Butler Snow LLP

The pharmaceutical and medical device industries face difficult challenges on a daily basis—an unpredictable economy, lawsuits involving hundreds or thousands of claimants, regulatory challenges, and investigations to name a few. Few law firms in the United States are called upon as often as Butler Snow to serve as local, regional or national counsel in drug and medical device litigated matters and to help our clients navigate these challenges.

Leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies trust Butler Snow with their legal needs based upon our successful outcomes in the courtroom and in all phases of litigation, coupled with our focus on client satisfaction. Our Drug & Device Litigation team has taken leading roles in pharmaceutical litigation involving a prescription osteoporosis prevention and treatment drug, treatment for male pattern baldness, prescription cholesterol medication, prescription anti-inflammatory, prescription anti-biotic, prescription blood thinner, prescription acne medication, prescription hypertension medication, diet drugs, PPA, HRT, birth control, over the counter pain relievers, prescription heartburn medication, vaccines for primary immunodeficiency diseases, prescription colitis medication, oral diabetes medication, antipsychotic medication, DPT vaccines, influenza vaccines and prescription painkillers. On the medical device side, our team has taken leading roles in litigation involving gynecological mesh, mammary implants, pain pumps, hip replacements, dialyzers, mechanical heart valves and IUDs.

Trial Experience

Butler Snow attorneys try to verdict more pharmaceutical and medical device cases than any firm of its size in the country, defending matters in virtually every state and numerous foreign countries. We are regularly called upon to lead trial teams in some of the most challenging jurisdictions nationwide.

Multi-District Litigation Experience

Our pharmaceutical and medical device litigators play principal roles in federal MDL proceedings and serve as national counsel in several MDLs involving both pharmaceutical products and medical devices, all of which involve hundreds of claimants and in one instance, thousands. We often try MDL bellwether cases, serving as lead counsel in and chairing the first trials in the MDL.

Mass Tort Experience

In addition to our MDL experience, Butler Snow attorneys are also national and trial counsel for clients involving several different products in a multitude of cases throughout the country. Our team manages and defends a massive number of product liability claims against many product manufacturers, with a significant number of these claims involving pharmaceuticals or medical devices. We have deposed thousands of litigants and healthcare providers, created and maintained a multitude of databases, and negotiated and managed numerous mass settlements, surpassing the expectations of clients in a cost-effective and efficient manner. Both our litigators and support personnel excel in the efficient management of these large number claims, and understand the importance of preparation and consistency in handling this type of litigation. As a preferred provider to pharmaceutical and medical device industry clients, we were integrally involved in making new case law by effectively disposing of thousands of cases, thereby ensuring fair trial venues for our clients. Our experience, at the forefront of this type litigation, is invaluable for companies within these industries.

Value Added

Members of the firm’s Drug & Device Litigation team include registered nurses, a PhD and an attorney/medical doctor who has worked extensively with experts. These additional team members bolster our ability to completely comprehend regulations affecting pharmaceuticals, medical devices and biologicals, as well as Medicare, Medicaid and healthcare. Our Drug & Device Team publishes a quarterly newsletter, ProTe: Solutio, for our clients containing articles focusing on the latest news and information affecting pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. We also offer secundments to clients, allowing our team and yours additional opportunities to collaborate.

At Butler Snow, we embrace people with unique life experiences and backgrounds. Through this environment of diverse cultural experiences, we regularly develop unique solutions for our clients‘ legal issues. In serving our clients, whether in the board room or in the courtroom, our attorneys work together as one team to resolve the myriad of legal situations they face. Through this interaction and the sharing of ideas, we offer clients the benefit of a variety of perspectives.

Our minority and women attorneys are skilled and knowledgeable in  their fields and recognized leaders in their communities. Butler Snow's active participation and sponsorship of diverse organizations and events demonstrates our belief in the significance of diversity and underscores our commitment to a diverse team. We promote outreach through professional associations, mentoring, recruiting, sponsorships and networking. We interview at several law schools that have a significant percentage of minority students, including Howard University and participate in interviewing at the Tennessee Bar Association Diversity Job Fair and the Southern Region of the National Black Law Students Association Job Fair. By dedicating ourselves and our firm to diversity, our clients and our firm benefit. 

Butler Snow is a proud recipient of the AT&T Legal Department's 2011 Diversity Award for mid-size firms. 

Importance of diversity 

Hear what General Counsel of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Marla Persky, has to say about Butler Snow’s diversity, click here.  

Professional Women and Minorities

·         Charles E. Griffin is an Elected Member of the American Law Institute, a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and is Chairman of the Business Development Subcommittee of the Minority Trial Lawyer Committee (Litigation Section of the American Bar Association). Charles serves as the Diversity Committee Co-Chair.

·         Cara R. Baer were elected and served on the board of the Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association (TIPLA). Cara serves as the Diversity Committee Co-Chair.

Sponsorships/Professional Activities

 
Butler Snow dedicates a significant portion of the firm’s sponsorship dollars to events and programs dedicated to furthering diversity in our profession. A few of these recent sponsorships included:

·         Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

·         Boys and Girls Club Law Camp at Tougaloo through Magnolia Bar Association

·         Magnolia Bar Association

·         NAACP Annual Gala

·         Latino Memphis Leadership Luncheon

·         Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build 2014

·         Tennessee Alliance for Black Lawyers’ Annual Conference

·         Youth Life Learning Center’s Annual Luncheon/Breakfast

·         Napier-Looby Bar Foundation’s Annual Event

·         American Bar Association 2014 Annual Labor and Employment Section Conference Diversity Luncheon, Los Angeles, CA.

Butler Snow is dedicated to helping promote diversity in the communities in which we work. Examples of those efforts include sponsorship and participation in:

·         The National Civil Rights Museum’s Freedom Awards Banquet

·         Memphis Benefit Dinner for Facing History and Ourselves

·         Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build Blitz in Jackson

·         Mississippi Center for Justice’s Champions of Justice

·         Minority Business Council

·         Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis Tribute Luncheon

·         Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade in Jackson

·         100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee, Inc.

Butler Snow is proud to be a Law Firm Affiliate of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association.