Adrienne is lead settlement counsel to drug and device manufacturers. She serves as lead settlement counsel for Sanofi in its Taxotere hair loss cases. She serves as lead settlement counsel to Medtronic in its cardiovascular portfolio cases. She also served as lead settlement counsel to Bayer in its Yaz/Yasmin litigation. Adrienne has earned a reputation for excellence with her adversaries by crafting litigation strategies that prove at once decisive in devaluing the mass tort model and critical in returning to a client-centered approach to complete peace.
Adrienne also prevents lawsuits from ever being filed. From recalls to product launches or acquisitions to new patient safety developments, Adrienne advises manufacturers on implementing programs to prevent harm to mitigate risk. Course corrections don’t have to mean opening up the company to lawsuits. Reaching out to Adrienne and her team on risk assessments and patient programs could mean that there are never any headlines.
Adrienne is also litigator who has made a name for fighting mass tort fraud and abuse, increasing the costs of doing business to the Plaintiffs’ Bar, and implementing early mechanisms to dismiss unmeritorious lawsuits. The intersection of liability, causation and actual damage is exceedingly rare in the heavily-regulated environment of making medicines and health technology. There are strategies for predicting lawsuit volume, preventing its inflation and cutting down those numbers as they rise.
Adrienne brings valuable knowledge of business goals and corporate vision into her litigation practice. In 2016, she was on loan with a global drug and device manufacturer, handling mass tort, personal injury and commercial cases. She has significant experience dealing with U.S. and foreign regulators, media, sales, marketing, medical affairs, patient advocacy and public policy, suppliers and insurance matters. With in-house perspective, Adrienne’s practice embodies her clients’ corporate vision.
Adrienne blends a unique set of investigative, data-driven and creative-minded skills, asking bigger questions about the lawsuit’s objective and how higher prerogatives might be served better.
Outside the courtroom, Adrienne is committed to advancing women and diverse attorneys in the legal profession, as well as mentoring young lawyers. In 2025, awarded by presenting sponsor Medtronic, the National Bar Association (NBA) selected Shook as the winner of the 2024 Champion of Diversity Award. In 2023, Adrienne earned the firm’s partner-level award for Excellence in Professional Development of junior attorneys. Adrienne is the 2019 inaugural awardee of Shook’s Junior Women’s Management Council, Diversity Sponsor Award, and was featured in “Working Mother.” In 2014, as an associate, she was awarded the firm’s SHB Mosaic Award, as “an intelligent and educated advocate” who “gives of her time to mentor other associates and advance diversity in the workplace in addition to her other firm citizenship commitments and her busy workload.”
Representative Matters
Jordan v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S., LLC, 2025 WL 830455, (E.D.N.C, March 6, 2025) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Sullen v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S., LLC, 2024 WL 3339608, (N.D. Ala., July 9, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Dukes v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S., LLC, 2024 WL 3272933, (N.D. Ala., July 1, 2024) - Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Cunningham v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC et al., 2024 WL 3012966 (M.D. Fla. June 14, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
Larsen v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S., LLC, 2024 WL 2894131 (D. Or. June 10, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Sledge v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S. et al., LLC, 2024 WL 2896302 (D. Or. June 10, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Dunn v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, 2024 WL 2034707 (M.D. Ala. May 7, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Lambert v. Sanofi US Servs., Inc., 2024 WL 1608018 (W.D. Va. Apr. 12, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Robinson v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, 2024 WL 1585566 (S.D. Ala. Apr. 11, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Ditto v. Sanofi U.S. Servs., Inc., 2024 WL 1538004 (D. Colo. Apr. 9, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
McClaflin v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, 2024 WL 1538012 (D. Colo. Apr. 9, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
Daniel v. Sanofi S.A., 2024 WL 1514450 (N.D. Ala. Apr. 8, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Shepard v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, 2024 WL 1514451 (N.D. Ala. Apr. 8, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Fussell v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, 2024 WL 1363915 (W.D.N.C. Mar. 29, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Gaynor-Madison v. Sanofi US Servs., Inc., 2024 WL 1260580 (S.D. Ala. Mar. 25, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
McElrath v. Sanofi-Aventis US LLC, 2024 WL 1252377 (N.D. Fla. Mar. 13, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
Hodges v. Sanofi US Servs., Inc., 2024 WL 510526 (C.D. Ill. Jan. 24, 2024) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
Maxwell v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, 2023 WL 7115575 (N.D. Ala. Oct. 27, 2023) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Ali v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, 2023 WL 6390592 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 29, 2023) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
King v. Sanofi U.S. Services Inc., 2023 WL 4084977 (N.J. Super. Law Div. June 08, 2023) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
Linton v. Sanofi U.S. Services Inc., 2023 WL 4084976 (N.J. Super. Law Div. June 08, 2023) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
Massey v. Sanofi U.S. Servs., 2023 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 928, *1. – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
In re Taxotere (Anderson), 2022 WL 17980209 (E.D. La. Dec. 27, 2022) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
In re Taxotere (Smith), 2021 WL 3006968 (E.D. La. July 14, 2021) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
In re Taxotere (Gahan), 859 F. App’x 692 (5th Cir. 2021) – Affirming district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant based on warnings causation.
