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Colleen is a member of the Life Sciences Health Industry Group, practicing in the area of product liability litigation.  She is head of Reed Smith's Litigation Department which includes more than 850 lawyers practicing in 22 offices.

Colleen first joined Reed Smith in January 2003 when the firm combined with Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May.  Her legal career has focused her civil litigation practice in the area of complex product liability defense.  Her litigation and trial experience include national counsel responsibility for cases at the state and federal trial court levels, including multi-district litigation and class actions.  

Colleen's client base primarily consists of major pharmaceutical, medical device, software, hardware, electronic and consumer product manufacturers.

While Colleen's experience extends into various product manufacturing arenas, her specialty areas remain in pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer product liability defense.  She also counsels product manufacturers on all phases of product development.  Here, her work addresses manufacturing and marketing issues such as product warnings, design development, document retention policies, claims management, media relations and crisis management.  She also has experience establishing in-house systems for compliance with Consumer Product Safety Commission reporting obligations.

Colleen is active in a number of legal defense organizations and is also a frequent lecturer and author on substantive issues relating to product liability defense. 

Colleen is listed in the 2006 issue of Lawdragon's 500 Leading Litigators and was named as one of the Top Women Litigators by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal, in both 2005 and 2006.  In the May 16, 1994 issue of California Law Business, Colleen was featured as one of California's top women rainmakers.  The following year she was named one of California's top 25 lawyers under 45 by the same publication.  Since 2001, she has been named as a top California rainmaker by California Law Business.

Representative Matters

• National Counsel in multi-district litigation involving recalled heart valve products

• Class action defense work involving alleged health care misrepresentations

• Creation of company wide product monitoring systems for use in connection with nation and world-wide marketing operations to track and ensure compliance with regulatory mandates, including CPSC reporting and monitoring obligations

• Defense of claims regarding fiberglass greenhouse panels and alleged crop damage

• Defense of federal and state court cases involving anti-depressant medications (acting as local counsel for all Northern California litigation)

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Publications

• “Using Public Relations Firms in Litigation to Protect the Company,” Reed Smith’s Product Liability Update, Vol. 3, No. 7, August 2007
• "The Importance of Causation Analysis in Mass Tort Cases," Colleen Davies, Sarah Gourley, Paul Greenberg and George Lykos, Food and Drug Law Institute, November/December 2006
• "American Glean: The Increase in EU Claimants Fling US Class Actions Highlights the Need for a Consistent Legislative Framework for Compensation Claims," Paul Llewellyn and Colleen Davies, The Lawyer, March 27, 2006
• "Settlement Strategies," published in Heafey & Kennedy, Product Liability: Winning Strategies and Techniques (National Law Journal Press)
• Article and Presentation: "The Impact of Medicare and Other Government Rights on the Settlement of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Cases," Defense Research Institute Drug and Medical Device Litigation, May 14, 1998
• "Spoliation of Evidence: A Threat to Both Plaintiffs and Defendants," Product Liability: Winning Strategies and Techniques, Law Journal Seminars-Press (1996)
• "New Rule Protects Identities In Adverse Drug Reaction Reports," Food, Drug, Cosmetic and Medical Device Law Digest, September 1995
• "FDA Closing Loophole to Reporters' Confidentiality Rules," Rx for the Defense, Spring 1994
• "Potential Legal Implications of Micromarketing Pharmaceuticals," Food, Drug, Cosmetic and Medical Device Law Digest, January 1994
• Article and Presentation: "Spoliation Claims: A High Price To Pay For Lost Evidence," Drug Research Institute Drug and Medical Device Litigation, May 13, 1993
• "Developing In-House Risk Management Procedures," International Business Communications (1993)
• Comment, "Punitive Damages in Market Share Litigation," 23 Santa Clara Law Review 185 (1982)

Speeches / Presentations

• "Mass Tort Settlement Strategies," ACI's Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Conference, December 2006
• "Causation Issues in Mass Torts," presented at the Spring 2005 Annual Food and Drug Law Institute Conference, Washington, D.C.
• "Are You Recall Ready?" presented at the Spring 2005 American Conference Institute on Pharmaceutical and Drug Liability
• "How to Prevent and Manage Product Liability Claims Arising Out of Clinical Trials," presented at the American Conference Institute on Clinical Trials, Washington, D.C., February 2004
• "Product Liability in the United States," International Bar Association 2003 Conference, San Francisco, California, September 2003
• "Product Liability Implications of Clinical Trials," presented to Bay Area Biotech Conference, Oakland, California, 2000
• "Post-Approval Obligations of Sponsors," presented at the Food and Drug Law Institute's Introduction to Drug Law and Regulation: Understanding How FDA Regulates the Drug Industry, September 15-16, 1997
• "Over Promotion and Off-Label Use Issues Regarding Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Products," Annual Drug Information Association Conference, 1996
• "Developing In-House Risk Management Procedures," presented at the International Business Communications Conference, Cambridge Massachusetts, February 1993
• "Training and Monitoring a Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Sales Force," Drug Information Association Conference, 1993
• "Spoliation Claims: A High Price To Pay For Lost Evidence," presented to Bay Area General Counsel, January 5, 1993
• "You Be The Jury," presented January 28, 1993, and January 20, 1994 at the NRPA Pacific Risk Management School, Oakland, California
• "Last 100 Days Before Trial," presented at the Litigation Institute, Santa Clara University School of Law, Santa Clara, California, June 1993
• "Pretrial Litigation Preparation," presented at the Trial Practice Institute, California State Bar Litigation Section, State Bar Annual Meeting in Monterey, California, May 15, 1993
• "Micro-Marketing Liability Issues," presented at International Business Communications Conference for Pharmaceutical Companies in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1993

Experience

Legal Education

Undergraduate Education

Professional Admissions / Qualifications

• California

Professional Affiliations

• Member, Product Liability Advisory Council
• Defense Research Institute (Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Section)
• Board of Governors for the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (1996-1997)
• Chair of the Legislative Referrals Committee of the Litigation Section of the State Bar of California (1993)
• Chair of the Litigation Section Education Committee for the State Bar of California (1992-1993)
• Trial Practice and Moot Court Center at Santa Clara University School of Law (Advisory Board Member 1993-1995)