Brian represents pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers as trial counsel and in leadership roles of coordinated mass tort proceedings. He currently serves as Co-Lead Counsel in a medical device MDL in Atlanta and related litigation in New Jersey state court.
He currently serves as co-lead counsel and trial counsel for Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon, Inc. in In re: Ethicon Physiomesh Flexible Composite Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2782, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He is also co-lead counsel in two consolidated proceedings for other hernia mesh products pending in New Jersey state court. In these roles, Brian directs and coordinates the efforts of a nationwide team of lawyers. He has previously served as co-lead science counsel for McNeil and Johnson & Johnson in In re: Tylenol (Acetaminophen) Marketing, Sales Practices and Product Liability Litigation (E.D. Pa.) and as national science counsel for a defendant in In re Phenylpropanolamine Products Liability Litigation (W.D. Wash.). He has played national roles in other mass torts and has particular expertise in Daubert practice and the retention, development and presentation of expert witnesses.
For many years, Brian has represented major Tennessee hospitals in Certificate of Need litigation. In 2018, he successfully represented Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis in a contested case involving two other major health systems. In 2016, he successfully represented Vanderbilt University Medical Center in a dispute over a proposed new facility near Nashville. From 2007 to 2009, he successfully represented Maury Regional Hospital in a dispute over a proposed new $110 million hospital sought by the world’s largest for-profit health care company.
Brian has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® (2008-present) and Super Lawyers® (2010-present), has an AV® – Preeminent™ rating form Martindale-Hubbell®, and is a member of IADC. He has recently been an invited lecturer or panelist at national conferences, including the IADC Mid-Year meeting, the ACI Drug and Medical Device Conference, and a conference sponsored by the Lawyers for Civil Justice and the Federalist Society on the future of Multidistrict Litigation. He has been an invited lecturer at Vanderbilt Law School, Harvard Law School and Belmont University Law School. Among his publications is a law review note on student-university law that has been cited by nearly a hundred scholars and courts, including a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
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