In the product liability field, some firms operate at a level of 30,000 feet and oversee the legal strategy for an entire litigation. Other firms put boots on the ground as they engage in courtroom combat in individual trials. King & Spalding prides itself on being able to do both. The firm’s product liability group has demonstrated an ability to serve as national coordinating counsel and trial counsel on a wide range of pharmaceutical, tobacco, automotive, and toxic torts matters.
Boasting 15 first-chair trial lawyers, the group has plenty of talent to call on to handle all aspects of litigation. Case in point: Partner Chilton Varner and group leader Andrew Bayman are serving as national coordinating counsel for GlaxoSmithKline plc in its Paxil litigation. (Plaintiffs have claimed that the antidepressant causes suicidal tendencies.) Varner seamlessly switched gears in October 2009 and November 2010, trying the only two cases to go forward—in Philadelphia, no less, one of the most plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions in the country. Varner won a dismissal from the court during trial in one case and limited damages to only $2.5 million (with no punitives) in the other.
