Scott

Ben’s wide-ranging litigation experience includes a focus on health-related matters and representation of pharmaceutical manufacturers in consolidated proceedings and individual cases in state and federal courts across the country.  He has worked extensively with experts and company witnesses in complex cases, and his trial experience includes first-chair work as well as playing a trial support role for lead counsel.  Ben has experience representing clients in MDL and mass torts, class actions, commercial disputes, employment matters, medical professional liability cases, and personal injury suits. 

• Commercial Litigation
• Drug & Device Litigation
• Groundwater & Chemical Exposure Litigation
• Tort, Transportation & Specialized Litigation
• Professional Liability
• Class Actions
• Mass Torts

Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare

Ben is an experienced litigator who concentrates on complex disputes, including the defense of pharmaceutical manufacturers in high-stakes litigation across state and federal courts. He has played a key role in multidistrict litigation and mass torts, managing large-scale discovery, coordinating national strategies, leading nationwide litigation teams, and working closely with experts and company witnesses. His practice also spans environmental and product liability claims, class actions, commercial disputes, employment matters, and medical professional liability cases. Known for his ability to navigate intricate legal challenges and lead teams effectively, Ben delivers practical, results-driven solutions for clients facing significant litigation risks.

Ben has been recognized by BL Rankings, The Best Lawyers in America® in Health Care Law (2024-2025) and Product Liability Litigation – Defendants (2024-2025).

He obtained his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School and B.A. from Vanderbilt University. He is admitted to practice in Tennessee and Mississippi.

MDL and Mass Torts

• National wave discovery coordinating counsel for a multinational manufacturing company in the largest mass tort MDL in history concerning sale of allegedly defective earplugs to the military.
• Member of team representing chemical manufacturer in thousands of environmental and products liability PFAS claims in state and federal courts nationwide brought by individuals, municipalities, and states alleging groundwater contamination and personal injury as individual claims, consolidated proceedings, and class actions.
• In re: Pradaxa (Dabigatran Etexilate) Prods. Liability Lit., Coordinated Proceedings; led nationwide teams handling litigation-wide discovery matters and bellwether case management:
  • Superior Ct., Jud. Dist. of Hartford, CT (Complex Lit. Docket)
  • Superior Ct of CA, County of San Francisco, J.C.C.P No. 4863
• In re: Propecia (Finasteride) Prods. Liability Lit., Coordinated Proceedings:
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, (12-MD-2331 (JG)(VVP))
  • Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division: Middlesex County (Case No. 623, Civil Action

Trials

• Linda Smith v. Federal Express Corp., Chancery Court of Hamilton County, Tennessee (first chair trial counsel); jury verdict for defendant (2011).
• Assisted trial team in Robinson v. McNeil Consumer Healthcare, et al.; United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, 2009.

• Assisted trial team in Zundel v. Johnson & Johnson, et al.; Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division: Middlesex County, New Jersey, 2009.

• BL Rankings, The Best Lawyers in America®
  • Health Care Law, 2024-2025
  • Product Liability Litigation - Defendants, 2024-2025
• Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law, Class of 2013
• Senior Attorney, Federal Express Corporation, Litigation, 2010-2012
• Fellow, Memphis Bar Foundation

• Tennessee, 2004
• Mississippi, 2004
• U.S. District Courts
• Mississippi: Northern, Southern
• Tennessee: Western

• Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 2004
  • Executive Editor, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law
  • Moot Court Board
• Vanderbilt University, B.A., English, 2000

• International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
• Federal Bar Association, Mid-South Chapter (Chapter President, 2022; Board, 2014-2024)
• American Bar Association
• Tennessee Bar Association
• Mississippi Bar Association
• Memphis Bar Association
• Harry Phillips American Inn of Court (former)

• Author, "The Room Where It Happens: Remote Depositions in a Post-COVID World," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 14, No. 2, June 2021.
• Speaker, “Personal Jurisdiction Post-Daimler: State of Law and Strategy,” International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Mid-Year Meeting, La Quinta, CA, February 11, 2018.
• Co-Author, “Personal Jurisdiction Post-Daimler – As Plaintiffs Test Exceptions to Daimler’s Narrow Path, All Eyes on Appellate Courts,” 84 Def. Couns. J. (2017).
• Author, “Good Result Under Apex Doctrine,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 8 No. 3, December 2015.
• Chapter Author, "Litigators on Experts: Strategies for Managing Expert Witnesses from Retention through Trial," (W.G. Couture & A.W. Haynes eds., ABA Publishing, 2010).
• Author, “Case v. Law: A Multi-State Survey Concerning Recognition of Medical Monitoring Claims,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 2. No. 4, October 2009.
• Author, "Lone Pine Orders: A Defense Perspective," ABA Mass Torts Newsletter, Fall 2009.
• Author, "Obtaining Your First Temporary Restraining Order and Injunction," American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, 201 Practice Series: Beyond the Basics, July 2009.
• Author, “Putting the Horse Back in Front of the Cart – Lone Pine Orders in Multi-Plaintiff Pharmaceutical Litigation,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 2, No. 2, April 2009.
• Co-Author, "Recent Developments and ‘Hot Topics,’" International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Corporate Counsel College, 2009.
• Author, “Mass Torts In A World of Settlements,” Pro Te: Solution, Vol. 1, No. 3, July 2008.
• Co-Author, "Consolidation: Tempering the Temptation for Judicial Economy," ABA Section of Litigation Trial Practice Journal, Vol. 22, No. 3, Summer/Fall 2008.
• Co-Author, "Cross-Examining the Personal Injury Plaintiff" Defense Research Institute (DRI) Annual Conference of Young Lawyers Division, 2006.
• Author, "Order in the Court: Judicial Stability and Democratic Success in Haiti," 37 Vand. J. Transnat’l L. 555, 2004.