Kyle R. Cummins

Kyle focuses his practice on pharmaceutical and medical device product liability litigation and mass torts. He has been recognized by BL Rankings, The Best Lawyers in America® and as one of Memphis Business Journal’s Best of the Bar.

• Drug & Device Litigation
• Products, Catastrophic & Industrial Litigation
• Groundwater & Chemical Exposure Litigation
• Mass Torts

Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare

Kyle’s experience includes every facet of mass torts—discovery, depositions, expert workup, motion drafting, trial support, and appeals. He has supported several trial teams in drug and device trials, including as assistant appellate trial counsel. Kyle's primary focus is legal strategy and brief writing, and he leads motions teams in coordinated litigation. Kyle is currently leading the briefing team for a Class II medical device in proceedings across various state and federal courts. Beyond pharmaceutical and medical device product liability litigation, he represents a national retailer in general-liability lawsuits across Tennessee.

Kyle obtained a J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Memphis, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of The University of Memphis Law Review. He obtained a B.A., summa cum laude, in Political Science and Spanish from Auburn University. Following law school, Kyle clerked for Judge S. Thomas Anderson of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. He is admitted to practice in Tennessee.

• Rickard v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. – Served as appellate counsel at trial in first bellwether case for Paragard MDL in the Northern District of Georgia. Defense verdict; Teva Wins 1st Paragard IUD Bellwether Trial,” Law360, Feb. 4, 2026.
• Cates v. Zeltiq Aesthetics, Inc., – Obtained affirmance of summary judgment in CoolSculpting® case. 73 F.4th 1342 (11th Cir. 2023), cert. denied, 144 S. Ct. 526 (2023); “11th Circ. Freezes CoolSculpting User’s Product Liability Suit,” Law360, July 24, 2023.
• Dandy v. Ethicon, Inc. – Assisted trial team as appellate counsel in pelvic-mesh case in the District of New Jersey. Defense verdict; “NJ Jury Sides With J&J Unit In Pelvic Mesh Injury Suit,” Law360, May 2, 2023.
• Snowden v. Ethicon, Inc. – Assisted trial team as appellate counsel in pelvic-mesh case in Dallas County, TX Court at Law. Defense verdict; “CVN’s Top 10 Most Impressive Defense Verdicts of 2022,” CVN, January 12, 2023.
• Ridings v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Assisted trial team in Pradaxa preemption evidentiary hearing in the Western District of Missouri: Summary judgment for defendant. 444 F. Supp. 3d 973 (W.D. Mo. 2020); “Tort Pandemic Countermeasures – The Ten Best Prescription Drug/Medical Device Decisions of 2020,” Drug and Device Law Blog, December 30, 2020.
• Gallam v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Assisted trial team in second Pradaxa bellwether trial in Hartford, Connecticut Superior Court. Defense verdict; “Boehringer Scores 2nd Bellwether Win In Conn. Pradaxa Suit,” Law360, May 7, 2018.
• Representation of national retailer in general-liability lawsuits across Tennessee.

• BL Rankings, The Best Lawyers in America®
  • Ones to Watch, Health Care Law, 2021-2025
  • Ones to Watch, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, 2021-2025
• Best of the Bar, Memphis Business Journal, 2021

• Tennessee, 2014
• U.S. District Courts
• Tennessee: Western
• U.S. Court of Appeals
• 6th Circuit
• 11th Circuit

• University of Memphis, J.D., summa cum laude, 2014
  • Editor-in-Chief, The University of Memphis Law Review
  • Best Note, The University of Memphis Law Review Vol. 44
  • Freshman Moot Court Champion and Best Oral Advocate
  • CALI Awards: Products Liability, Evidence, Torts I, Civil Procedure II, Constitutional Law, Remedies, Securities Regulation, Education & Civil Rights
• Auburn University, B.A., Political Science and Spanish, summa cum laude, 2011
  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • Honors College Graduate
• Clerkship, Honorable S. Thomas Anderson, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, 2014-2015

• Memphis Bar Association
• Tennessee Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association
  • Mid-South Chapter, Board of Directors
• Federalist Society
  • Executive Committee, Memphis Chapter

• Presenter, “Appellate Strategy and Preservation at Trial,” Federal Bar Association Mid-South Chapter Annual Seminar, October 23, 2026.
• Author, "The Learned Intermediary Doctrine: Debunking Myths," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 14, No. 4, December 2021.
• Co-Author, “Court Initially Rejects Class-Action Settlement in Roundup MDL,” ABA Mass Torts Litigation, Practice Points, October 28, 2020.
• Presenter, “My Product Is on the Market; Now What?,” Medmarc Insurance Group Webinar, June 2017.
• Co-Author, “Protected or Prosecutable? Mass Tort Plaintiff-Attorney Advertising,” DRI: For the Defense, November 2016.
• Co-Author, "Plaintiff Attorney Advertising: Protected or Prosecutable?" Pro Te Solutio, Vol. 8, No. 5, Spring 2016.
• Author, “The Intersection of CLS and Hosanna-Tabor: The Ministerial Exception Applied to Religious Student Organizations,” 44 U. Mem. L. Rev. 141 (2013).