses on medical device and pharmaceutical product liability, as well as toxic tort matters, has represented thousands of plaintiffs injured by defective medical products for more than three decades. She has been appointed by numerous federal and state judges to serve as the leadership counsel running large, consolidated litigations. She was most recently appointed as co-lead counsel in the multidistrict litigation In Re: Exactech Polyethylene Orthopedics Product Liability Litigation in the Eastern District of New York. She is co-lead counsel of the In Re: JUUL Labs, Inc. Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, where she helped negotiate settlements on behalf of consumers and government entities of over $500 million dollars with defendants for their conduct in creating a vaping epidemic. She has served as the co-lead counsel of the In Re: DePuy ASR multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of Ohio, resulting in a global settlement. She played a key role in negotiating settlements exceeding $2.5 billion. She also served as court appointed co-lead counsel in the In Re: Farxiga (Dapagliflozin) Products Liability Litigation that was venued in the Southern District of New York.

On the state court front, she has been court-appointed lead and liaison counsel in the New Jersey state court multicounty litigations: In Re: Stryker Rejuvenate & ABG II Modular Hip Implant Litigation; In Re: Stryker LFit CoCr V49 Femoral Heads Litigation; and, previously, in the In Re: Yaz Product Liability Litigation. In addition to roles as lead counsel of litigations, she has been court appointed to the Executive Committees in the multidistrict litigations, In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation; In Re: Stryker LFIT V40 Femoral Head Products Liability Litigation, In Re: Invokana (Canagliflozin) Products Liability Litigation; and In Re: Ortho Evra Product Liability Litigation.

Ms. Relkin, who is Certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Civil Trial Attorney, is an elected member of the American Law Institute, as well as the Summit Council, and an invited member of the American Bar Foundation. She also serves on the Board of Advisors of the RAND Kenneth R. Feinberg Center for Catastrophic Risk Management and Compensation. She is an active member of the American Association for Justice (past chair of its Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Torts section); the New Jersey Trial Lawyers Association, where she serves on the Board of Governors and is co-chair of its Mass Tort Committee; and the New Jersey and New York Bar Associations, and the American Bar Association. She is also former President of the Roscoe Pound Civil Justice Institute, now known as the National Civil Justice Institute. She is a frequent lecturer nationally at continuing legal education programs. She has published law review articles in the Cardozo Law Review and the Dickinson Journal of Environmental Law and Policy; the chapter on Failure to Warn in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Mass Tort Litigation in the treatise New Jersey Mass Torts and Class Action published by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education; and numerous other legal publications.

She has been consistently named as a ”Super Lawyer” in both New York and New Jersey for the past several years, “Best Lawyer” in New York, and has been AV rated by Martindale Hubble for more than two decades.

Hon. Beth Labson Freeman

Federal Court in the Northern District of California

Judge Beth Labson Freeman is a Judge on the Federal Court in the Northern District of California, appointed by President Obama in 2014. Judge Freeman sits in the San Jose Division, hearing a broad array of cases including antitrust, civil rights, consumer class actions, commercial litigation and technology cases including patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret cases. She serves on the Northern District’s patent local rules and jury instruction committees. Judge Freeman previously was a Superior Court Judge in San Mateo County, California from 2001 to 2014. Judge Freeman served as Presiding Judge and Assistant Presiding Judge of the San Mateo Court.

Prior to her appointment to the bench in 2001, Judge Freeman was deputy county counsel in San Mateo County, and an associate attorney at Lasky, Haas and Cohler in San Francisco and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson in Washington, D.C. Judge Freeman is a graduate of the Harvard Law School and University of California, Berkeley.

Hon. Rita F. Lin

United States District Court Judge, Northern District of California

Judge Beth Labson Freeman is a Judge on the Federal Court in the Northern District of California, appointed by President Obama in 2014. Judge Freeman sits in the San Jose Division, hearing a broad array of cases including antitrust, civil rights, consumer class actions, commercial litigation and technology cases including patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret cases. She serves on the Northern District’s patent local rules and jury instruction committees. Judge Freeman previously was a Superior Court Judge in San Mateo County, California from 2001 to 2014. Judge Freeman served as Presiding Judge and Assistant Presiding Judge of the San Mateo Court.

Judge Rita F. Lin is a U.S. District Judge in the Northern District of California. Prior to her appointment to the federal bench, she served as a Superior Court Judge in San Francisco for five years. She presided over felony trials involving crimes ranging from murder to rape to child sexual abuse, as well as a variety of criminal calendars, including mental health court and preliminary hearings. Before becoming a judge, Judge Lin was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of California in the Criminal Division. She investigated and prosecuted public corruption, illegal opioid prescriptions, organized crime, money laundering, and narcotics trafficking, among other crimes. Before that, she was a litigation partner at Morrison and Foerster, where she practiced complex commercial litigation principally involving class actions and intellectual property, and maintained an active pro bono caseload. In 2012, the Daily Journal named her one of the Top 100 Women Lawyers in California, and in 2017, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association named her one of the Best Lawyers Under 40. Judge Lin is the first Chinese American woman to become a District Judge in the Northern District. She began her career as a law clerk for Judge Sandra Lynch on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Judge Lin is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School

Janna Maples

Partner with Stranch Jennings & Garvey, PLLC

Janna Maples joined Stranch, Jennings, & Garvey in 2017 and has since focused on complex product liability cases. She brings expertise in corporate discovery, case strategy, witness examination, expert witnesses, and trial strategy.

Previously, Ms. Maples worked on the firm’s opioid litigation team, playing a pivotal role in securing a default judgment against Endo Pharmaceuticals for discovery misconduct. Her contributions were instrumental in exposing Endo's history of discovery malfeasance nationwide. In recognition of their work, Ms. Maples and her team received the 2022 Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association for their advocacy on behalf of cities and counties in Northeast Tennessee affected by the opioid crisis.

Ms. Maples is currently involved in litigation against infant formula manufacturers Abbott and Mead Johnson regarding their products' risks for premature infants. In 2024, her contributions as part of the trial team led to the first jury verdict in an NEC case against Abbott Laboratories.

Education

• Vanderbilt University Law School (J.D., 2013)
  • Chief Justice of the Moot Court Board
  • Scholastic Excellence Award in Environmental Law
• Auburn University (B.A., 2010)

Practice Areas

• Class Action
• Mass Tort
• Personal Injury
• Product Liability
• Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC)
• Opioid Litigation

Bar Admissions

• Tennessee
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

Professional Honors and Activities

Awards

• Super Lawyers MidSouth Rising Star
• Tennessee Trial Lawyer of the Year (2022)

Memberships

• Tennessee Bar Association
• Nashville Bar Association
• American Association of Justice

Hon. Jeffrey Graham

US Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Indiana

Judge Jeffrey Graham joined the bankruptcy bench for the Southern District of Indiana in 2014 and became Chief Judge in 2021. Prior to joining the bench, he was a partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP’s Indianapolis office where he was a member of the firm’s bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and insolvency practice groups. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable S. Hugh Dillin, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana, before joining Taft. Judge Graham graduated cum laude from the University of Notre Dame and summa cum laude from Valparaiso University School of Law.

Alexandra “Cookie” Echsner-Rasmussen

Attorney with Aylstock Witkin Kreis & Overholtz

Alexandra “Cookie” Echsner-Rasmussen received her B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Saint Louis University, Madrid. She received her J.D. and a certificate in International Law from Florida State University College of Law Cum Laude. She is trained as a 200-hour yoga hatha teacher and graduated with her M.S. in Counseling and Psychology with a certification in addiction counseling from Troy University. She completed training in EMDR therapy in the spring of 2022 and is currently a Registered Mental Health Counseling Intern in the State of Florida.

Alexandra has worked on a vast array of pharmaceutical product and medical device mass tort cases. She has considerable experience preparing for depositions of key witnesses in mass tort litigations. She was a trial team member for a Xarelto bellwether jury trial in Jackson, Mississippi, and in Pennsylvania state court. The results of the trials ultimately led to a global settlement of the Xarelto MDL.

Additional litigations that Alexandra has worked on include the representation of women who suffered personal injuries from the birth control implant Essure and consumers and businesses in claims against Skanska for damages sustained from the destruction of the Pensacola Bay Bridge. She has worked on the national multidistrict litigation against the manufacturers of Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs). Alexandra currently works on the Social Media Addiction and Hair Relaxer litigation.

