Jennise has led throughout her career, whether in the courtroom or in her community. She has served in a management role at her law firm for more than 10 years, both in the Houston office and on the firm management council. Jennise has been recognized with accolades throughout her career, including “Women Who Mean Business” by the Houston Business Journal for outstanding leadership in law, as a “Lawyer on the Rise” by Texas Lawyer, and as a “Rising Star” for multiple years by Texas Monthly. She was also named in the Houston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” for her contributions to the legal industry and to her community.
Jennise has extensive experience representing Fortune 100 companies in the pharmaceutical and medical device, manufacturing, automotive, environmental, agricultural and retail industries. She has served as trial counsel in numerous cases from complex mass tort litigation to individual disputes. Jennise is adept in working with company witnesses and documents to determine risk and opposition themes to develop defensive strategy.
Jennise currently serves in a national counsel role in In re Roundup Litigation, one of the largest mass tort litigations, overseeing nationwide defensive strategy to limit corporate liability, initial intake of cases, responsive pleadings, initial briefing, indemnification and representation of co-defendants. Jennise has had national counsel roles in various medical device and pharmaceutical litigations including hernia mesh for Sanofi Aventis/Genzyme and hormone replacement for Pfizer. Jennise has more than 25 years of experience in strategic management, case development and trial in medical device and pharmaceutical litigations, including: Boston Scientific pelvic mesh, Sanofi Aventis/Genzyme hernia mesh, Bjork-Shiley heart valve, Stryker pain pumps and hospital beds, Johnson & Johnson/Synthes hand system, Sulzer Orthopedics implants, DePuy Orthopaedics artificial spinal discs, Pfizer Depo-Medrol®, Solu Medrol®, Reglan®, Zoloft®, Rezulin®, Prempro® and Premarin®, Astellas Pharma US Padcev®, Protopic® and Prograf®, Johnson & Johnson Ortho-Evra®, and Bayer Yaz® and Yasmin®.
In addition to her role as a trial attorney, Jennise has led and managed multicase litigation through the complete discovery process to trial or resolution. Jennise’s experience also entails successfully briefing and arguing substantive and procedural pretrial and dispositive motions in state and federal courts and obtaining dismissals, and counseling clients on prelitigation strategy. In addition, Jennise has provided counsel and assessment on product liability risk and strategy for managing liability risks. Jennise also serves as counsel on regulatory matters for clients in the pharmaceutical, medical device, biomaterials, automotive, aviation, food and retail industries.
Jennise has provided pro bono counsel and volunteered in her community throughout her career. Her pro bono work has included numerous probate cases, multiple custody disputes on behalf of Justice for Children, representation of a student in University of Houston Law Center Honor Court proceedings, and representation of a victim of sexual assault navigating related criminal and civil cases. Jennise has been an active member in various legal organizations, chairing and serving on various committees that focus on children and local schools. She was awarded the President’s Award for outstanding service by the Houston Bar Association.
