Brian is a seasoned attorney specializing in defending corporate clients in complex and high-stakes litigation. He excels at developing defensive strategies, preparing company and expert witnesses, and taking and defending depositions. He also has a proven track record of drafting and arguing dispositive, in limine, Daubert/Frye, and summary judgment motions.
Brian’s extensive experience focuses on product liability matters in multidistrict litigation (MDL) and coordinated state court proceedings. His work includes litigations involving acid-reducing therapies, antidepressants, antibiotics, opioids, antivirals, birth control medications and hernia mesh products, as well as various consumer products such as non-prescription over-the-counter medications, cosmetic talc, herbicides and infant sleep products. Brian has also handled a broad range of commercial and employment disputes for clients across industries including retail, automotive, pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer products. His strategic approach to litigation and counseling involves a deep understanding of his clients’ businesses and products, enhancing his ability to meet their needs effectively and efficiently.
Brian is deeply committed to pro bono work, including handling numerous prisoner civil rights matters over the years and more recently becoming involved with The Veterans Consortium, assisting veterans with discharge upgrade appeals. Additionally, Brian is dedicated to mentoring young lawyers, serving as the Philadelphia office’s liaison to the firm’s mentoring program. His dedication to guiding and supporting junior associates underscores his commitment to the legal profession and the development of future legal talent.
Representative Matters
Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Litigation: Recently, Brian successfully litigated numerous wrongful death product liability matters involving a pharmaceutical product indicated for the prevention of relapse to opioid dependence, including successfully briefing a motion to dismiss and having all claims against his client dismissed.
In the In re PPI Litigation, Brian helped lead the Sales & Marketing Team in a litigation involving acid-reduction therapies. He was responsible for investigating sales and marketing issues and developing the overall defense strategy. He also helped prepare numerous sales and marketing executives for depositions, develop core work product and resources, and facilitate the defense of more than fifty of sales representative depositions in the MDL bellwether trial program and Wave cases.
Brian has also represented various pharmaceutical companies in litigations surrounding alleged serious skin reactions (SJS/TEN) associated with the use of prescription and OTC medications, as well as a leading generic pharmaceutical manufacturer in litigation surrounding alleged serious liver injuries associated with the use of acetaminophen products. He has also successfully represented a pharmaceutical company, a medical practice and number of nurse practitioners in cases alleging serious side effects associated with the use of an injectable birth control medication.
In the In re Zoloft Litigation, Brian successfully drafted a broadly applicable motion in limine that sought to preclude evidence and testimony from the plaintiffs’ life care planning experts regarding future medical costs and expenses. Granting the motion, the Court was persuaded that the plaintiffs’ experts’ opinions were speculative and conjectural because the purported experts failed to conduct a meaningful investigation into the plaintiffs’ medical history or apply a generally accepted methodology with respect to life care planning.
Consumer Products Litigation: Brian is currently representing a manufacturer of recalled products in various wrongful death actions pending in coordinated state court proceedings in California and Delaware. During his representation of a diet and weight loss company in litigation surrounding the sale of meal plans, Brian successfully briefed Daubert and summary judgment motions, disqualifying the plaintiff’s expert witnesses who claimed that soy-based products caused hypothyroidism and consequently resulting in all claims against his client being dismissed.
Commercial and Employment Disputes: Brian has litigated and mediated various commercial disputes on both the plaintiff and defense side. He also routinely handles employment disputes and discrimination lawsuits for many of his clients. Notably, Brian represented an accounting and consulting firm in a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) lawsuit, achieving a favorable judgment by applying the “economic reality” test in the Fourth Circuit, which at the time was a novel issue of first impression adopted by the Court.
Publications
Courts Increasingly Recognize Federal Preemption of Claims Involving All FDA-Approved Medications, DRI For the Defense, September 2016 (with Derek M. Stikeleather).
Media
Shook Hardy Adds 6 in Phila. as One-Time Dechert Colleagues Reunite, The Legal Intelligencer, March 2, 2020.