Toxic Tort Litigation Insights: Navigating Trends, Ongoing Updates, and Emerging Frontiers in PFAS Litigation and Litigation Funding for Mass Torts Litigation

Marina Schwarz, a seasoned litigator in the mass torts and products liability space, leverages her years of experience to represent corporations in complex federal and state court litigation. As a trusted counsel to clients across the nation, she takes on high-stakes trial matters in the pharmaceutical, chemical, energy, and environmental sectors. In addition to her litigation experience, Ms. Schwarz is a recognized thought leader, regularly contributing to the discourse on complex medical and scientific issues.

Ms. Schwarz brings deep knowledge of federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) practice and state court-coordinated proceedings and plays a lead role on legal strategy teams. She has experience in nearly every aspect of litigation and handles a wide variety of matters, including mass torts, class actions, centralized management, medical monitoring, negligence, and wrongful death claims. Ms. Schwarz also regularly advises and counsels companies impacted by chemical regulations and potential litigation on risk mitigation strategies. She has worked extensively with technical company witnesses and experts on issues ranging from medical causation, product development and testing, chemical fate and transport, and manufacturing controls.

Ms. Schwarz has represented Pfizer as National counsel in the Zoloft MDL, where hundreds of plaintiffs alleged that maternal use of Zoloft, an antidepressant, caused their children to be born with various birth defects. Dechert convinced the Court early in the litigation that the most efficient approach to the MDL would be to stage general causation ahead of other case-specific issues. With that framework, Dechert successfully excluded all of the plaintiffs’ general causation testimony and secured summary judgment in the entire MDL. The Third Circuit unanimously affirmed, cementing the resounding victory for Pfizer. Ms. Schwarz represents Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics as national and trial counsel in a high-profile environmental toxic tort litigation and is currently defending individual and class action complaints involving personal injury, medical monitoring, and property damages claims in New York, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Ms. Schwarz presents on mass torts and product liability and authored articles on a variety of topics, including perfluoroalkyl substances, climate change, and class action litigation, which have been published by Law 360, The National Forum for Environmental and Toxic Tort Issues (FETTI) and DRI for the Defense. In 2023, Dechert honored Ms. Schwarz with a Dechert STARS Legal Innovator award.

Ms. Schwarz co-founded and is a member of the Editorial Committee of the Product Liability and Mass Torts Group’s newsletter, Dechert Re: Torts. She also developed a dedicated perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) website, showcasing the group's extensive expertise in advising clients on PFAS-related litigation and transaction matters. This includes handling complex mass tort and class-action cases, ensuring legislative and regulatory compliance, managing public and government relations, conducting pre-investment risk assessments, and facilitating business transactions.

Ms. Schwarz maintains an active pro bono practice, focusing on the representation of individuals in immigration, veteran, and housing cases. The Legal Aid Society honored Ms. Schwarz at the Pro Bono Publico Awards in 2018.

Prior to joining Dechert, Ms. Schwarz served as a litigation associate in Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan’s New York office.

With a litigation practice that is national in scope, Alejandra serves clients that range from small businesses and individuals to Fortune 500 companies.

Alejandra focuses on commercial and contractual disputes, product liability lawsuits and other civil litigation matters involving personal injury, wrongful death or property damage. She provides the analysis, counsel, and strategy required to help clients navigate the challenges that modern-day businesses face across a range of different industries, including manufacturing, utilities, education, and health and behavioral services.

In addition to her experience in traditional litigation, Alejandra has provided support for clients facing the complexities of class actions and multidistrict litigation. Alejandra can also help clients navigate alternative methods of dispute resolution, such as arbitration and mediation.

Alejandra was the 2016 recipient of Barnes & Thornburg’s diversity scholarship. Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg full-time, Alejandra was a summer associate for two summers in the Indianapolis office.