Why Choose Douglas & London

As a result of these extraordinary efforts, Douglas & London has achieved unparalleled results in both individual cases and complex litigations. Some of our proudest accomplishments include:

Unmatched Court-Appointed 
Leadership and Peer Respect

In prosecuting these cases, firm co-founding partners, Gary J. Douglas and Michael A. London, have served in leadership roles as well as trial counsel in some of the largest national multidistrict litigations in recent years.

• Vice-Chair of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee – In re: Zyprexa Products Liability Litigation, MDL-1596, before the Honorable Jack B. Weinstein in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (status: resolved, $700 million settlement of approximately 8,000 claims);        
• Co-Lead Counsel of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee – In re: Yasmin and Yaz (Drospirenone) Marketing Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL-2100, before the Honorable David R. Herndon in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (status: over 99.9% of the over 17,000 claims resolved through individual and mass semi-confidential settlements of claims in federal and state courts with the defendants paying over $2 billion);
• Co-Lead Counsel and Liaison Counsel for Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee – In re: Bayer Corp. Combination Aspirin Products Marketing and Sales Practice Litigation, MDL-2023, before the Honorable Brian M. Cogan in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (status: resolved, $15 million class settlement);
• Co-Lead Counsel of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee – In re: Pradaxa (Dabigatran Etexilate) Products Liability Litigation, MDL-2385, before the Honorable David R. Herndon in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (status: resolved, $650 million settlement of approximately 4,000 claims);
• Liaison Counsel and Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee Member – In re: Ortho Evra Products Liability Litigation, MDL-1742, before the late Honorable David S. Katz in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (status: resolved, individual confidential settlements of approximately 3,000 claims in federal and state courts);
• Co-Liaison Counsel for all Plaintiffs – In re: Levaquin Litigation, centralized and consolidated litigation before the late Honorable Carol E. Higbee in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Atlantic County (status: resolved, individual confidential settlements of hundreds of claims in federal and state courts); and
• Co-Lead Counsel of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee – In re: E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company C-8 Personal Injury Litigation, MDL-2433, before the Honorable Edmund A. Sargus, Jr., pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (status: resolved, $671 million settlement of approximately 3600 claims).
• Co-Lead Counsel of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee – In re: Invokana (Canagliflozin) Products Liability Litigation, MDL-2750, before the Honorable Brian Martinotti in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, (status: resolutions spending via individual confidential settlements of approximately 2000 claims).

Notably, in the eight national mass tort litigations for which Mr. London served as co-lead counsel or as liaison counsel, settlements were accomplished in the span of, a highly efficient, 18 to 37 months from when MDL centralization occurred until announcement of settlement parameters, and as noted, this range includes trials being conducted and settlements days before trial.

Mr. London has also represented hundreds of women exposed, in utero, to the drug Diethylstilbestrol (“DES”). He and the firm also have represented and continues to represent children and families who were victims of the medical device/procedure Chorionic Villi Sampling, as well as other toxic and mass torts for which formal Plaintiffs’ Steering Committees were not established.

Moreover, Mr. Douglas and the firm have been asked to serve as lead trial counsel in other significant mass tort cases that settled before trial. Mr. Douglas and the firm were co-lead trial counsel in one of the first Ortho Evra birth control cases set for trial; Mr. Douglas and the firm being co-lead trial counsel in the first Yaz/Yasmin case set for trial in January 2012 as part of MDL-2100, which was stayed for global settlement discussions 11 days before trial and; Mr. Douglas and the firm designated as lead trial counsel in the first Pradaxa case in MDL-2385, which was stayed due to a global settlement.

Mr. Douglas’s impressive record of trial success has earned him national acclaim and recognition. Mr. Douglas is a past recipient of the Clarence Darrow Award, an honor bestowed upon those lawyers who best embody the attributes and skills of the legendary trial attorney and champion of the underdog, Clarence Darrow. Most recently, in April 2018, Mr. Douglas became one of the youngest lawyers ever inducted in the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an organization that recognizes only those trial lawyers who have established themselves as true champions and crusaders for American justice. 

In addition to the firm’s founding partners, Douglas & London partner Stephanie O’Connor likewise has served and currently serves both as a member of several trial teams and/or in leadership positions in multiple complex nationwide litigations. Ms. O’Connor’s appointments include Co-Lead Counsel of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, before the Honorable Claire Cecchi in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, (status: litigation is approximately one year into its MDL); Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, and Science Chairperson – In re: Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation, MDL-2299, before the Honorable Rebecca F. Doherty in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (status: resolved, $9 billion verdict against the defendants and a $2.4 billion settlement on behalf of over 9,000 plaintiffs.); Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee – In re: Zoloft (Sertraline Hydrochloride) Products Liability Litigation, MDL-2342, before the Honorable Cynthia M. Rufe in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (status: pending); Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee – In re: Power Morcellator Products Liability Litigation, MDL-2652, before the Honorable Kathryn H. Vratil in the United States District Court of Kansas (status: resolved, confidential settlements); Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee – In re: Silicone Gel Breast Implant Prods. Liab. Litig, NY State Consolidated Action with concomitant routine appearances in MDL-926 (status: resolved).

On the trial side, in 2017, Ms. O’Connor served on the trial team that secured a $140 million verdict against AbbVie, Inc., in the Testosterone Replacement Therapy litigation case (Konrad v. AbbVie, Inc.). Ms. O’Connor and the entire trial team were nominated as one of eight trial teams of the year by the National Trial Lawyers Association. This followed Ms. O’Connor’s incredible contribution to the first bellwether trial in the Actos litigation that resulted in a $9 billion verdict against Takeda in 2014 (Allen v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Inc.).

In the environmental context, in particular, as noted above, Gary Douglas successfully represented plaintiffs at trials against chemical giant DuPont involving water contamination by the toxic chemical C-8, resulting in verdicts of $1.6 million, $5.6 million and $12.5 million. Mr. London, who, as noted above, was also court appointed co-lead counsel in the C-8 cases, served as the primary negotiator in achieving a global $671 million settlement for all of those cases. All three were nominated as a trial team of the year in 2017, along with Ms. O’Connor’s work. This marks the first time that one law firm had multiple nominations for different members on different trials in the same year.

Douglas & London is a National Firm

Although the law firm of Douglas & London is headquartered in New York, we represent clients from all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

Not only does Douglas & London have clients from all across the country but receive referrals from law firms from the states listed below.

Douglas & London is also proud of our standing in the legal community. We work closely with law firms across the country including firms based in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Washington DC.

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