Courtroom View Network Names Shook Verdict No. 1 Defense Win of 2016

Courtroom View Network (CVN), the industry leader focused on coverage of high-stakes, bet-the-company civil trials involving the nation’s top trial attorneys, has named one of Shook, Hardy & Bacon’s trial achievements the “most impressive defense verdict of 2016.”

In February 2016, Shook received a jury verdict in Sherrer v. Boston Scientific Corporation in the 16^th Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri. It was the first trial of two pelvic mesh manufacturers at once; the plaintiff sought damages against Boston Scientific and C. R. Bard, Inc.

In its Top 10 list of defense verdicts for 2016, CVN said of the case: “Given the small number of trials compared to mesh cases filed any jury verdict is significant, but the added complexity of two mesh devices manufactured by different companies implanted in the same plaintiff lands this trial in our number 1 spot.”

The nine-week-long jury trial began Nov. 30, 2015. In October 2010, plaintiff Eve Sherrer had a Boston Scientific Solyx SIS System mesh device implanted after pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence. In January 2011, she had another surgery, removing the Boston Scientific device and implanting a Bard device in its place. The plaintiff had sought $28 million in compensatory damages, plus punitive damages.

Partners Rob Adams and Hildy Sastre led the defense for Boston Scientific. The case is part of Shook’s ongoing work in pelvic mesh litigation.