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Areas of Emphasis
- Drug and Medical Device
- Product Liability Law
- Mass Torts
- Professional Liability Law
Distinctions
- District 6 Regent and Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
- AV-rated, Martindale-Hubbell
- Top 6 Product Liability Lawyers in the World, Best of the Best 2008, Expert Guides
- The Best Lawyers in America®, Personal Injury Litigation, Product Liability Litigation
- Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Product Liability and Mass Torts (National) and Litigation: General Commercial
- Mid-South Super Lawyers®, Personal Injury Defense: Products
- International Who’s Who of Product Liability Defense Lawyers 2010
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- Fellow, American Bar Association
- Fellow, Mississippi Bar Foundation
- 2008 Outstanding Mississippi Woman Lawyer, Mississippi Women Lawyers Association
- 2009 Professionalism Award, Hinds County Bar Association
- 2010 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
Education & Honors
- University of Arkansas, J.D., with high honors, 1977
- Managing Editor, Arkansas Law Review
- University of Arkansas, B.A., 1974
- Phi Beta Kappa
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Associations
- Product Liability Advisory Council
- International Association of Defense Counsel
- Executive Committee, 1994-97
- American Bar Association
- Defense Research Institute
- Chair, Drug and Device Committee, 2001-03
- Lawyers for Civil Justice
- Defense Counsel Trial Academy
- Director, 1995
- Trial Attorneys of America
- Mississippi Bar
- Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association
- Mississippi Law Institute
- Chair
Bar Admissions
- Mississippi, 1977
- U.S. District Courts
- Mississippi: Northern and Southern Districts
- U.S. Courts of Appeals
- 5th Circuit
- 10th Circuit
- Admitted pro hac vice in many states around the country
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Legal Experience
- Kimberly Zundel, et al., v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. – New Jersey trial involving second product liability case in connection with Children’s Motrin and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (Lead Counsel); resulted in defense verdict.
- Sabrina Brierton Johnson v. Johnson & Johnson, et. al. – California trial involving first product liability case in connection with Children’s Motrin and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (Lead Counsel); resulted in defense verdict.
- Gary Albright v. Merck & Co., Inc., et al. – Alabama Vioxx litigation (Trial Counsel); resulted in defense verdict.
- Thomas Cona, et al. v. Merck & Co., Inc. – New Jersey Vioxx litigation (Lead Counsel); resulted in defense verdict in product liability claim.
- John McDarby v. Merck & Co., Inc. – New Jersey Vioxx litigation (Lead Counsel).
- Frederick Humeston, et al. v. Merck & Co., Inc. – New Jersey Vioxx litigation (Trial Counsel); resulted in defense verdict in product liability claim.
- Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc. v. Jackson, 883 So.2d 91 (Miss. 2004).
- Culbert v. Johnson & Johnson, 883 So.2d 550 (Miss. 2004).
- Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc. v. Keys, 879 So.2d 446 (Miss. 2004).
- Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc. v. Scott, 876 So.2d 306 (Miss. 2004).
- Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc. v. Bailey, 878 So.2d 31 (Miss. 2004), is a decision of the Mississippi Supreme Court reversing a $48 million judgment awarded to ten plaintiffs in a product liability action involving a prescription drug.
- Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc. v. Grant, 873 So.2d 100 (Miss. 2004).
- Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc. v. Armond, 866 So.2d 1092 (Miss. 2004), is a decision of the Mississippi Supreme Court which significantly changed the landscape of litigation in Mississippi, declaring that joinder of plaintiffs in prescription drug cases, in many cases improper, was subject to strict scrutiny, resulting in severance of many claims and transfers to appropriate venues.
- Hardy v. Bayer Corporation and SmithKIine Beecham Corporation, 02cv108, Hinds County, Mississippi (2003), was a product liability action in which the Court granted a directed verdict in favor of SmithKline Beecham Corporation, a co-manufacturer of a prescription drug. Lead trial counsel for SmithKline Beecham.
- Bennett v. Madakasira, 821 So.2d 794 (Miss. 2002).
- Davis v. American Home Products Corporation, et al., District Court, Jefferson County, Texas, Cause No. B-150, 760, was a product liability action involving a contraceptive product which resulted in a defense verdict on three of four plaintiff’s claims and a $38,000 award to the plaintiff on the other. Trial counsel for Wyeth.
- Vonna Smith v. Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Circuit Court of Miller County, Arkansas, Cause No. CIV-93-1053, was a product liability case involving breast implants. The jury returned a defense verdict.
- Cruz Luevano v. Baxter Healthcare Corporation, District Court of Zavala County Texas, Cause No. 94-04-08755CV, was another product liability action involving breast implants.
- Wilbanks v. Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust 1998 WL 433940 (N.D. Miss.), cert. denied ___U.S. ___ (2000). Summary judgment for defendant granted, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision.
- Kemp v. G. D. Searle and Co., 103 F.3d 405 (5th Cir. 1997), was another product liability action involving an intrauterine contraceptive, in which the trial court awarded summary judgment for the defendant and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals again affirmed the decision.