Alexandra is and has been an active member of the Mental Health and Wellness Committee of the Florida Bar since Summer 2018. Alexandra is the Secretary of the Mindfulness in Law Society and Chair of the Florida Chapter of the Mindfulness in Law Society. She is a member of the Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association, the C. Roger Vinson American Inn of Court, the American Association for Justice, Women En Mass, and the Society of Women Trial Lawyers. Alexandra is a huge proponent for providing trauma-informed legal services and therapy. She has written extensively about lawyer and law student well-being, mindfulness, trauma-informed communication, and has had various speaking engagements and CLE courses on the topic.

Nick D'Aquilla

Counsel Financial

With more than a decade of experience in the mass tort industry, Nick D'Aquilla brings a wealth of knowledge and a proven track record of success to the Counsel Financial team.

Nick is a leading figure in administering complex settlements, contributing to the administration of more than $20 billion in mass tort settlements across many high-profile cases. His expertise in solution design and oversight services has contributed to the resolution of more than 40 mass tort and class action litigations, including environmental, pharmaceutical, medical device and sexual assault matters.

Before joining Counsel Financial, Nick was a senior member of a complex settlement fund advisory team for a national bank, where he developed underwriting methodologies that enabled credit extensions to mass tort plaintiffs’ firms. In the last 18 months, he has analyzed and valued more than $1.5 billion in loan collateral derived from mass tort dockets.

Prior to entering the mass tort industry in 2012, Nick served as a civil defense litigator for the Louisiana DOJ, acting as lead counsel for personal injury, contract dispute and subrogation matters. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the Southern University Law Center, and Master of Laws in Health Law from Loyola University of Chicago School of Law.

Hon. Rachel Bloomekatz

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

Rachel Bloomekatz was confirmed as a judge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in July 2023. Prior to joining the court, Judge Bloomekatz had an accomplished career in public interest lawyering, focusing on appeals and complex litigation issues. She was a solo practitioner at Bloomekatz Law, which she founded in 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. Previously, she was a principal at Gupta Wessler, an associate at Jones Day, and an assistant attorney general for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Judge Bloomekatz also served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Chief Justice Margaret Marshall on the Massachusetts Supreme Court, and Judge Guido Calabresi on the Second Circuit. She received her J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 2008 and her A.B. from Harvard University in 2004.

Judge Bloomekatz is an active member of the community in Columbus, Ohio, where she lives with her husband and two children. She has served as an adjunct professor teaching Federal Courts and Community Lawyering at The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and on the board of Jewish Family Services of Central Ohio, which helps to provide services and training for low-income individuals in central Ohio.

John Yanchunis

Attorney with Morgan & Morgan

John A. Yanchunis leads the Class Action Department of Morgan & Morgan. Mr. Yanchunis’ practice— which began after completing a two-year clerkship with United States District Judge Carl O. Bue, Jr., Southern District of Texas—has concentrated on complex litigation and spans over 40 years, including class actions for over two-thirds of that time. Mr. Yanchunis has served as lead, co lead or in other leadership positions in numerous MDLs , most recently in the successful conclusion of a class case against Capital One and Amazon where he and his co leads obtained a settlement of $190 million for the class. He has been honored with the prestigious “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell. He has also been continuously recognized as a Florida Super Lawyer. In 2020 he was recognized as Florida Lawyer of the Year, he has been recognized on three occasions by Law360 as an MVP in the cybersecurity practice area, most recently in 2023, and twice as a Trailblazer in the area of cybersecurity .

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.

Chris Paulos

Shareholder with Levin Papantonio

Christopher G. Paulos is a shareholder at Levin Papantonio. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 2000 obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Arts and Sciences, with an emphasis in Argumentation and Advocacy, as well as Cinema/Television Critical Studies.

In May 2010, Mr. Paulos received his Juris Doctor degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California. In law school, Mr. Paulos was President of the Student Bar Association during which he oversaw the activities of more than 40 student organizations and represented the student body in consultations with the American Bar Association, faculty, administration, and local community organizations. He was also the president of the Entertainment Law Society. Mr. Paulos was also member of both the Moot Court Honor Society and Mock Trial Team, competing and prevailing in both national and regional competitions that included topics such as medical malpractice, wrongful death, criminal law, entertainment law, and copyright and trademark disputes.

From 2008 to 2010, during a clerkship at the San Diego County Office of the Public Defender, Mr. Paulos worked closely with the Felony Trial department on cases involving violent crimes, drug crimes, and financial wrongdoing. Transitioning to private practice, Chris went on to work for several of San Diego’s most well-known and respected criminal defense attorneys handling motion and appearance work, and participating in the resolution of international discovery disputes, the representation of parties accused of violations of international and offshore gaming regulations, high intensity drug trafficking conspiracies, healthcare fraud, and professional malpractice.

Mr. Paulos joined Levin Papantonio in February 2011 and has developed a diverse practice that includes pharmaceutical, medical device and environmental mass torts, as well as catastrophic personal injury, qui tam/false claims cases, and counter-terrorism/human rights litigation. Chris was a member of the MDL Yaz bellwether Trial Team in Sims v. Bayer, conducted apex corporate deposition discovery in the GranuFlo MDL, and was a member of the trial team in all four DuPont C8 MDL bellwether trials. Chris has handled the day-to-day litigation of the Yaz, NuvaRing, Zimmer NexGen, GranuFlo, and Abilify mass tort cases, and also oversees the daily operation of the qui tam and counterterrorism departments.

Mr. Paulos has significant expertise in the handling of evidence and issues of admissibility at trial. He has written and argued numerous legal briefs to address complex legal issues, and has routinely published articles on various issues related to litigation and jury trials. He is a frequent lecturer at national mass tort and trial lawyer conferences.

Rosemary Rivas

Partner with Gibbs Law Group

Rosemary Rivas has dedicated her legal career to representing consumers in complex class action litigation, covering claims from false advertising and defective products to privacy violations. She is deeply committed to securing justice for consumers, achieving billions of dollars in recoveries for her clients and the classes they represent.

Rosemary serves in leadership roles in various high-profile class action cases and multi-district litigations. In a competitive appointment process, Judge Charles R. Breyer appointed her to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Volkswagen Clean Diesel Litigation, which culminated in a landmark $14 billion settlement. The Recorder recognized the lawyers selected by Judge Breyer as a class action “dream team.” For her contributions to the Volkswagen case, Rosemary was honored with the 2018 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award.

Throughout her career, Rosemary has received numerous accolades, including the Bay Area Legal Aid Guardian of Justice Award for her work in directing cy pres settlement funds to promote equal access to justice. She has been recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer since 2019 and was previously named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine. Currently, she serves as a Lawyer Representative for the Northern District of California and the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.

A fluent Spanish-speaker, Rosemary has been actively involved in diversity initiatives, previously serving on the Board and as Diversity Director of the Barristers Club of the San Francisco Bar Association. She frequently speaks at conferences on developments in consumer protection and class action litigation.

Litigation Highlights

• Porsche Gasoline Litigation: As part of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and Class Counsel, Rosemary represented consumers alleging Porsche manipulated emissions and fuel economy tests. Judge Charles R. Breyer approved a nationwide class action settlement with a non-reversionary fund of $80 million.
• Lash Boost Cases: Rosemary served as Class Counsel representing consumers who alleged Rodan + Fields failed to disclose potential side effects of their Lash Boost product. Judge Ethan Schulman approved a $30 million cash settlement with an additional $8 million in credits for consumers.
• In re: Apple Inc. Device Performance Litigation: Appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, Rosemary helped represent consumers in a nationwide case alleging Apple intentionally slowed iPhones. The case settled for $310 million under the oversight of Judge Edward J. Davila.
• In re: Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc., Dog Food Products Liability Litigation: Rosemary represented consumers alleging Hill’s sold dog food with harmful Vitamin D levels. Chief Judge Julie A. Robinson approved a $12.5 million nationwide class action settlement.