Representative Matters
Trials. Jennise has diverse trial experience defending clients in complex product liability, personal injury and breach of contract litigation. In this capacity, she has represented companies in the pharmaceutical and medical device, manufacturing and services industries, among others. Jennise’s trial experience includes:
- Brook v. Warner-Lambert, 288th Judicial District, Bexar County, Texas
- Brown v. Warner-Lambert, 348th Judicial District, Tarrant County, Texas
- Hark v. Freightliner, Texas Administrative Law Proceeding
- Mercado (Culberson) v. Warner-Lambert Co., 61st Judicial District, Harris County, Texas
- Mozayani v. American Home Shield, Texas Small Claims Court
- Soto (Herrera) v. Warner-Lambert, 93rd Judicial District, Hidalgo County, Texas
- Salazar v. Lopez, 5th Judicial District, Dallas County, Texas
- Savage v. Sulzer, 152nd Judicial District, Harris County, Texas
- Shelton v. Monsanto, 16th Circuit Court, Jackson County, Missouri
Successful Resolutions. Jennise’s work has frequently led to the favorable resolution of cases before trial as well. Her more recent pretrial successes include:
- Abualsundos v. Pharmacia and Upjohn Co. LLC, 129th Judicial District, Harris County, Texas (summary judgment, claims dismissed)
- Beene v. Pharmacia and Upjohn Co. LLC, Superior Court of California, County of Kern (summary judgment, claims dismissed)
- Garza v. Wyeth, LLC, Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division (summary judgment, case dismissed)
- Gazal v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharm., Inc., U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota (summary judgment, case dismissed)
- In re Pelvic Mesh Litig., Pennsylvania State Court, Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, 1st District (dismissal of 368 cases pending against Jennise’s clients)
- Jackson v. Wyeth, LLC, Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division (summary judgment, case dismissed)
- Jacob v. Boston Scientific Corp., 234th Judicial District, Harris County, Texas (severance of plaintiffs’ claims, case ultimately dismissed)
- Laporte v. Pharmacia and Upjohn Co. LLC, Superior Court, Suffolk County, Commonwealth of Massachusetts) (summary judgment, case dismissed)
- Sarver v. Johnson & Johnson, Southern District of West Virginia, Charleston Division (motion to dismiss Jennise’s client, case dismissed)
- Smith v. Genzyme, 333rd Judicial District, Harris County, Texas (summary judgment, client dismissed)
- Tsavaris v. Pfizer, Inc, Southern District of Florida, Miami Division (motion to dismiss, case dismissed)
Publications and Presentations
Pace v. Cirrus Design Corp.: The Fifth Circuit Provides Insight Into Application of Recent SCOTUS Opinions, March 2024 (with Ryan Killian and Erika Medina).
Guyarro v. Enterprise: The Fifth Circuit Analyzes Issues Pertinent to Product-Liability Cases, July 2022 (with Ryan Killian and Lakshmi Achari).
Fifth Circuit Clarifies Regarding Spoiliation of Evidence and Expert Witness Qualifications, October 11, 2023 (with Ryan Killian and Farhan Mohiuddin).
In Depth: Product Liability 2022 Financier Worldwide, February 2022 (Jennifer Stevenson and Ryan Killian).
Remote Trials and Hearings in the Pandemic—A Litigator’s Perspective, CLE Seminar, Houston Bar Association, February 5, 2021 (with Stephanie McGraw).
2019 Women's Health Litigation Summit Post-Summit Webinar, October 2019 (with Jennifer Kenyon and Kierra Moody).
Dietary Supplements, 60 Seconds of Legal Science, July 25, 2019.
Adrienne Busby, Victoria Calhoon, Colleen Hennessey and Jennise Stubbs, The Art of the 'Science and Expert Team' in Mass Torts, Law360, July 8, 2019.
Pharmaceutical Advertising 2019: Trends and Developments, Chambers and Partners Practice Guide, February 20, 2019 (with Sonali Gunawardhana, Hildy Sastre and Alyse Zadalis).
Nailing Jello to a Tree: Challenges Associated with Evolving Science and Regulatory Requirements, American Bar Association, January, 2018.
How Wide are the Arms of State Court Jurisdiction?, The Houston Lawyer, November/December 2017.
Jennie W. Stubbs & Kelsey A. Copeland, Defensive Strategies to Avoid Litigation and When Litigation is Unavoidable, ACC Back to School Symposium, Houston, Texas, August 15, 2017.
Food and Drug Law Institute, Introduction to Drug Law and Regulation Course: The Legal Framework for Drug Regulation; "The New Drug Approval Process: Basic Concepts," "The New Drug Approval Process: New Drug Research and Development," and "The New Drug Approval Process: NDA Submission and Review," October 19, 2016.
Jennise W. Stubbs & Kelsey A. Copeland, Using the Biomaterials Access Assurance Act as a Sword and a Shield, Bloomberg BNA: Medical Devices Law & Industry ReportTM, Sept. 14, 2016.
Media Coverage
2 Roundup MDL Cases Axed After Plaintiffs Fail To Act, Law360, July 10, 2024.
Evidence of Nothing Overcomes No Evidence, Drug & Device Law, June 4, 2020.
Tufts Must Face Suit Over Patient’s Infection Death, Law360, June 1, 2020.