Partner Bart Williams Recognized as 'Product Liability Attorney of the Year'
LOS ANGELES and BOSTON, September 9, 2022 – Proskauer, a leading international law firm, is pleased to share that it has received the "Impact Case of the Year" award by LMG Life Sciences for its work securing a landmark victory for Monsanto in a case brought by a woman claiming that use of the herbicide Roundup caused her non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A California jury rejected her claims, returning a defense verdict on all counts.
The verdict in Stephens v. Monsanto was the second defense verdict in the Roundup mass tort litigation and the first involving a plaintiff who had used the product herself. The defense verdict on "general causation" was the first of its kind, as the jury found that plaintiff did not prove that Roundup can cause non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The only prior defense verdict for Monsanto addressed whether a specific individual's exposure to Roundup was sufficient to cause cancer.
The Proskauer team representing Monsanto was led by partners Bart Williams and Manuel Cachán, and included partner Lee Popkin and senior counsel Shawn Ledingham.
The Firm also announced that Bart Williams was named "Product Liability Attorney of the Year" by LMG Life Sciences for his work on Monsanto. As one of the nation's most sought after trial lawyers and commercial litigators, Bart has represented Fortune 500 corporations across life sciences and a range of other industries. He is a go-to lawyer for cases involving product liability, antitrust, commercial contract disputes, and white-collar defense matters. He has secured numerous landmark victories for clients throughout his career.
LMG Life Sciences ranks leading law firms and individuals in each practice area in the life sciences industry through deep analysis of the business and legal developments in the sector. Partners Fangli Chen, Ph.D. and Siegmund (Sige) Gutman were also shortlisted for Patent Strategy Attorney of the Year – Massachusetts, and General Patent Litigator of the Year – California, respectively.
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