In re Taxotere (Durden), 860 F. App’x 886 (5th Cir. 2021) – Affirming district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant based on the statute of limitations.
In re Taxotere (Roach), 2021 WL 2042212 (E.D. La. May 21, 2021) – Granting Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment.
In re Taxotere (Thibodeaux, Johnson, and Francis), 995 F.3d 384 (5th Cir. 2021) – Affirming the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor Defendant based on the statute of limitations.
In re Taxotere (Phillips), 994 F.3d 704 (5th Cir. 2021) – Affirming district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant based on warnings causation.
In re Taxotere (Willie), 2021 WL 1534482 (E.D. La. Apr. 19, 2021) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
In re Taxotere (Greer), No. 18-11728, 2021 WL 230243 (E.D. La. Jan. 22, 2021) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
In re Taxotere (Crayton), 2021 WL 127292 (E.D. La. Jan. 13, 2021) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
In re Taxotere (multiple plaintiffs), 837 F. App’x 267 (5th Cir. 2020) – Affirming district court’s dismissal for failure to comply with case management orders.
In re Taxotere (Durden), 2020 WL 4228375 (E.D. La. July 23, 2020), aff’d, 860 F. App'x 886 (5th Cir. 2021) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
In re Taxotere (Kuykendall), 966 F.3d 351 (5th Cir. 2020) – Affirming district court’s dismissal of the Plaintiff’s claim for failure to comply with discovery orders.
In re Taxotere, 2020 WL 3487594 (E.D. La. June 1, 2020) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment based on Plaintiff’s failure to produce expert evidence on warnings causation.
In re Taxotere, 462 F. Supp. 3d 650 (E.D. La. 2020) - Granting Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment based on label adequacy.
In re Taxotere (Phillips), 2020 WL 1819665 (E.D. La. Apr. 7, 2020), aff’d, 994 F.3d 704 (5th Cir. 2021) – Granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
In re Taxotere (Gahan), 2020 WL 1030851 (E.D. La. Mar. 3, 2020), aff’d, 859 F. App’x 692 (5th Cir. 2021) – Granting Motion for Summary Judgment in favor of Defendant.
In re Taxotere (Docetaxel) Prod. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 16-2740, 2019 WL 3554211, at *1 (E.D. La. Aug. 5, 2019) – Successful at arguing for limitations on admissible expert testimony at the trial.
Earnest v. Sanofi (E.D. La. Sept. 2019) – Won the first, plaintiff-pick case able to proceed to trial.
In re Taxotere (Johnson), 2019 WL 2995897 (E.D. La. July 9, 2019), aff’d, 995 F.3d 384 (5th Cir. 2021) – Granting Motion for Summary Judgment in favor of Defendant.
In re Taxotere (Francis), No. 16-17410, 2019 WL 2995897 (E.D. La. July 9, 2019), aff’d, 995 F.3d 384 (5th Cir. 2021) – Granting Motion for Summary Judgment in favor of Defendant.
In re Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation, 2018 WL 4002624 (E.D. La. Aug. 22, 2018) – Sanctioning plaintiff that had instructed third-party health care providers to ignore and disobey discovery; evidence of these transgressions being first discovered in that plaintiff’s social media.
Kahn v. Sanofi Aventis U.S. LLC - U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Defense verdict in second bellwether trial of chemotherapy drug (Taxotere MDL).
In re Taxotere (Docetaxel) Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 16-2740, 2019 WL 2995897 (E.D. La. July 9, 2009) – Secured dismissal of three of the first four bellwether plaintiff trials.
Adrienne and her team have also eliminated the second putative trial case in Taxotere in their client’s favor, on a statute of limitations dismissal.
Other Jury Trials. Adrienne has been a trial team member in a number of cases, including:
- a three-week bellwether pelvic mesh injury trial that concluded in the first defense jury verdict for any mesh manufacturer (Albright v. Boston Scientific Corp.); and
- a three-week pelvic mesh jury trial in Texas (Salazar v. Boston Scientific Corp.).
Appeals. In one notable example, Adrienne and her team persuaded the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that multiple groups of fewer than 100 plaintiffs filing suit in the city of St. Louis and seeking joint trials created federal jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act. (Atwell v. Boston Scientific Corp., 740 F. 3d 1160 (8th Cir. 2013))
Pretrial Successes. Adrienne and her teams recognize that early legal and discovery victories can narrow litigation before trial. Notable successes include:
- Melvin v. Wal-Mart, No. 11-2542 (M.D. Fla. 2013) (granting motion to compel financial information on a proof of purchase)
- Smothers v. Boston Scientific Corp., No. 12-4078, WL 3495977 (S.D. W.Va. July 11, 2014) (dismissing case on statute-of-limitation grounds)
- In re Boston Scientific Corp. Pelvic Mesh Repair Sys. Prods. Liab. Litig., No. 12-2326 (granting motion to compel against medical lien company involved in scheme to fund device removal surgeries); and
- Thornton v. Blitz, 850 F.Supp.2d 1374 (S.D. Ga. 2011) (denying plaintiff's motion for sanctions and finding that no evidence that any relevant material was destroyed as a result of failure to implement a litigation hold).
