Kari L. Sutherland

Office Information
Kari is a former Special Agent with the United States Secret Service. She is a trial attorney and focuses her practice on pharmaceutical and medical device product liability litigation. She has tried cases in various jurisdictions across the country, and her significant pharmaceutical product liability defense verdicts include those resulting from trials in California, Illinois and Louisiana. Kari is recognized by Benchmark Litigation as one of its Top 250 Women in Litigation (2016-2020). She also received a 2017 Burton Award and a 2018 Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association “The Quarterly” Editorial Award for her written work.
Biography – View PDF Bio
- About Kari
- Associations
- Bar Admissions
- Distinctions
- Education & Honors
- Experience
- In the News
- Papers, Presentations, & Publications
- Recent Blogs
Narrative Bio
Kari is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and a member of the Trial Attorneys of America. She has broad trial experience and has served in key roles, including co-lead trial counsel, in several significant trials. Her trial work includes giving opening statements and closing arguments, cross-examining particularly sympathetic plaintiffs, and skillfully cross-examining nationally-known plaintiff’s experts. She has ample experience directing company witnesses at trial, as well as in defending depositions of company witnesses and other key fact witnesses in underlying litigation.
Her experience includes currently serving as a crucial part of a national counsel team defending prescription medical devices. She also serves as a national expert coordinator in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation. She draws on her broad knowledge of FDA regulatory issues in working with experts to defend litigation and in counseling clients on risk avoidance and management strategies. She also works with clients on media responses as part of comprehensive litigation defense strategies.
Kari is active in several industry organizations, including Trial Attorneys of America and Defense Research Institute (DRI). Her speaking engagements include giving a closing argument at DRI’s prestigious Trial Tactics seminar in 2017 and presenting a webinar for FDANews on OTC labeling guidances. She authors articles on litigation and trial-related topics for Butler Snow’s Pro Te: Solutio and other publications such as Law360.
Bar Admissions
- Mississippi, 1996
- Tennessee, 2002
- U.S. District Courts
- Mississippi: Northern, Southern
- Tennessee: Eastern, Western
- U.S. Court of Appeals
- 5th Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
Distinctions
- Special Agent, United States Secret Service, 2004-2007
- The Burton Foundation and Law360, The Burton Award for Distinguished Legal Writing, March 2017
- Super Lawyers®
- Mid-South Super Lawyers, Personal Injury – Products: Defense, 2013-2020
- Benchmark Litigation
- Local Litigation Star, 2012-2016, 2018, 2021
- Top 250 Women in Litigation, 2016-2020
- Best Lawyers in America®
- Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, 2021
- Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
Education & Honors
- Mississippi College, J.D., with special distinction, 1995
- Editor-in-Chief, Mississippi College Law Review
- University of Alabama, B.S., History, cum laude, 1992
- Clerkships, Judge Glen Davidson, U.S. District Court, Northern District, Mississippi
- Clerkships, Judge E. Grady Jolly, U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit
Experience
- Significant Trials
- Keshia Hunt v. McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Eastern District of Louisiana (March 2014), judgment for defense – Trial Counsel.
- Linda Gross, et al. v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. - Product liability action involving pelvic mesh. Tried in Atlantic County, New Jersey, (2013) – Assisted Trial Counsel.
- Christopher Trejo v. Johnson & Johnson and McNeil Consumer Healthcare - Superior Court of California, Los Angeles (August-October 2011) – Trial Counsel; judgment rendered on design defect claims; remanded for new trial on warnings claim.
- Justice Brakefield, et al. v. McNeil Consumer Healthcare - Superior Court of California, San Francisco (March 2011), defense verdict – Trial Counsel.
- Brianna Maya v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. - Philadelphia trial involving product liability case in connection with Children's Motrin and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome; resulted in plaintiff verdict (2011) – Assisted Trial Counsel.
- Thomas B. Gaines v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. – California wrongful death action involving Children’s Motrin and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome; resulted in defense verdict (2010) – Assisted Trial Counsel.
- Karen Robinson v. Johnson & Johnson and McNeil Consumer Healthcare - U.S. District Court, N. D. Illinois (August 2009), judgment for defense – Trial Counsel.
- Kimberly Zundel, et al., v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. - New Jersey trial product liability action involving Children's Motrin and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome; resulted in defense verdict (2009) – Assisted Trial Counsel. More...
- Sabrina Brierton Johnson v. Johnson & Johnson, et. al. - California product liability action involving Children's Motrin and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome; resulted in defense verdict (2008) – Assisted Trial Counsel.
- Significant Representation – Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Experience
- National Regulatory Expert Coordinator, Pelvic Mesh Litigation, Johnson &Johnson.
- Regulatory Expert Coordinator, NSAID Litigation, Johnson & Johnson.
- Foreign Litigation Liaison, Pelvic Mesh Litigation, Johnson & Johnson.
- Significant Briefing
- Steede v. General Motors LLC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 184628 (W.D. Tenn. 2012).
- Steede v. General Motors LLC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 184873 (W.D. Tenn. 2012), aff’d 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5557 (W.D. Tenn. 2013).
- Steede v. General Motors LLC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81103 (W.D. Tenn. 2012), aff’d 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79465 (W.D. Tenn. 2012).
- Steede v. General Motors LLC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81292 (W.D. Tenn. 2012), aff’d 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79467 (W.D. Tenn. 2012).