Hon. Joy Flowers Conti

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

Judge Conti is a Senior District Judge. She served as the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 2013 until December 2018. She has authored articles on e-discovery and is a frequent lecturer at seminars on patent law, e-discovery, cybersecurity and multi district litigation. Judge Conti currently is a judicial advisor and a member of the steering committee for the Sedona Conference’s Working Group 10 on Patent Litigation Best Practices. Judge Conti was a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and is a former Chair of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System. She received the American Inns of Court 2009 Professionalism Award for the Third Circuit and the 2016 W. Edward Sell Business Lawyer Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Business Law Section. Prior to her appointment, she was a shareholder with the Pittsburgh office of Buchanan Ingersoll, Professional Corporation, now Buchanan Ingersoll Rooney (“Buchanan”), and prior to joining Buchanan she was an equity partner with Kirkpatrick, Lockhart, Johnson & Hutchison, now known as K&L Gates LLP. Judge Conti was a tenured Professor of Law at Duquesne University and taught courses on civil procedure, corporations, corporate finance, corporate reorganizations and bankruptcy.

Jennifer Hoekstra

Partner with Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz, PLLC

Jennifer M. Hoekstra is a partner with Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz, PLLC. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science from Columbia College, Columbia University in the City of New York. She relocated to Louisiana to attend Tulane Law School, where she earned her J.D. while also completing a certificate in Environmental Law.

Jennifer has been involved in complex litigation cases of all forms since 2007. Her passion and expertise lies in Electronically Stored Information and coordinating discovery across multiple defendant litigations. She has earned a solid reputation and plays an integral role in multiple complex litigation cases, practicing in the areas of Pharmaceutical Mass Torts, Defective Device Mass Torts, and other complex litigation.

Ms. Hoekstra is currently on the Plaintiffs Executive Committee for the MDL 3060 Hair Relaxer and MDL 2789 Proton-Pump Inhibitors Products Liability Litigations. Additionally, Jennifer is a passionate litigator and has been central to the successful outcome in dozens of MDL bellwether trials over the course of her career with more than $11 Billion in trial verdicts to her credit. Most recently in 2021 and 2022, she served as trial counsel and/or as an integral member of the trial team in all of the sixteen 3M Earplug trials securing more than $300 Million in compensatory damages for military veterans.

Amir Nassihi

Co-Chair, Class Action & Appellate Litigation Practice Group, Shook Hardy & Bacon

Amir is the National Co-Chair of Shook’s Class Action Practice Group and co-leads Shook’s Automotive Industry Group. Amir's practice is primarily dedicated to defending companies in class actions and aggregated litigation.

Amir has led the defense of class actions of all types, including automotive, food, beverage, pet food, cosmetics, personal care products, and insurance. He has also defended companies in regional and specialty class action roles.

Beyond traditional class actions, Amir has served in lead roles in mass and aggregated litigation, including JCCP and MDL proceedings, and in managing class opt-out litigation and mass arbitrations.

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.

Theane Evangelis

Partner with Gibson Dunn

Theane Evangelis is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. She is Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn’s global Litigation Practice Group and one of the country’s leading litigators. Theane represents clients in federal and state courts throughout the nation in a wide spectrum of cases and has argued and won high-profile, groundbreaking appeals across the country, including in the Supreme Court of the United States. Her achievements have earned her accolades from leading national legal publications.

Practice Areas

Theane is a member of the Appellate, Labor and Employment, Media, Entertainment, and Technology, and Crisis Management Practice Groups. She joined Gibson Dunn after serving as a law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor during October Term 2004 and as an associate with Ziffren Brittenham, a Los Angeles law firm specializing in entertainment and media transactions. Before clerking for Justice O’Connor, Theane was a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Awards & Recognition

• Named “Employment MVP” by Law360 and recognized three times as a “Class Action MVP.”
• Recognized by the National Law Journal as a 2023 “Employment Law Trailblazer.”
• Ranked by Chambers USA for Appellate Litigation since 2020.
• Recognized among the “Top 10 Women in Litigation” by Benchmark Litigation, named California Labor & Employment Litigation “Attorney of the Year.”
• Included in Lawdragon’s lists of “500 Leading Litigators in America,” “500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers,” and “500 Leading Global Litigators.”
• Featured on Los Angeles Business Journal's lists of “Leaders of Influence” for Labor & Employment in 2022 and “Lawyer of the Year” for 2021.
• Listed by The Daily Journal among California’s “Top 100 Lawyers” and “Top Woman Lawyer in California” from 2016 to 2024.
• Acknowledged by Best Lawyers as the 2023 Appellate Lawyer of the Year.
• Received the 2022 distinguished Amicus Service Award from the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA).
• Selected as “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer in July 2024.

Recent Representative Matters

• Won a landmark Supreme Court ruling upholding public-camping laws on behalf of the City of Grants Pass, Oregon.
• Lead counsel for Uber in nationwide misclassification cases involving drivers who use the Uber app.
• Lead counsel for Reddit, achieving a first appellate ruling interpreting FOSTA amendments to Section 230.
• Secured interlocutory review and class certification reversal for a leading retailer in the Ninth Circuit.
• Represented actor Ashley Judd against Harvey Weinstein, securing justice for career-related harm.
• Lead counsel for the City of Grants Pass, Oregon, in defending its public camping ban in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Defended Reese Witherspoon and Draper James in a nationwide consumer class action.
• Successfully represented Uber in the Sixth Circuit, achieving a unanimous decision in favor of arbitration in an overtime class action.
• Obtained summary judgment for David Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants, in a breach of contract case.
• Achieved a unanimous victory for Standard Fire in the Supreme Court regarding the interpretation of the Class Action Fairness Act.

Education & Early Career

Theane graduated summa cum laude from New York University School of Law in 2003, receiving the University Graduation Prize for the highest GPA. She was a Butler and Pomeroy Scholar and served as Managing Editor of the New York University Law Review. She earned her B.S. in Foreign Service, cum laude, from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

Bar Admissions & Affiliations

Theane is a member of the California bar and is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Courts of Appeal across the country, and all federal courts in California. She serves on the boards of the California Women’s Law Center and The Hellenic Initiative, is a Trustee of the Global Greek Film Initiative, and a Member of the Board of Trustees of NYU Law School. She was appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to the Los Angeles County Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness.

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

• Antitrust and Competition Law
• Business Litigation
• Class Action
• Culture Risk and Sensitive Investigations
• Government Controversies and Public Policy Litigation
• Investigations, Compliance, and Defense
• Investor and Securities Litigation
• National Security and Crisis
• Post-Dobbs Task Force

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.

Brendan P. Cullen

Partner with Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Brendan Cullen is a partner in S&C’s Litigation Group. He has litigated a broad range of matters, including complex securities, commercial, intellectual property, and antitrust litigation, frequently involving substantial technological elements. Mr. Cullen has advised and represented clients in arbitrations, in state and federal trial courts, and on appeals before state and federal appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. He has also conducted numerous confidential internal investigations on issues of corporate governance, securities, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Corporate Clients

Mr. Cullen’s corporate clients have included Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, BHP Billiton, Caterpillar, Dolby International AB, EchoStar, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, Intel, Madison Square Garden, Microsoft, Ovintiv, Philips Electronics, Rolls-Royce, Tenaris, UBS, Verifone, Vista Equity Partners, and Wells Fargo. He has guided clients through significant economic events, such as the collapse of Enron, the California energy crisis, and the financial crisis.

High Technology Focus

Mr. Cullen has been involved in several technology-focused cases, including patent litigation for Verifone and Dolby, as well as a six-week jury trial where his team at Sullivan & Cromwell obtained a favorable verdict for Philips in a case related to allegations of faulty computer chips.

Awards & Recognition

• Recognized as a leader in litigation by Chambers USA, The American Lawyer, Benchmark Litigation, and Northern California Super Lawyers.

FCPA Clearinghouse

Mr. Cullen co-led the team at S&C that partnered with Stanford Law School to launch the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Clearinghouse, a public database providing source documents and analytic tools related to FCPA enforcement since its inception.

Regional Focus

Mr. Cullen provides litigation support to the Asia-Pacific region from the Palo Alto office.

