Williams & Connolly: Product Liability, Torts, and Medicine

Representative Product Liability, Torts and Medicine Matters

Prempro - Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) - Currently defending Wyeth in federal multi-district and state court litigation seeking damages allegedly caused by Prempro, a widely prescribed drug for menopausal symptoms. Williams & Connolly works as part of a national team coordinating every aspect of the litigation, and the firm’s lawyers have played leading roles in many of the trials.
Chantix - Currently serving as Co-National Counsel for Pfizer in federal multi-district and state court litigation seeking damages allegedly caused by Chantix, a smoking-cessation drug.
Raptiva - Trial counsel representing Genentech in litigation relating to Raptiva, a treatment for psoriasis that was voluntarily withdrawn from the market in April 2009 after there were reports of a fatal brain infection known as PML.
Seroquel - Represented AstraZeneca in MDL litigation involving Seroquel. The first two trial set cases were successfully resolved by summary judgment.
Vioxx - Served as Co-National and Coordinating Trial Counsel for Merck in defending against and settling claims filed in federal and state courts throughout the country in connection with the drug Vioxx.
Baycol - Served as National Coordinating Counsel for Bayer in defending the Company against thousands of individual actions and scores of class actions filed throughout the country in connection with the drug, Baycol, a cholesterol reducing statin.
In re Norplant Contraceptive - Represented American Home Products, Inc. in litigation involving Norplant, an implanted contraceptive, when it became the target of more than 50,000 lawsuits alleging defective product design and failure to warn of a constellation of common side effects. Williams & Connolly defeated class certification motions in federal and state courts in California, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas; won the first set of bellwether cases on summary judgment in the federal multidistrict litigation; achieved defense victories in four trials in state courts in Texas and New York; and settled the remaining cases on extremely favorable terms.
Breast Implant - Represented General Electric, a bulk supplier of silicone raw materials to breast implant manufacturers, in class actions involving more than 12,000 individual plaintiffs. Williams & Connolly won summary judgment for GE in the federal multidistrict litigation, and GE, unlike every other defendant, paid nothing in judgments or settlements.
In re New Orleans Tank Car Leakage - Represented CSX Transportation, Inc. in the settlement and class action fairness hearing in a Louisiana class action involving a tank car leak of hazardous materials and resulting fire near New Orleans; the alleged class members numbered approximately 10,000.
In re Paoli R.R. Yard PCB - Defended General Electric in litigation alleging exposure to PCBs at Paoli railroad yard. Plaintiffs sought claims for personal injury, medical monitoring and property damage. The firm developed a strategy to exclude the plaintiffs' experts and then won the trial on the medical monitoring claims. Eleven years after it began, GE won a total victory.
Medical Devices - Served as lead counsel for United States Surgical Corporation, a leading manufacturer of wound closure products and advanced surgical devices, in a number of product liability lawsuits, including cases for wrongful death, throughout the country concerning a variety of medical devices.