Our people

Lisa is a member of the Life Sciences Health Industry Group, practicing in the area of product liability litigation.  Lisa has extensive experience defending corporate clients both in the trial courts, where she began her practice, and in the appellate courts. Her practice focuses on appeals, writs, post-trial motions, and law and motion in the trial courts on a full range of issues that recur in product liability litigation (including preemption, statute of limitations, the learned intermediary doctrine, Daubert issues, and general and specific causation), as well as other types of complex litigation (class issues, unfair competition, consumer fraud claims, and punitive damages).

Lisa is the editor of Reed Smith's Life Sciences Legal Update, the firm's weblog covering trends and developments in life sciences and health care law.  She is also a frequent contributor of articles on preemption, appellate practice, tort law, unfair competition/consumer fraud, and other topics.

Representative Matters

• Blunt v. Medtronic, Inc., 760 N.W.2d 396 (Wis. 2009); 738 N.W.2d 143 (Wis. App. 2007) (medical device preemption)

• Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc., 451 F.3d 104 (2d Cir. 2006) (medical device preemption)

• McMullen v. Medtronic, Inc., 421 F.3d 482 (7th Cir. 2005) (medical device preemption)

• Baker v. St. Jude Medical, S.C., Inc., 178 S.W.3d 127 (Tex. App. 2005), rev. denied (Tex. 2006), cert. denied (S. Ct. 2008) (medical device preemption)

• Smith v. American Home Products Corp., 2004 WL 765946 (Cal. App. Apr. 12, 2004) (pharmaceutical statute of limitations)

• View all...

Publications

• Editor, Life Sciences Legal Update at www.lifescienceslegalupdate.com
• Book Chapter, "Special Considerations in Cases Involving Prescription Drugs or Medical Devices, Product Liability Winning Strategies and Techniques, National Law Journal Press (Updates)
• "Texas Looks Again at Preemption of Tort Lawsuits," Product Liability Law360 and Health Law360 (May 2008)
• "Bi-Annual Update Regarding Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Federal Preemption: Breaking Developments from the Supreme Court and More," Reed Smith's Product Liability Update, Vol. 3, No. 9, October 2007
• “Using Public Relations Firms in Litigation to Protect the Company," Reed Smith’s Product Liability Update, Vol. 3, No. 7, August 2007
• "Bi-Annual Update Regarding Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Federal Preemption," Reed Smith's Product Liability Update, Vol. 3, No. 3, March 2007
• "Bi-Annual Update Regarding Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Federal Preemption," Reed Smith's Product Liability Update, Vol. 2, No. 9, September 2006
• "Appeals Court Ruling Embraces 'PMA' Device Preemption," Counsel's Advisory, Washington Legal Foundation, July 21, 2006
• "California Supreme Court Issues Proposition 64 Opinions on July 24, 2006 Upholding Application of New Standing Requirements for Section 17200 Claims Pending on the Date the Initiative was Passed," Reed Smith Client Bulletin 2006-16, July 24, 2006
• "Bi-Annual Update Regarding Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Federal Preemption," Reed Smith's Product Liability Update, Vol. II, No. 3, March 2006
• "Remember the Clerks," For the Defense: Writers Corner, DRI, November 2005
• "Bi-Annual Update Regarding Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Federal Preemption", Reed Smith's Product Liability Update, Vol. I, No. 1, September 2005
• “A Fair Proposition,” Legal Week, Aug. 25, 2005
• "U.S. Supreme Court Allows Supplemental Jurisdiction Over Claims When Amount in Controversy Not Satisfied," Reed Smith Client Bulletin 2005-13, June 27, 2005
• "California Supreme Court Interprets and Applies Federal Due Process Limitations on Punitive Damages," Reed Smith Client Bulletin 2005-12, June 24, 2005
• "'Quest' Becomes 'Appellate Procedural Case From Hell,'" Daily Journal, Jan. 5, 2005
• “Unique California Laws Imperil Speech On 'Off-Label' Use of Drugs," Legal Backgrounder, Vol. 19, No. 12, Washington Legal Foundation, May 14, 2004
• “California’s Unfair Competition Law: A Statute in Dire Need of Reform” Los Angeles Business Journal, Nov. 3, 2003
• "Shocking State Jury Award Highlights Deep Flaws In Civil Justice System," Legal Opinion Letter, Washington Legal Foundation, April 25, 2003
• "Drug and Medical-Device Cases Raise Questions of Pre-emption," Daily Journal, Sept. 6, 2002
• "Good Sport: Tort Liability Depends on the Nature of the Game," Daily Journal, Feb. 4, 2002
• "California Threatens to Restrict Summary Judgments," Legal Backgrounder, Washington Legal Foundation, Aug. 23, 2001
• “Supreme Court's Two Fraud-On-The-FDA Cases Have Dramatically Different Reasoning,” Daily Journal, April 2, 2001

Speeches / Presentations

• "Current Trends in Drug and Medical Device Preemption Law," Presentation at National Forum on Drug and Medical Device Litigation in New York, November 10, 2006
• "Understanding Medical Devices and Express Preemption," Pepperdine University School of Law Symposium on Federal Preemption of State Tort Law: The Problem of Medical Drugs and Devices, April 9, 2005
• "Has The Monster Been Tamed? Proposition 64's Effect On §17200 Law," Presentation at Omni Hotel Los Angeles, January 25, 2005

Experience

Legal Education

Undergraduate Education

Professional Admissions / Qualifications

• Florida
• California

Court Admissions

• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals - Eighth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals - Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals - Seventh Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals - Sixth Circuit
• U.S. District Court - Central District of California
• U.S. District Court - Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court - Middle District of Florida
• U.S. Court of Appeals - Fourth Circuit
• U.S. District Court - Eastern District of California

Professional Affiliations

• Program Chair for DRI's March 2011 Appellate Advocacy Conference
• DRI's Appellate Advocacy and Drug and Medical Device Committees
• Los Angeles County Bar's Committee on Appellate Courts
• 2002-2003 Chair of the California Bar's Committee on Women in the Law

Awards, Honors & Recognitions

• Named a 2010 Super Lawyer for product liability and appellate practice