Professional Activities and Community Involvement

• Co-chair, The Campaign for Legal Services
• Member, Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services Board of Directors
• Member, Atherton Police Foundation Board of Directors
• Member, Stanford Law School Board of Visitors
• Member, Federal Bar Association
• Member, National Leadership Council, Positive Coaching Alliance

Hon. Kenly Kiya Kato

United States District Court Judge, Central District of California

Judge Kato was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Central District of California in November 2023. Judge Kato received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and B.A. from UCLA. She began her legal career as a law clerk to the late Honorable Robert M. Takasugi, the first Japanese American to be appointed to the federal bench. Following her clerkship, Judge Kato served as a Deputy Federal Public Defender, and later entered private practice where she focused on federal criminal defense, civil rights, and employment matters. Prior to being appointed to her current position, Judge Kato served as a United States Magistrate Judge since 2014.

In addition to her civil and criminal docket, Judge Kato is a member of the District’s collaborative courts programs, which offer a pathway for individuals charged with or convicted of federal crimes to attain rehabilitation and become contributing members of the community and are models for criminal justice reform.

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.

Eric Winston

Partner with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan

Mr. Winston's practice includes all areas of corporate insolvency and reorganization and insolvency and valuation related litigation. He has represented debtors, creditors’ committees, secured and debtor in possession lenders, unsecured bondholders, distressed debt traders, trade creditors, and asset acquirers, across numerous industries, out of court and in connection with chapter 9, chapter 11, chapter 15, and involuntary bankruptcies, post-confirmation litigation, SIPA proceedings, and SEC receivership cases.

Mr. Winston routinely advises private equity firms, hedge funds and other investors in distressed companies, whether in court or out of court, with respect to indentures, credit agreements, asset sales, fraudulent transfer and fiduciary duty considerations, and other capital structure and corporate governance issues. He further advises and appears for intellectual property counterparties with respect to the intersection of intellectual property and insolvency law, and has developed expertise representing plaintiffs in class action matters where defendants face insolvency risk.

Recent representative cases include Core Media (AOG Entertainment), Avianca Brasil, SH130, Oro Negro, Taberna Preferred, Orexigen, SandRidge Exploration, Circuit City, Relativity Media, Gaming & Leisure Properties/Cannery Casino, Lehman Brothers Holdings, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities/Fairfield Sentry, Residential Capital, Town of Mammoth Lakes, Avaya, Eastman Kodak, Station Casinos, SemGroup, Fontainebleau Las Vegas, and SK Foods.

Mr. Winston frequently speaks at panels and conferences around the country and has guest lectured at Loyola and University of Southern California law schools. He has written several law review articles, co-authored a chapter in a leading valuation treatise, been interview by Bloomberg Quint concerning international insolvency, is the LEXIS practice advisor on claims trading, and has been a member of the State Bar of California Insolvency Law Committee and the United States District Court for the Central District of California Attorney Discipline Committee.

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.

Samuel E. Geisler

Partner with Aylstock Witkin Kreis & Overholtz

Samuel “Sam” Geisler, a partner with the firm, focuses his practice primarily on complex civil product liability litigation. This includes cases such as the Preterm Infant Formula NEC, Recalled Abbott Formula Litigations, and Tepezza, as well as several medical device litigations, including Essure, 3M Defective Earplugs, and vaginal mesh. He is also among those leading the effort against Skanska USA Civil Southeast on behalf of Pensacola region business owners and individuals who suffered losses due to the Pensacola Bay Bridge outage.

District Judge Matthew Kennelly appointed Mr. Geisler as Co-Lead Counsel in the In Re: Recalled Abbott Infant Formula Multidistrict Litigation, pending in the Northern District of Illinois (N.D. Ill.). Recently, N.D. Ill. District Judge Thomas Durkin appointed Mr. Geisler to the Tepezza Multidistrict Litigation Plaintiff’s Executive Committee. He also served on the Plaintiff Steering Committee for the Essure litigation before Senior District Judge John R. Padova.

Mr. Geisler served on the trial teams responsible for the first two verdicts in the NEC litigation, achieving a $60 million verdict against Mead Johnson and a $495 million verdict against Abbott. He also served as lead trial counsel representing local businesses who successfully denied Skanska’s bid to avoid responsibility for the Pensacola Bay Bridge outage.

Additionally, Mr. Geisler served on trial teams for each of the three Xarelto bellwether trials in federal court before District Judge Eldon Fallon, as well as two such trials in Pennsylvania state court. He was also a trial team member for the historic $9 billion verdict against Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and Eli Lilly & Co. in litigation involving their drug, Actos.

He earned a Juris Doctorate from the Saint Louis University School of Law, where he received the Saint Louis University Student Legal Writers Association’s Writing Excellence Award. During law school, his law journal comment, “A Bridge to Somewhere: How a Bolder Causal Analysis Can Shape Civil RICO into the Ideal Free Market Safeguard,” was published in the Saint Louis University Law Journal. More recently, he co-authored an article in the Suffolk University Law Review with R. Jason Richards, titled “We, the Class: What the Founding Generation Can Tell Us About Adequate Representation in Class Action Litigation.”

Marcus J. Susen

Susen Law Group

Marcus focuses his practice primarily on defective medical devices and drugs, along with sexual abuse cases and catastrophic injury accidents. He has tried a substantial number of cases to verdict as lead counsel which has allowed him to receive his Board Certification in Civil Trial from the Florida Bar- a privilege awarded to less than 2% of Florida attorneys.

Marcus currently serves on the PEC In Re: GLP-1 RAS Products Liability Litigation (Ozempic Litigation) and PSC In Re: Paragard IUD Products Liability Litigation (Paragard Litigation).

He also served as co-lead counsel of the PSC in the Essure Birth Control Litigation prior to the age of 37, alongside Bryan Aylstock. This national litigation subsequently settled for approximately $1.6 Billion dollars.

Mr. Susen graduated in the top 4% of his class, magna cum laude, from Nova Southeastern University School of Law. Prior to that he graduated from Boston University. In his spare time, he trains in boxing, Muay Thai and enjoys meditation, running and scuba diving.

Gary Russo

Gary Russo, APLC, A dispute resolution group

Gary is an accomplished litigator who represents clients in a broad range of commercial, multi-district, mass tort, and class action disputes. He has extensive trial experience, having organized, handled, and argued cases before judges and juries in state, federal district, and appellate courts in multiple jurisdictions and courts in the US. In recognition of his abilities, he has been appointed by federal judges as special master for multidistrict litigations involving various mass torts.

Among other matters, Gary was appointed special master for the In re: Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2299, a nationwide pharmaceutical MDL and was appointed by the parties as special master to handle a $2.4 billion settlement involving more than 10,000 claims. Gary was appointed settlement master in In re: Xarelto Products Liability Litigation assisting in the development of settlement protocols and drafting of the master settlement agreement as well as handling appeals from claims administrator decisions. Gary has also handled allocation of settlement funds in various matters, including claims in In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, In re: Roundup, and Karl Storz Power Morcellator, and the court-appointed co-mediator In re LTL Management, LLC, 1 and 2 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey. Gary was appointed by the chief judge of the Western District of Louisiana as special master in flood claims for the 2016 flood. He has also been involved as liaison counsel and served on committees in various multi-district litigation and class actions, including In re: Apple iPhone 3G Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2045, In re: Chinese-Manufactured Drywall Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2047 and In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "Deepwater Horizon," MDL No. 2179. Gary has received a host of awards and honors, including Martindale’s AV Preeminent rating, and is listed in Best, to name a few.

Andy Rogers

Chief Revenue Officer of Shield Legal

In the complex and ever-evolving realm of mass tort litigation, expertise and insight are paramount.

As someone deeply immersed in this dynamic field, Andy brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. With a comprehensive understanding of the intricate legal landscape, a keen awareness of the latest trends, and a track record of successfully assisting firms on acquiring mass tort cases, he has established himself as a trusted authority in this specialized area.

Heidi Levine

Partner with Sidley Austin LLP

HEIDI LEVINE is a global co-leader of the Product Liability and Mass Torts practice, member of the firm’s Executive Committee, serves on Sidley’s Global Life Sciences Leadership Council, and is a firmwide co-chair of the firm’s women’s initiative. She has defended companies in a wide variety of product liability and mass tort litigation involving pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, environmental toxic torts, and other products. Heidi also advises clients on risk management, analysis and prevention, as well as conducts pre-litigation assessments and due diligence.

