Defense of Design Surgeon in National Litigation Involving Implantable Medical Devices
Key Facts
- National trial and coordinating counsel for prominent design surgeon involved in two separate mass tort litigations
- Responsible for managing and resolving all cases in multidistrict litigation and for coordinated state actions
- Responsible for overall strategy, discovery, and motion practice
The Situation
A prominent surgeon involved in the design of two distinct implantable orthopedic devices manufactured and marketed by a major international medical device company is involved in two mass tort litigations where thousands of claimants allege injuries from the allegedly defective devices. The allegations against our client relate solely to his participation in the design process, which involved a large multidisciplinary design team. No claims relating to his clinical practice are involved.
The Approach
We serve our surgeon client as national coordinating and trial counsel and as chief strategists. We have employed an aggressive national defense strategy, which has resulted in multiple dismissals of our client without payment, including in each of the multiple cases that have proceeded to trial against the manufacturer.
The Outcome
In the earliest mass tort, the results of a bellwether trial involving the manufacturer facilitated a national settlement that resolved most of the individual lawsuits filed throughout the country. We continue to implement our aggressive strategy to extricate our client from the remaining actions. In the other, we continue to procure free dismissals where possible while continuing our aggressive strategy aimed at extricating our client from the lawsuits as soon as possible.
Supporting Professionals
Ralph Campillo and Arameh O’Boyle, manage an aggressive national strategy aimed at achieving consistent favorable results for the client.
