Dreher

Mark focuses his practice on complex and mass tort litigation, with an emphasis on defending pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in federal and state courts across the country. He also has experience in a range of chemical exposure, product liability and commercial cases, and he is experienced in defending consumer protection cases brought by the Mississippi Attorney General against product manufacturers. He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® and Mid-South Super Lawyers®.

• Drug & Device Litigation
• Products, Catastrophic & Industrial Litigation

Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare

Recently, Mark has contributed to the defense in the Johnson & Johnson hernia mesh litigation, among others. He also defends pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in single-plaintiff or “one off” cases across multiple jurisdictions. He has served on multiple trial teams in significant product liability cases across the country. He also served in an in-house secondment of the legal department of a leading pharmaceutical company in 2015.

Mark is a member of the Editorial Board for Pro Te: Solutio, Butler Snow’s in-house publication for the pharmaceutical, medical device and health care industry. In addition, he frequently authors articles on litigation-related topics for the publication.

He obtained his J.D. from Mississippi College School of Law and B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Alabama. Following law school, he clerked for the Honorable Judge Leslie H. Southwick of the Mississippi Court of Appeals. He is admitted to practice in Mississippi.

• Slemp v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. – Trial team in products liability action (St. Louis, Mo. 2017)
• Ristesund v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. – Trial team in products liability action (St. Louis, Mo. 2016).
• Served an in-house secondment of the legal department of a leading pharmaceutical company (2015).
• Kristufek v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. – Trial team in pharmaceutical personal injury case (Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Pa. 2015).
• Kendall v. Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., et al - Trial Team, Significantly reduced verdict in retrial of Pharmaceutical Personal Injury case (Atlantic City, N.J. 2014).
• Haley, et al. v. Merial Ltd., et al. – Denial of class certification in veterinary pharmaceutical case (N.D. Miss., 2013).
• Elliott v. City of Holly Springs, et al. – Summary judgment obtained in fuel gas explosion personal injury case (Marshall Co. Miss., 2013).
• Reynolds/Wilkinson/Rossitto/Young v. Hoffmann La Roche, et al. – Trial team, multiple defense verdicts in pharmaceutical personal injury case (Atlantic Co. N.J., 2012).
• Andrews/Gaghan/Marshall v. Hoffmann La Roche, et al. – Trial team, multiple defense verdicts in pharmaceutical personal injury case (Atlantic Co. N.J., 2011).
• Villas of Windsong, Ltd., et al. v. RGT/Charleston Partners, Ltd. – Appellate counsel, favorable holding reversing and rendering the lower court in commercial real estate dispute (Miss. App. 2011).
• Matthews v. FMC, et al. – Summary judgment obtained in crop injury case (Cassia Co. Ind., 2009).
• Brasscorp, d/b/a Cliplight Manufacturing Co. v. Highside Chemicals, Inc. – Trial counsel, defense verdict in $4 million commercial dispute (S.D. Miss., 2007).
• Townsend v. Daewoo Heavy Industries America Corp., et al. – Summary judgment obtained in heavy machinery personal injury case (Hinds Co. Miss., 2007).
• Defends pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in mass tort and individual cases pending in state and federal court throughout the U.S.
• Discovery team leader in Mississippi diet drug litigation.
• National coordinating counsel for medical device litigation.
• Represented numerous pharmaceutical manufacturers in average wholesale pricing litigation.
• Represented numerous chemical manufacturers in crop liability litigation.
• Represented numerous insurers in workers’ compensation, nursing home liability and Hurricane Katrina-related claims.

• Best Lawyers in America®
  • Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, 2020-2024
• Super Lawyers®
  • Mid-South Rising Star, Personal Injury Defense: Products, 2013-2015

• Mississippi, 2002
• U.S. District Courts
• Mississippi: Northern, Southern

• Mississippi College, J.D., 2002
  • Moot Court Board
• University of Alabama, B.A., History, magna cum laude, 1997
  • Phi Beta Kappa

• Clerkship, Judge Leslie H. Southwick, Mississippi Court of Appeals

• American Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute (DRI)
• Mississippi Bar Association
• Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association
• Capital Area Bar Association
• Jackson Young Lawyers

• Co-Author, "SPEAK UP: Practical Recommendations for Rule 34 Product Inspections," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 16, No. 4, January 2024.
• Author, "Once More Unto the Breach - Executive Leadership Lessons from HBO’s ‘Band of Brothers’," ACC Tennessee Thought Leadership, July 2022.
• Author, “Once More Unto the Breach,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 15, No. 2, June 2022.
• Author, “The Forgotten Element? Warnings Proximate Causation in Trial Practice,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 10 No. 2, July 2017.
• Author, "Square Pegs and Round Holes: Discovery From The Perspective of Closing Argument," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 6 No. 3, September 2013.
• Author, “The Social Network: American Jurors Reaching out of the Courtroom and Into Trouble,” Mississippi Bar, Litigation Section E-Newsletter, Vol. 2, Issue 1, pg. 6-10, May 2012. 
• Author, “The Social Network: American Jurors Reaching Out of the Courtroom and into Trouble,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 4, No. 3, 15-19, August 2011.
• Author, “Bad Behavior: Potential Pitfalls That Could Lead to Mistrial,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 3 No. 1, 16-19, January 2010. 
• Author, “Case Law: Multi-State Survey of Ethical Opinions Regarding Legal Process Outsourcing,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 2 No. 2, 12-13, April 2009.
• Author, “The Unique Complexities of Pharmaceutical Pricing,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 1 No. 4, 18-23, October 2008.