Heidi most often acts as lead national litigation counsel in the mass tort context, representing clients in federal actions, typically in multidistrict litigation proceedings, as well as in coordinated state court actions and related litigation outside the U.S. As national counsel, Heidi formulates and implements the pre-trial, trial and/or end-game strategy with her clients and leads the strategy on all other aspects of the engagement, including coordination relating to regulatory, patent, and business issues. Heidi also has significant experience in alternative dispute resolution, designing and implementing innovative resolution programs for companies faced with complex litigation.

Advocacy on behalf of clients has earned Heidi notable awards and acknowledgement in numerous industry publications, including:

• From 2017–2023, Heidi has been recognized by Chambers USA in nationwide Product Liability & Mass Torts. Sources in the 2023 edition note that they “would trust her with any matter. She's super responsive, smart, quick on her feet and has a unique ability to get along with people." In 2020, Heidi was described as “a tenacious litigator — if you have her in your corner, you can't go wrong,” and a “standout lawyer” who is “very highly respected by her clients, who trust and value her advice and recommendations” and is “very skilled.”
• Heidi was named to the 2023 Crain’s New York Business “Notable Women in Law” list, featuring women from across the legal industry whose work reaches beyond the clients they serve.
• In 2023, Heidi was shortlisted for the “Product Liability Lawyer of the Year” award by Women in Business Law Americas, which celebrates women lawyers who have developed strong and innovative practices.
• In 2022, Heidi was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for her work in Product Liability Litigation – Defendants.
• In 2021 and 2023, LMG Life Sciences shortlisted Heidi for the Americas Awards as “Product Liability Attorney of the Year.”
• In 2017, Heidi received the University of Baltimore School of Law’s “Byron Warnken Distinguished Alumni Award.”
• In 2017 and 2009, The Legal 500 US cited Heidi as a recommended lawyer.
• In 2011, The American Lawyer named Heidi to its “45 under 45” list of “The Top Young Women of the AmLaw 200.”
• In 2014, Heidi received the National Organization of Women’s “Women of Power & Influence Award.”
• In 2013, Heidi was honored by the Women’s Venture Fund with the “Highest Leaf Award,” celebrating “trailblazing women business executives who have shown outstanding leadership and commitment to their respective industries and other women.”
• In 2010, Law360 named Heidi among its “10 Product Liability Lawyers to Watch,” commenting that she “has played a leading role in defending several major pharmaceutical companies in mass torts.”
• From 2009–2023, Heidi has been recognized in the Who’s Who Legal: Life Sciences, Product Liability Lawyers. She is also listed in Who’s Who Legal: Product Liability Defence 2023.
• From 2012–2023, Heidi has been named a “Life Sciences Star” for Product Liability in Euromoney’s Institutional Investor’s LMG Life Sciences, non-IP Litigation section.
• Lawyer Monthly “Women in Law 2014 Award” in recognition of work in the Life Sciences sector.
• Honored in Euromoney’s Product Liability section of the Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Women in Business Law, every year since 2013.
• From 2009–2022, Heidi has been recognized as a New York “Super Lawyer” for personal injury defense.

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 has resulted in settlements for tens of thousands of clients.

Shelley was appointed as co-lead counsel in the 3M Combat Earplug Litigation. On August 29, 2023, the MDL settled for $6 billion dollars. Prior to resolution, Shelley obtained a 55 million dollar verdict for her client, Ronald Sloan against Defendant 3M on January 27, 2022.

Shelley also obtained 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 that year (Gurley-Powell v. Janssen, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas) in the amount of $10.9 million dollars. As co-counsel in the first Topamax trial, Shelley obtained another verdict for her client (Czimmer v. Janssen, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas) in the amount of $4.2 million dollars.

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 31 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.

Paul Cody

President & CEO of Counsel Financial

Paul Cody is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in New York State and has over 25 years of experience in the private equity and financial services arenas. As President and CEO of Counsel Financial, Paul has overseen more than $1.5 billion in legal funding transactions ranging from traditional law firm loans to complex debt and equity structures. In addition to financing. Counsel Financial has assisted in law firm mergers and acquisitions, succession planning and law firm valuations, among other initiatives.

Prior to joining Counsel Financial as President in 2008, Paul was a General Partner and Chief Financial Officer of Seed Capital Partners, a private equity fund with a focus on early-stage investments, and JoRon Management, a closely held private equity fund with investment interests ranging from non-recourse plaintiff funding to commodity-based financial products. In that capacity, he oversaw portfolio investment activities, led dozens of complex equity and debt transactions and frequently assumed operating roles within portfolio companies.

Paul’s career began at KPMG LLP, one of the world’s largest accounting firms. He has been a recipient of Business First’s “40 under 40 Award” in recognition of his record of professional success and community involvement. He holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and has served as an adjunct faculty professor at its School of Management.

Neil E. Grunberg, Ph.D

Professor, Uniformed Services University (USU)

Neil E. Grunberg, Ph.D., is Professor of Military and Emergency Medicine and Professor of Neuroscience in the Uniformed Services University (USU) School of Medicine; Professor in the USU Graduate School of Nursing; and Director of Research and Development in the USU Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program, Bethesda, Maryland. He is a medical psychologist, social psychologist, and behavioral neuroscientist. Dr. Grunberg earned baccalaureate degrees in Medical Microbiology and Psychology from Stanford University (1975); M.A. (1977), M.Phil. (1979), and Ph.D. (1980) degrees in Physiological Psychology and Social Psychology from Columbia University; and completed doctoral training in Pharmacology at Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons (1976-79). He has been educating physicians, psychologists, and nurses for the Armed Forces and Public Health Service and scientists for research and academic positions since 1979. He has published > 225 papers addressing behavioral medicine, drug use, stress, traumatic brain injury, leadership, and followership. He has been recognized for his professional contributions by awards from the American Psychological Association, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Food & Drug Administration, National Cancer Institute, Society for Behavioral Medicine, US Surgeon General, and Uniformed Services University. In 2015, Dr. Grunberg was selected to be a U.S. Presidential Leadership Scholar. He is a co-founder of the Healthcare Leadership Community of the International Leadership Association and of the World Health Leadership Network. He is a co-author of Innovative Leadership for Health Care (2021); Innovative Leadership and Followership in the Age of AI: A Guide to Creating Your Future as Leader, Follower, and AI Ally (2023); and editor of Multidisciplinary teamwork in healthcare (2024).

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.

Dana Rager

Managing Director of Western Alliance Bank’s Juris Banking Group

Dana Rager is managing director of Western Alliance Bank’s Juris Banking Group.

Ms. Rager epitomizes the bank's culture and focuses on providing exceptional service to her portfolio of legal industry clients nationwide with high-touch service. She is an expert in escrow and distribution solutions for large qualified settlement funds and providing customized banking services for attorneys and law firms.

Ms. Rager’s industry knowledge and expertise of the entire life cycle of large settlements assures attorneys and claims administrators that the banking process will be smooth and unique to the needs of the class.

She is committed to providing legal experts and related businesses managing class actions and mass torts educational content covering the latest key topics and trends impacting the industry. Ms. Rager plays a vital role in developing insightful resources, such as Western Alliance Bank’s annual class action research report , the renowned annual Class Action Law Forum along with free CLE-eligible webinars featuring in-depth perspectives from leading practitioners.

Ms. Rager, who has been an integral member of Western Alliance Bank since 2006, previously held management positions within two other financial institutions.

She is based out of San Diego but provides services nationwide. She is active in the community and serves as Vice-Chair and Founding Member of the Academy of Our Lady of Peace Alumnae Council. 

Stacy Hauer

Attorney with Johnson Becker PLLC

Stacy Hauer represents clients who have been injured as a result of defective drugs or faulty medical devices. Since she began practicing law, she has focused much of her practice in this area on large national cases including: Baycol, Zyprexa, Medtronic Defibrillators, Guidant Defibrillators, Medtronic Sprint Fidelis leads, Digitek, and Transvaginal Mesh. Ms. Hauer’s extensive background in science and medicine make her uniquely qualified for drug and device litigation.

Ms. Hauer graduated cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School. She also received a Masters Degree from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota. Stacy also received her Bachelor degrees in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Chemistry from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Finally, Stacy has a background working in the health care industry and caring for patients which has given her a compassionate perspective in advocating for clients who have been injured by defective drugs and medical devices.

Sherry A. Knutson

Partner with Tucker Ellis LLP

Sherry Knutson co-chairs the Tucker Ellis Health & Life Sciences Group.

