A jury delivered a defense verdict in the latest Ethicon pelvic mesh trial held in the District of Colorado after a 9-day trial. Attorneys from Butler Snow’s Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, and Healthcare Litigation Group serve as National Counsel for Johnson & Johnson in the pelvic mesh litigation, and this marks the third straight defense verdict in pelvic mesh trials this year.
The Shostrom v. Ethicon, Inc. and Johnson & Johnson trial began on June 21 and the jury delivered the defense verdict on Friday, July 1, after deliberating for only 55 minutes. Trial counsel from Thomas Combs and Faegre Drinker were supported by Butler Snow attorneys Amy M. Pepke (appellate trial counsel) and Sarah Smyth O’Brien along with a paralegal support team.
Many of the pelvic mesh trials were dormant due to delays related to the pandemic. In March 2022, Butler Snow served as lead trial counsel in McBroom v. Ethicon, Inc., et al. and Shears v. Ethicon, Inc., et al., the first of two pelvic mesh trials held in person since the start of the pandemic. In both trials, the juries returned defense verdicts after deliberating for less than two hours.
- In McBroom Ethicon, Inc., et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-02127, U.S.D.C. (D. Ariz.), Butler Snow attorneys Kari L. Sutherland, Matthew P. Smith, Tara L. Blake and Susanna M. Moldoveanu (appellate counsel) served as lead trial counsel in the 7-day trial held in the District of Arizona. Butler Snow attorneys M. Elizabeth Roper and Mitchell K. Morris provided additional support, along with local counsel from The Cavanaugh Law Firm.
- In Shears Ethicon, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-00264, U.S.D.C. (N.D. W.Va.), Butler Snow attorneys Kim Bueno, Amy M. Pepke (appellate counsel) and Caroline D. Walker served as lead trial counsel in an 8-day trial held in the Northern District of West Virginia. Butler Snow attorney Margaret H. Loveman provided additional legal support alongside attorneys from Thomas Combs.
Butler Snow’s pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare team provides clients with a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to minimize legal exposure, litigate through resolution and handle crisis management. The firm has significant experience with complex cases involving a broad array of products and medical devices and is regularly called upon to serve as national, regional and local counsel in significant product liability litigations.
In the last eight years, Butler Snow has tried more than 30 pharmaceutical and medical device cases to verdict, including bellwether trials in some of the most challenging jurisdictions in the country. In addition to serving as lead counsel at trial, Butler Snow assists clients at all stages of litigation in a broad array of pharmaceutical and medical device cases, including initial strategy, expert development, fact discovery, motions practice, resolution negotiations and appellate practice. The team has been responsible for managing, and actively manages, several mass torts in both the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, including one of the largest mass tort litigations in history that totaled over 62,000 active cases across the country.
Butler Snow was named LMG Life Sciences 2019 “Product Liability Firm of the Year” and Benchmark Litigation’s 2018 “Product Liability Law Firm of the Year.” Most recently, the pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare litigation group and six of its attorneys were nationally recognized by The Legal 500 U.S. for work in Dispute Resolution: Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action – Defense: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices. The firm is ranked nationally by Chambers USA 2022 in Product Liability & Mass Torts: The Elite, with three of its attorneys ranked in the Nationwide Leader Listings and is “highly recommended” by LMG Life Sciences 2019 for product liability litigation. The firm is also ranked as a leading core firm for the pharmaceutical industry in the BTI Power Rankings 2017: The Law Firms with the Best Client Relationships in 18 Industries list. The BTI ranking places the firm in the top 5% of all law firms with regard to client relations within the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. Many of the firm’s product liability attorneys are ranked individually by Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation, The Best Lawyers in America, LMG Life Sciences and Super Lawyers, among others.
ABOUT BUTLER SNOW LLP
Butler Snow LLP is a full-service law firm with nearly 400 attorneys collaborating across a network of more than 25 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Ranked as a leading firm for client relations and one of America’s Top 100 law firms in the BTI Power Rankings, Butler Snow is recognized as one of the nation’s top law firms for client service, including being named to the Client Service A-Team for three consecutive years. Additionally, the firm was ranked 48th out of 650 firms in the BTI Client Relationship Scorecard for understanding client business, anticipating client needs, unprompted communication, legal skills, quality and keeping clients informed. Butler Snow is a member of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading network of independent law firms. For more information, visit www.butlersnow.com or follow the firm on Twitter @Butler_Snow.
