Tell us about your biggest trial win from January 2016 to July 2017 and how you achieved the result for your client.

[We] secured [a] unanimous defense verdict for Philip Morris USA following a three-week jury trial of a medical monitoring class action (Donovan) in Massachusetts federal court. The verdict, and a [later] decision by the judge that dismissed plaintiffs' one remaining claim, avoided more than $600 million in potential damages.

Donovan alleged PMUSA knowingly sold cigarettes containing high levels of carcinogens and could have adopted a less dangerous design. Plaintiffs argued that PMUSA be required to provide medical monitoring to more than 10,000 longtime Massachusetts smokers. A key to the victory was successfully arguing that plaintiff had “opened the door” to cross-examination of plaintiffs' experts demonstrating that they had previously rejected the notion that there existed a safer alternative design for Marlboros.