Appreciated by clients as “a fantastic trial partner,” Sherry has tried cases to verdict in Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Jersey, Georgia, and West Virginia. In one trial, the presiding judge commented that Sherry could teach a master class in effective cross examination. Clients also describe her as “an exceptional attorney” with “a knack for understanding very complex scientific and medical issues and making them easy to understand to both clients and a layperson on the jury.”

Sherry has over 25 years of experience in product liability and toxic tort cases, with an emphasis on defending pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Sherry’s practice ranges from multi-plaintiff, multi-jurisdiction litigations to single plaintiff cases. She has served as national coordinating counsel in multiple pharmaceutical mass torts. Sherry also has served as lead counsel in several coordinated proceedings in Chicago.

Ranked in Chambers USA 2022 in the area of Product Liability & Mass Torts (Nationwide), Sherry is recognized as “understand[ing] the big-picture issues and themes, while also somehow knowing the most minute details of the case. She is strategic, practical, calm, and persuasive.” Clients praise Sherry as “hard-working, a consummate professional and extremely well prepared,” “an amazing trial attorney who has great presence,” and “creative, thoughtful and smart.” According to Who’s Who Legal, where she is recognized in both “Life Sciences – Product Liability” and “Product Liability Defence,”  Sherry is celebrated as “one of the best national strategic thinkers, advocates and trial attorneys” and highly recommended as “one of the best national coordinating counsel and trial counsel” who “absolutely belongs on the list.” Described as “superbly qualified, knowledgeable,” she has “a keen ability to develop sophisticated strategies which bring excellent results on a consistent basis and in an efficient and cost effective manner.”

Early in her career, Sherry clerked for the Honorable N. Patrick Crooks of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, who reinforced integrity and civility in the law – values Sherry has carried with her throughout her career.

Paige Hester Sharpe

Partner with Arnold & Poter

Paige Sharpe's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, primarily mass torts and product liability actions involving consumer products and prescription drugs. She represents major U.S. companies in defending against personal injury claims in state and federal court and at both trial court and appellate court levels, and she also advises clients on their response to government investigations. She also has defended companies in class action litigations. Her experience includes counseling clients on litigation risks, coordinating discovery and trial strategies across multiple jurisdictions, and helping manage the litigation and regulatory matters that arise out of product safety issues.

Paige maintains an active pro bono practice and has worked on a range of matters, including a wrongful death suit against city and state police officers, representation of tenants fighting wrongful eviction, and the appeal of a Fourth Amendment gun possession case to the D.C. Court of Appeals. She also has represented death row inmates asserting religious liberty claims against a state prison system, which has included appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Before starting law school, Paige worked on the copydesks of two Southeastern newspapers.

Experience

• Sanofi as national counsel in product liability litigation concerning Zantac. Appointed to defense steering committee in In re Zantac (ranitidine) Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 2924 (S.D. Fla.).
• Pharmaceutical companies in advising on litigation risk management associated with nitrosamine testing and regulatory reporting.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi as national counsel in Plavix product liability and state attorney general litigation.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb as national counsel in Abilify product liability litigation.
• Sanofi in product liability litigation concerning thalidomide.

• Biopharmaceutical company as national counsel in state APA litigation regarding patient access to a novel prescription therapy.
• Consumer product company in class action litigation related to an alleged product safety hazard.
• Fortune 500 company in breach-of-contract litigation against supplier related to a product recall.

Jason L. Lichtman

Partner with Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein

The chair of Lieff Cabraser’s Economic Injury Product Defect Practice Group, partner Jason L. Lichtman has extensive experience leading multidistrict and large class action litigation on behalf of consumer plaintiffs. With a practice focused on consumer protection, data privacy, and damages, Jason recently recovered more than $122 million in economic value for coffee farmers in the Kona region who sued nearly two dozen companies for selling “Kona coffee” that was not coffee from Kona. The Court described Jason as conducting one “of the most impressive class action cases I have dealt with in my time on the federal bench,” adding that his results in the litigation were “great for justice” because this was a case with “a real result that makes people whole again.”

Numerous other courts have also appointed Jason to leadership positions in large consumer protection cases, in which he has recovered more than $500 million for his clients, including the exploding Samsung Top-Loading Washing Machines case (Co-Lead Counsel); the Whirlpool Corp. Front-Loading Washer products liability litigation (Co-Lead Counsel); and the Dover v. British Airways airline overcharging case (Class Counsel). In the Whirlpool Defective Washers Products Liability litigation, Jason served as Co-Chair of the Law and Motion Committee, one of the trial counsel, and Lead Settlement Counsel, achieving a nationwide settlement strongly favorable to plaintiffs following a bellwether trial, multiple appeals to the Sixth and Seventh Circuits (all won by plaintiffs), and multiple petitions for certiorari (all defeated by plaintiffs). Jason has also secured major victories as counsel of record before numerous federal appellate courts.

Jason’s practice also includes a focus on complex damages issues, including in the Anthem Data Breach Litigation and Marriott Data Breach litigation, leading plaintiffs’ work with damages experts, including the development of highly technical, comprehensive experts reports, defending depositions of plaintiffs’ experts, and taking defendants’ experts’ depositions. The Marriott case remains pending, but Jason’s work contributed heavily to the groundbreaking settlement for plaintiffs of $115 million in Anthem, as well as significant injunctive relief targeting deficient Anthem’s cybersecurity practices. Jason also serves on the board of directors for Public Justice Foundation and is past Chair of the Public Justice Class Action Committee. Public Justice is devoted to standing up for consumers against unscrupulous payday lenders, reckless polluters, dangerous food producers, and other bad corporate actors. A multiple-year “Super Lawyer” for the New York area, he also served on the Law360 Privacy and Consumer Protection Editorial Advisory Board, providing feedback on Law360’s news coverage, including case updates, policy developments, and trends in various industries.

Sara K. Thompson

Shareholder with GreenbergTraurig

Sara K. Thompson is Chair of the firm's Pharmaceutical, Medical Device & Health Care Litigation Practice. She concentrates her practice on defense of products liability litigation, with an emphasis on representing manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and other consumer products in state and federal courts nationwide. Sara has experience managing individual, nationwide and mass tort litigation matters involving a variety of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, as well as class action and mass litigation involving personal care products, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals in both coordinated and consolidated proceedings and Multi-District Litigations (MDLs). Sara also regularly counsels manufacturers regarding review and drafting of appropriate warning language for product labeling, recalls and reporting, Consumer Products Safety Commission recalls and compliance, and other pre-litigation matters.

Prior to joining the firm, Sara spent four years as a litigation associate with two prominent law firms in Boston, Massachusetts.

Concentrations

• Products liability
• Pharmaceutical
• Medical device
• Litigation
• Consumer products
• Malpractice

Sara Williams

Attorney with Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys

Sara has litigated a variety of cases across the State of Alabama, including premises liability, motor vehicle negligence, wrongful death and trucking cases. Sara began her legal career as a civil defense attorney and has worked for some of the preeminent litigation firms of the State. She is now excited to have the opportunity to utilize her litigation skills to help those who have been injured and their families.

Sara is an adjunct professor of Trial Advocacy at Cumberland School of Law and also serves as a coach for Cumberland School of Law’s nationally ranked mock trial teams.

Education

• Florida State University, 2003. B.A.
• Cumberland School of Law, 2006, J.D.

Memberships

• Alabama State Bar
• All State and Federal Courts in Alabama
• Birmingham Bar Association
• Magic City Bar Association
• Alabama Lawyers Association
• Alabama Association for Justice
• Chief Judge Trial Advocacy Board
• President Black Law Students Association
• National Trial Team Member
• ABA National Mediation Team

Awards & Recognition

• Richard D. Hailey Distinguished Service Award (2024)
• TYLA National Trial Competition, Regional Winner
• C.C. International Commercial Mediation Competition Participant (Represented the United States in Paris, France)
• Lone Star Mock Trial Competition, Finalist and Best Advocate
• ABA National Mediation Competition, Winner
• Named a “Rising Star” by Alabama Super Lawyers Magazine (2011 – 2013)
• Selected by peers as one of Birmingham Magazine’s “Top Attorneys” (2011 – 2013)

Erin Copeland

Partner with Fibich Leebron Copeland Briggs

ERIN COPELAND currently serves as the court-appointed Lead of the Paragard (birth control) MDL pending in the Northern District of Georgia and Co-Lead of the Suboxone MDL pending in the Northern District of Ohio. She serves on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee of the Hair Relaxer MDL pending in the Northern District of Illinois.