- Toon v.Lederle Laboratories American Cyanamid Co., 603 So.2d 245, cert. denied, 607 So.2d 556 (La. App. ___), was a product liability action involving childhood vaccines. The trial court in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, granted a directed verdict for the defendant, and the Louisiana appellate court affirmed.
- Andrew Jackson Life Ins. Co. v. Williams, 566 So.2d 1172 (Miss. 1990).
- Bernhardt By and Through Bernhardt v. Richardson-Merrell, Inc., 892 F.2d 440, 15 Fed.R.Serv.3d 1047 (5th Cir. (Miss.) 1990).
- Lindley v. Hamilton, 883 F.2d 360, Prod. Liab. Rep. (CCH) P 12, 262 (5th Cir. (Miss.) 1989).
- Bernhardt By and Through Bernhardt v. Richardson-Merrell, Inc., 723 F.Supp. 1188 (N.D. Miss. 1988).
- Presley v. South Cent. Bell Telephone Co., 684 F.Supp. 1397 (S.D.Miss. 1988).
- MGIC Indem. Corp. v. Central Bank of Monroe, La., 838 F.2d 1382 (5th Cir. (La.) 1988).
- Brown v. Credit Center, Inc., 444 So.2d 358 (Miss. 1983).
- General Plumbing & Heating, Inc. v. American Air Filter Co., Inc., 696 F.2d 375 (5th Cir.(Miss.) 1983).
- Bickerstaff v. South Central Bell Telephone Co., 676 F.2d 163 (5th Cir.(Miss.) 1982).
- Burris v. South Central Bell Telephone Co., 540 F.Supp. 905 (S.D. Miss 1982).
- Borden, Inc. Universal Industries Corp., 88 F.R.D. 708 (N.D. Miss. 1981).
- Holley v. Funtime Skateland South, Inc., 392 So.2d 1135 (Miss. 1981).
- Hughes Const. Co., Inc. v. Rheem Mfg. Co., 487 F.Supp. 345 (N.D. Miss. 1980).
- Beco, Inc. v. American Fidelity Fire Ins. Co., 370 So.2d 1343 (Miss 1979).
- Fowler v. Allied Equipment, Inc., 368 So.2d 829 (Miss. 1979).
- Dillon v. South Central Bell Telephone Company, 366 So.2d 233 (Miss. 1979).
- Gulf Guaranty Life Ins. Co. v. Thompson, 363 So.2d 297 (Miss. 1978).
- Gulf Guaranty Life Ins. Co. v. Middleton, 361 So.2d 1377 (Miss. 1978).
- National trial team, silicone breast implant litigation, Baxter Healthcare Corporation.
- Nationwide coordinator, various litigation, Champion International, Inc.
- Regional counsel, vaccine litigation for American Cyanamid Co. (now American Home Products Corporation).
Papers, Presentations, & Publications
- National Conference of Judicial Excellence (2009), The Historical Rationale for Punitive Damages; Its Evolution and Current Application
- Defense Research Institute (2006), Early and Often: The Trial Responses to Proffered Evidence of a Guilty Plea in a Pharmaceutical or Medical Device Trial
- Defense Research Institute (2006), Young Lawyers Seminar, Cross Examining the Personal Injury Plaintiff
- American Conference Institute 10th Anniversary Drug & Medical Device Litigation (2005), Expert Witnesses – Effective (Cross) Examination and Jury Communication
- American Bar Association Product Liability Committee (2004), Current Issues in Pharmaceutical Litigation and Policy
- Defense Research Institute (2004), Medical Malpractice and Healthcare Seminar, Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Not the Lottery (Defense of Catastrophic Damage Cases)
- Iowa Defense Lawyers Association (2002), Creative Approaches to Punitive Damages
- Arkansas Bar Association (2002), Technology in the Courtroom
- Faculty, National Trial Academy, TIPS Section of ABA (2000)
- IADC (1998), Issues Management in a Global Economy: Preserving the Attorney Client Privilege
- Defense Research Institute (1998), Drug and Device Seminar, Epidemiology : A Practical Approach Through Analogy
- Open Forum (1996), IADC, Discovery of Expert Witnesses in Mass Tort Litigation
- Institute of Continuing Legal Education (1995), University of Michigan Advocacy Institute
- Defense Research Institute (1994), Trial Techniques Seminar, Keys for Deposing Plaintiff's Expert
- Peoples Law Forum, Homeowner's Insurance
- University of Mississippi Continuing Education Programs, Cross-Examination of the Expert Witness
- MTLA, Women, Power and Advocacy, Successful Negotiation
- IADC, Continuing Legal Education Program, Opening Statements
- Open Forum (1992), IADC, Gagging The Expert Witness
- Defense Research Institute (1992), Drug and Device Seminar, Use of Scientific Literature at Trial
- Open Forum (1989), IADC, Bad Faith Litigation
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