Presentations, Publications and Media
Two-fer Tuesday-When Summary Judgement is Granted, Plaintiffs Should be Prepared to Pay Costs, Drug & Device Law, December 3, 2024.
Taxotere MDL Dismisses Cases for Failure to Respond Timely to Suggestions of Death, Drug & Device Law, November 12, 2024.
Taxotere Lone Pine Continues to Stand, Drug & Device Law, October 11, 2024.
A Bed of Their Own Making: Taxotere Claims Held Untimely Under Oregon Statute of Repose, Drug & Device Law, June 25, 2024.
Taxotere MDL Denies Plaintiffs’ Attempt to Undo Lone Pine Order, Drug & Device Law, May 29, 2024.
No Second Chance at Service for Taxotere Plaintiffs, Drug & Device Law, April 26, 2024.
Judge Sides With Sanofi, Dismissing Patient’s Claims Against Cancer Medication Taxotere, ALM, April 17, 2024.
More Taxotere Remand Courts Deny Untimely Amendments, Drug & Device Law, March 29, 2024.
Taxotere Remand Court Torpedoes Tardy Amendment, Drug & Device Law, March 20, 2024.
Enough Is Enough in Taxotere Remand Case, Drug & Device Law, March 8, 2024.
Third Times a Charm for Lone Pine in Taxotere MDL, Drug & Device Law, February 27, 2024.
Dunn and Done: MDL Remand Court Rejects Attempt to Amend Complaint, Drug & Device Law, February 9, 2024.
Taxotere Timing Troubles Persistently Plague Plaintiffs, Drug & Device Law, June 23, 2023.
Medtronic Inks Deal To End Faulty Pacemaker Suit, Law360, August 5, 2022.
Medtronic … Claims in Faulty Pacemaker Suit, Law360, February 9, 2022.
The Ten Best Prescription Drug/Medical Device Decisions of 2021, 7. In re Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation (Two Shook Cases), Drug & Device Law, December 30, 2021.
5th Circ. Won’t Revive Sanofi Chemo Hair Loss Suit, Law360, June 10, 2021.
Another Sanofi Taxotere Hair-Loss Case Dismissed as Too Late, Bloomberg Law, May 25, 2021.
Great Results, if Wobbly Reasoning, in Taxotere “Warnings Causation” Decisions, Drug & Device Law, May 14, 2021.
Fifth Circuit Affirms Two Defense Victories from the Taxotere MDL, Drug & Device Law, April 30, 2021.
5th Circ. Finds Chemo Drug Hair Loss Claims Filed Too Late, Law360, April 23, 2021.
Taxotere Plaintiffs Taken Down By Their Own Expert—Again, Drug & Device Law, July 3, 2020.
Sanofi May Assert Lack of Knowledge of Taxotere Hair Loss Risk, Bloomberg Law,July 2, 2020.
Sanofi Exits Some Taxotere Suits, More Dismissals Expected, Bloomberg Law, June 3, 2020.
Sanofi Boots Some Plaintiffs From Chemo Hair Loss MDL, Law360, June 2, 2020.
Sanofi Beats Taxotere Claims Over Post-2015 Hair Loss Warnings, Bloomberg Law, May 28, 2020.
Clock Has Run Out For Hair-Loss Patients In Chemo MDL, Law360, January 24, 2020.
Speaker, ACI, 24th Annual Conference on Drug and Medical Device Litigation, New York, New York, December 9-11, 2019.
Chambers, Trends and Developments: Predicting Mass Court Filings, July 2019.
Adrienne Byard and Alyse Zadalis, Shook Shorts: Women's Health Litigation, Podcast, August 2019.
Eric Anielak, Jordan Baehr, Adrienne Byard and Harley Ratliff, Busier Than a Centipede at a Toe-Counting Contest: Exponential Mass Tort Case Filing Volume as a Function of Bogus Trigger Dates, States' Statutes of Limitations, and Profit Potential, Update of the Law CLE, Kansas City, Missouri, June 13, 2019.
Bryan Pratt, Adrienne Hernandez and Amanda Tamayo, Emerging Theories of Product Liability, Shook, Hardy & Bacon's 11th Annual Update of the Law (2014).
Bryan Pratt and Adrienne Hernandez, Inside the Courtroom on Class Certification, Litigation Exchange, New York (2013).
Mark Hegarty and Adrienne Hernandez, Clinical Trials on Trial, Drug Information Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, June 24-28, 2012.
Mark Hegarty and Adrienne Hernandez, Clinical Trials on Trial, Drug Information Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, June 19-23, 2011.