Previously, from 2017 to 2022, Erin served on the Executive Committee for the Essure consolidated state litigation in California, where she and her team oversaw the claims of thousands of women who suffered severe and permanent injuries as a result of the Essure permanent sterilization birth control device. In August 2020, she helped to negotiate a $1.6 billion settlement with Bayer to resolve the Essure litigation. Erin also served on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for the various female pelvic mesh MDLs pending in the Southern District of West Virginia as well as the Pradaxa litigation pending in the Southern District. In the Pradaxa litigation, Erin served as State-Federal Liaison Counsel to the cases pending in St. Clair County, Illinois.

Erin is often invited to speak on a variety of legal issues at both judicial and general legal conferences. She also serves on the board of several legal organizations, including the American Association for Justice and Texas Women Rainmakers.

Erin is a native Houstonian and practices with the Houston-based law firm of Fibich Leebron Copeland & Briggs. Erin and her family split time between Houston and Colorado where her son was a competitive snowboarder before turning to golf school.

Danielle Ward Mason

Partner with Singleton Schreiber Injury Attorneys

Danielle Ward Mason is a personal injury attorney specializing in claims involving dangerous drugs and medical devices. Ms. Mason was the first black woman to be named partner at two major national law firms and is a leading litigator on cases impacting women’s health, including toxic hair relaxers, hormone replacement therapy, transvaginal mesh, and talcum powder ovarian cancer. Danielle is a leading lawyer in the country for litigation related to toxic hair relaxers primarily used by women of color.

Ms. Mason is one of the country's most successful talcum powder litigation attorneys, securing nearly $1 billion in verdicts against Johnson & Johnson for failing to warn about ovarian cancer risks. In addition to this talcum powder work, Ms. Mason's civil litigation experience has focused primarily on claims that impact and highlight important issues in women's health, a cause that she is proud to advance. In January 2020, Ms. Mason was appointed to the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee (PSC) in federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) over Janssen Pharmaceuticals' drug Elmiron. Previously, in 2017, Ms. Mason was appointed to the PSC of the Invokana MDL.

In the sixteen years that she has practiced law, Danielle has achieved numerous awards and has been recognized extensively for her legal advocacy, detailed on the awards page. Danielle is an active member of the American Association for Justice, where she has been the chair of the Talcum Powder/Ovarian Cancer Litigation Group since its inception in 2016. She is active in both the Minority Caucus and the Women’s Trial Lawyer Caucus, and currently holds several key committee appointments. She has held numerous leadership positions in Alabama legal organizations, including serving as president of the Alabama Lawyers Association and president of the Montgomery County Association for Justice.  Additionally, her insightful contributions have earned her recognition, with her Article Featured in AAJ Trial Magazine showcasing her expertise and commitment to advancing legal discourse.

Danielle was born and raised in historic Montgomery, Alabama, where she currently resides with her husband, Dwan, and their sons, Jordan and Jaxon.

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.

Thomas W. Pirtle

Founding Partner of Laminack, Pirtle & Martines

Tom Pirtle is a nationally acclaimed trial lawyer renowned for his groundbreaking achievements in personal injury, wrongful death, defective product, and commercial dispute cases. With an exceptional track record in the courtroom, Tom has secured numerous landmark verdicts. Additionally, he has displayed his commitment to representing the rights of injured individuals through leadership positions in significant multi-district litigations, including:

• Executive Committee
  MDL No. 2885: In re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation, United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
• Discovery Subcommittee
  Case No. 4:23-cv-00242: In re: East Palestine Train Derailment, United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
• Executive Committee; Chairman, Settlement Subcommittee 
  MDL No. 3081: In re: Bard Implanted Port Catheter Products Liability Litigation, United States District Court for the District of Arizona 

Tom graduated with honors, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from Stephen F. Austin University in 1987, where he was awarded Most Outstanding Graduate by the Board of Regents. He went on to graduate from South Texas College of Law in 1990.

Alexandra Walsh

Shareholder with Anapol Weiss

Alexandra Walsh is a nationally recognized trial attorney with extensive experience trying and winning cases in courts throughout the country. In 2021, after years of defending corporate clients, Alex launched Walsh Law to fight for plaintiffs seeking justice in the nation’s courts. More recently, Alex brought the team she built at Walsh Law to Anapol Weiss where she will join an already elite group of litigators and help the firm expand its trial and product liability practices to the national level.

Alex currently holds leadership positions in national litigations concerning sexual assault in rideshare vehicles, teenage social media addiction, toxic contamination of baby foods and the adverse effects of GLP-1 medications.

Before beginning her law practice, Alex was honored to serve as law clerk to two of the country’s top jurists: the Honorable Merrick B. Garland, then a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and the Honorable Stephen G. Breyer, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Alex earned her law degree at Stanford Law School and received her undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College.

Alex currently serves on the board of D.C.’s Legal Aid Society, the city’s oldest and largest civil legal services organization and represents Legal Aid clients in landlord-tenant disputes. Alex is also a board member the for LIFT-DC, a national non-profit dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty for families with children through targeted career, education, and financial coaching.

Katherine E. Charonko

Partner with Bailey Glasser

Kate Charonko is a thought leader and pioneer in the field of Electronically Stored Information (ESI) and is Bailey Glasser’s ESI group’s Practice Group Leader. Kate is a Certified e-Discovery Specialist (CEDS).

In her role as ESI Practice Group Leader, Kate designs ESI strategies that provide structured and conceptual analytic functionality for numerous aspects of e-Discovery, including document review strategy, use of technology and technology assisted review (TAR), collection and preservation strategy, ESI protocols, and training and implementation of e-Discovery practices.

In addition to her e-Discovery practice, Kate serves as part of Bailey Glasser’s multidistrict litigation (MDL) teams focusing on product liability actions across the country. Serving in various leadership and liaison positions, Kate focuses her MDL practice on complex discovery and e-Discovery matters.

Kate frequently speaks on various e-Discovery topics, including ESI, TAR, AI and legal ethics. In 2019, she was invited to share her “lessons learned” about her path to becoming a lawyer in Nora Riva Bergman’s book, “50 Lessons for Women Lawyers From Women Lawyers.”

Awards & Accolades

Chambers USA, USA-Nationwide-Product Liability: Plaintiffs (2024)    

2024 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation, Electronically Stored Information

National Trial Lawyers Top 100, West Virginia (2024)

National Trial Lawyers Top 100, "Top 40 Under 40,” West Virginia (2023 and 2024)

Best Lawyers - Ones to Watch, Technology Law (2021) 

Best Lawyers, Women in the Law (2021)

Government Service / Previous Employment

• Extern, Hon. Irene M. Keeley, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (2011)

Adam J. Levitt

Partner with DiCello Levitt

Adam Levitt is one of the nation’s leading advocates for plaintiffs in complex, multidistrict, class action, public client, mass tort, and commercial litigation. Drawing on his extensive experience pursuing and obtaining justice for those who have been wronged by powerful defendants, he co-founded DiCello Levitt to create a top-tier complex issues and trial firm founded on excellence, trust, and respect—where every team member’s voice and talents are valued.

In his decades-long career, Adam has scored numerous significant and precedent-setting victories, delivering more than $20 billion in recoveries to clients in biotechnology, financial services, securities, insurance coverage, consumer protection, automotive defects, agricultural products, and antitrust disputes. His reputation for innovatively taking on tough cases has led to his appointment to leadership positions in many historic and headline-grabbing litigations, including three of the largest biotechnology class actions in U.S. history, where he served as co-lead counsel, helped recover more than $1.7 billion on behalf of plaintiffs, and created a game-changing economic model to measure crop contamination damages that set the modern industry standard. He was also retained by multiple State Attorneys General to hold some of the world’s largest chemical companies accountable for widespread environmental contamination from their “forever chemicals” known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Also, as part of a leadership group characterized as a “class action dream team,” Adam helped secure a $16 billion settlement in litigation arising from Volkswagen’s emissions scandal, and, in a rare class action trial, he and his fellow co-lead counsel secured a milestone $102.6 million jury verdict against General Motors for hiding engine defects from consumers.