- Murray v. General Motors LLC, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 11323 (5th Cir. 2012).
- Austin v. Will-Burt Co., 361 F.3d 862 (5th Cir. 2004); wrongful death/product liability action in which the Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for firm’s client, the manufacturer of a news van’s telescoping mast.
- Betterton v. Evans, et al., 351 F.Supp.2d 529 (N.D.Miss. 2004); granting summary judgment to pacemaker manufacturer under preemption principles of Medical Device Amendments.
- Willow Creek Exploration LTD v. Tadlock Pipe & Equipment, Inc., et al., 186 F.Supp.2d 675 (S.D.Miss. 2002); granting motion to dismiss of manufacturer of well tubing for lack of personal jurisdiction.
- Piotrowski v. City of Houston, 237 F.3d 567 (5th Cir. 2001); Section 1983 claims, reversed in favor of city.
- Breaux v. City of Garland, 205 F.3d 150 (5th Cir. 2000); First Amendment retaliation claims, reversed in favor of city.
In the News
- 86 Butler Snow Attorneys Listed in 2020 Mid-South Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars
- Benchmark Litigation U.S. 2021 Recognizes 20 Butler Snow Attorneys
- 198 Butler Snow Attorneys Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2021
- Benchmark Litigation Lists Two Butler Snow Attorneys in its 2020 Top 250 Women in Litigation
- Kari L. Sutherland Joins International Association of Defense Counsel
- Orlando R. Richmond and Kari L. Sutherland to Serve as Panelists at IADC Midyear Meeting
- 93 Butler Snow Attorneys Listed in 2019 Mid-South Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
- Two Butler Snow Attorneys Listed in Benchmark Litigation’s Top 250 Women in Litigation
- Benchmark Litigation Recognizes Floyd, Miller & Sutherland - Mississippi Business Journal More...
- Butler Snow Attorney Kari L. Sutherland Named in Benchmark Litigation’s Top 250 Women in Litigation
- Kari L. Sutherland Receives ‘The Quarterly’ Editorial Award from the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association
- Butler Snow Named Product Liability Firm of the Year by Benchmark Litigation
- 106 Butler Snow Attorneys Listed in 2017 Mid-South Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
- Christy D Jones and Kari L Sutherland Named in Benchmark Litigation's Top 250 Women in Litigation
- Sutherland a top writer - The Mississippi Business Journal
- Kari L. Sutherland Named a ‘2017 Law360 Distinguished Legal Writing Award’ Winner by the Burton Awards
- On the Move: New hires, promotions, recognition - The Clarion-Ledger
- Funding Litigation And Treatment: Leveling The Playing Field? - Law360
- 102 Butler Snow Attorneys List in 2015 Mid-South Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
- Butler Snow Attorneys Recognized by Benchmark Litigation 2016
- 117 Butler Snow Attorneys Listed in 2013 Mid-South Super Lawyers®
Papers, Presentations, & Publications
- Panelist, “Defending Against Punitive Damages,” International Association of Defense Counsel, 2020 Midyear Meeting, Pebble Beach, Calif., February 23, 2020.
- Co-Author, “What We Wish We Knew Ten Years Ago,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 11 No. 1, July 2018.
- Author, "My Time on the Inside: A Juror’s Tale," MDLA Quarterly, October 26, 2017.
- Presenter (Plaintiff Closing Argument), “DRI Trial Tactics,” Defense Research Institute Seminar, Las Vegas, Nev., March 2017.
- Author, “Funding Litigation and Treatment: Leveling The Playing Field?” Law360, August 29, 2016.
- Author, “Funding Litigation and Treatment: Leveling the Playing Field or Exploiting the Little Guy?” Pro Te Solutio, Vol. 8, No. 5, Spring 2016.
- Presenter, “Opening Statements: Case-maker or Case-breaker?” MDLA Chapter at the University of Mississippi Law School, October 16, 2014.
- Author, “Medical Devices: The Modern Age,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 7 No. 3, Fall 2014.
- Author, “Medical Devices: The Beginnings,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 7 No. 2, 5-13, June 2014. More...
- Presenter, “Trial: Objections and Evidence,” MDLA Chapter at the University of Mississippi Law School, November 20, 2013.
- Presenter, “New OTC Labeling Guidances,” FDANews webinar, August 8, 2013.
- Author, “Forecast for the Physician Payments Sunshine Act: Partly Cloudy,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 5 No. 4, November 2012.
- Author, “The Quest for the Holy Grail: The Fully Informative, yet Fully Understandable, OTC Label,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 3 No. 3, 12-19, August 2010.
- Author, “Reducing Verdicts: Who’s Up First?” MDLA Quarterly, Spring 2010.
- Author, “The Thorny Problem of Advertising,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 3 No. 1, 6-10, January 2010.
- Author, “Case Law: A Fifty State Survey Concerning the Admissibility of Expert Testimony,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 2 No. 1, 14-15, February 2009.
- Author, “Risk Management Prior Approval for New Drugs,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 1 No. 3, 12-16, July 2008.
- Presenter, “Daubert Your Expert,” Greater Memphis Paralegal Alliance, March 2008.
- Author, “Fifth Circuit Reporter,” Quarterly Civil Procedure Update, approximately 2000-2002.
- Author, “Expert Testimony: Frye is Dead; Long Live Frye,” 15 Miss. C.L. Rev. 163 (1994).