O’Melveny Named One of 2022’s Product Liability Groups of the Year by Law360
March 3, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOS ANGELES—March 3, 2023—O’Melveny’s Product Liability Practice has been named a 2022 “Practice Group of the Year” by Law360 in its annual awards competition.
The winning practice groups were selected from nearly 900 submissions by law firms across the country. The special report honors the “attorneys who had the biggest wins and made the most significant contributions to their practice groups in the past year.”
Law360 highlighted O’Melveny’s successful defense of Johnson & Johnson against public nuisance claims in landmark opioid cases in California and Oklahoma. In November 2021, Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson rejected claims brought by Los Angeles, Orange, and Santa Clara Counties and the city of Oakland, which sought US$50 billion and alleged that J&J caused an opioid epidemic through misleading marketing and promotion of their medications. Shortly after, in a separate case, the Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed a US$465 million trial court judgment against J&J, finding that the lower court misapplied the state’s public nuisance law.
"That is really what our practice is, it is addressing these novel theories and also battling within some of the more traditional confines of product liability law," said Steve Brody, Co-Chair of O'Melveny's Product Liability and Mass Torts Practice.
“We are thinking about the appellate issues from the start — it is particularly important in areas of novel issues of the law," added Sabrina Strong, Co-Chair of O’Melveny’s Product Liability and Mass Torts Practice.
Law360 also recognized O’Melveny’s representation of Sempra Energy and its SoCalGas subsidiary—the largest natural gas distribution utility in the United States—against claims triggered by an October 2015 gas leak that lasted 111 days. O’Melveny’s lawyers changed the dynamic of the case, highlighting critical legal issues and ultimately negotiating a US$1.8 billion settlement. In addition, the publication noted O’Melveny’s role as lead counsel to rapper Travis Scott, one of dozens of defendants in a series of lawsuits that followed the Astroworld music festival.
About O’Melveny
It’s more than what you do: it’s how you do it. Across sectors and borders, in board rooms and courtrooms, we measure our success by yours. And in our interactions, we commit to making your O’Melveny experience as satisfying as the outcomes we help you achieve. Our greatest accomplishment is ensuring that you never have to choose between premier lawyering and exceptional service. So, tell us. What do you want to achieve? Visit us at www.omm.com; read our Insights 2023 report; hear what our lawyers, business professionals, and clients have to say in the “Our DNA” video series, learn more in our firm at-a-glance; and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Contact:
Brandon Jacobsen
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
+1 213 430 8024
bjacobsen@omm.com
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