Adam is also a leader in the legal profession and a frequent speaker on multidistrict litigation, consumer protection, automotive litigation, biotechnology, corporate governance, securities litigation, and internet privacy. Nationally recognized as an authority on class action litigation, Adam writes a monthly class action column in The National Law Journal, has testified before the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee on class action practice, and chairs an annual class action litigation conference in Chicago.

As a founding partner of DiCello Levitt, Adam has cultivated a diverse roster of skilled litigators to advance the cause of justice for individuals, businesses, and public clients. The firm’s attorneys are highly respected for their ability to litigate and win cases and have secured billions of dollars in recoveries for their clients through class action, business-to-business, whistleblower, personal injury, civil rights, and mass tort litigation. They have worked on some of the highest-profile securities actions ever filed, developed game-changing legal theories to secure landmark wins against tech giants that misused and exposed massive troves of personal data, and held some of the world’s largest corporations accountable for endangering and harming American consumers. With a long history of working with public clients, Adam and his partners understand the wants and needs of government officials and their teams, and, as experts in trial practice and jury persuasion, they consistently achieve best-in-class results for their clients.

Adam’s own groundbreaking work on behalf of plaintiffs has been recognized locally and nationally in prestigious ranking directories, including Chambers USA, where he has received a Band 1 ranking for Mainly Plaintiffs Litigation in Illinois for three consecutive years. Chambers USA also ranked Adam in Illinois for General Commercial Litigation and nationwide for Product Liability Litigation, where the editors describe him as the “go-to plaintiffs’ attorney in the class actions space.” In 2021, 2022, and 2023, Benchmark Litigation named Adam a National Litigation Star and Securities and Litigation Star in Illinois. According to The National Law Journal, Adam is a “pioneer” in technology litigation. Crain’s Chicago Business has named him a Notable Litigator and Trial Attorney and a Notable Gen X Leader in Accounting, Consulting, and Law, and Lawdragon has named him one of the 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers and one of the 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers in the United States.

An elected member of the American Law Institute and the Economic Club of Chicago, Adam considers the formation of DiCello Levitt in 2017 to be a pivotal moment in his distinguished legal career. With a shared vision and commitment to helping people and businesses use the legal system to have their voices heard, he and his partners intend to maintain their industry-wide influence for years to come with a steadfast resolve for justice in all its dimensions.

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)

Bryan L. Clobes

Partner with Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel

BRYAN L. CLOBES is a graduate of the Villanova University School of Law and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland. After clerking on the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, Mr. Clobes served as Trial Counsel to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington, D.C, where he prosecuted investment fraud cases in federal courts throughout the country. Mr. Clobes has served as lead counsel in hundreds of class cases covering all areas of the firm’s practice, recovered tens of billions of dollars for clients and class members, and is nationally recognized as an expert in all phases of class action litigation. Mr. Clobes has authored numerous briefs filed with the Supreme Court and law review and journal articles, served as a panelist for class action, consumer and antitrust programs, sustained and maintained the highest rating, AV Plus, from Martindale- Hubbell, and been named a “Super Lawyer” each year for over the past twenty years. Mr. Clobes is admitted to the bars in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and admitted to practice in many federal district and circuit courts.

Michael Moreland

Partner with Clark Love Hutson

Michael Moreland represents people injured by pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other products, and has done so for almost two decades. He practices in federal and state courts across the country, ranging from California to Pennsylvania and Florida, and including many of the states in between. Michael was nominated and elected to the Texas Bar Foundation as a Fellow. Michael received a rating of "AV Preeminent" from the national Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating Service.

Areas of Practice

• Products Liability
• Pharmaceutical Litigation
• Medical Device Litigation

Bar Admissions

• Texas
• S. District Court Eastern District of Texas
• S. District Court Northern District of Texas
• S. District Court Southern District of Texas
• S. District Court Western District of Texas
• S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

Education

• University of Houston Law Center, Houston, Texas,

• J.D.- 2005
• Honors: Dean's Public Interest Fellowship

• Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

• B.A. - 2002
• Honors: Chair of the Vanderbilt Chapter of Habitat for Humanity

Representative Cases

• In Re: 3M Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2885 (Plaintiffs Steering Committee)
• In Re: Boston Sci. Corp. Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2326
• In Re: Syngenta AG MIR162 Corn Litigation, MDL No. 2591
• In Re: DePuy Orthopaedics, ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2197
• In Re: Trasylol Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1928
• In Re: Diet Drugs Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1203

Honors and Awards

• AV Preeminent Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
• Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Houston Bar Association, Administration of Justice Committee (Past Member)
• Houston Trial Lawyers Association
• Texas Trial Lawyers Association
• American Association for Justice
• American Bar Association

Adam S. Paris

Partner with Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Adam Paris is a member of S&C’s Litigation Group and has been a partner of the Firm since January 2006.  Prior to joining S&C, Adam was a Law Clerk to Judge Pamela Ann Rymer of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and, before that, to Chief Judge Marilyn Huff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

Adam has more than twenty years of experience advising clients on a variety of complex business litigation matters, with particular concentration on antitrust/unfair competition matters, trade secrets litigation, mergers & acquisition litigation and securities litigation. He regularly appears in federal and state courts throughout the country, has first-chaired civil jury and bench trials and handled domestic and international arbitrations through hearings on the merits.  Adam’s antitrust practice has included the defense of private class action litigation, criminal investigations by the Department of Justice, and merger clearances (including four multi-billion dollar transactions) before the Federal Trade Commission or Department of Justice.

Highly regarded as one of the country’s leading litigators, Adam is regularly recognized by such authorities as Chambers USA, The Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal. He has also been repeatedly named a BTI Client Service All-Star, an award which honors lawyers who have “mastered the art of superior client service.” In 2020, Adam was recognized by the National Law Journal as a “Litigation Trailblazer” for delivering successful outcomes in some of S&C’s highest-stakes antitrust and competition cases, including serving as lead trial lawyer in a crucial court battle for Pabst Blue Ribbon, which ended in a settlement favorable to his client. Adam is also a member of Law360’s Competition Editorial Advisory Board (2022).

Professional Activities and Community Involvement

Adam has an abiding commitment to pro bono legal and community services. In addition to litigating a number of pro bono matters throughout his career at S&C, Adam serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations committed to providing legal, educational and cultural services to disadvantaged and underserved communities in Los Angeles.

• Director, Los Angeles Legal Aid Foundation
• Director, Friends of the Los Angeles Law Library
• Director, Western Center for Law & Poverty
• Director, The Industry (Los Angeles)
• Trustee, The Country School

Adam is also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Mary Liu

Partner with Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz, PLLC

Mary Liu joined AWKO in 2012. After graduating from the University of Florida in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science, Mary spent the first 13 years of her career in management consulting, executive coaching, and human resources. In 2010, Mary graduated Summa Cum Laude while earning her J.D. from the Nova Southeastern University School of Law, ranking in the top 2% of her graduating class.

Mary focuses her practice on sexual assault, social media addiction, medical device, and pharmaceutical litigation. Mary is leading AWKO’s nationwide sexual assault and online sexual abuse and exploitation of children litigations. Mary represents clients against various institutions that have perpetuated such abuse, such as churches, schools, youth groups, and detention facilities. Mary is passionate about representing victims and survivors, and giving them a strong platform to have their voices heard.

Further, Mary was Court-appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Social Media Addiction Litigation for both the Northern District of California and the Los Angeles County Superior Court, where she helps lead hundreds of lawsuits against Meta, Snap, TikTok, and YouTube.

Prior to joining AWKO, Mary served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Florida, representing the state in civil prosecutions of cases involving child abuse, abandonment, and neglect. Mary also founded a successful family law practice, representing clients in cases involving the dissolution of marriage and domestic partnerships, child custody and support, and grandparent visitation disputes. In addition to her extensive experience as a practicing attorney, Mary also served as an Assistant Professor of Law at Irvine University College of Law, where she taught courses in Civil Procedure and Community Property.

Mary is licensed to practice law in Florida and California. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors for Child USA, the national think tank for child protection. Mary is also serving as a co-chair for the American Association for Justice’s CDA Section 230 litigation group, which is dedicated to representing victims and survivors of online exploitation.