HarrisMartin's MDL Conference: The Significance of Proposed Rule Changes in MDL Procedures & Valsartan Speaker Profiles

Neil D. Overholtz specializes in pharmaceutical litigation, and has successfully handled thousands of defective drug and medical device cases, including fen-phen, Rezulin, Baycol, Bextra/Celebrex, Vioxx, Medtronic Defibrillators, and Guidant Defibrillators.

Recently, Mr. Overholtz has the distinction of having been appointed as national counsel on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committees for several federal products liability MDL’s (Mullti-District litigations), including the Trasylol MDL pending in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, before the Honorable Judge Middlebrooks, the Viagra MDL in the District Court in Minnesota, before the Honorable Judge Magnuson, as well as the Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Lead Wire MDL before United States District Court Judge Richard Kyle. Additionally, Mr. Overholtz has served as co-lead counsel in the In Re America Online, Inc Version 5.0 Software Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1341 (S.D. Fla), helping to negotiate a cash settlement for affected AOL members in excess of $15 Million as well as significant injunctive relief.

Mr. Overholtz has also recently served as co-chair of the Defective Medtronic Pacemakers and Defibrillators MDL discovery committee, and lead the firm’s efforts in national litigation, which resulted in a settlement of over $100 Million dollars. United States District Judge James Rosenbaum appointed Mr. Overholtz, to serve 25 of the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee Fee Committee. Mr. Overholtz also served a key role on the Guidant Defibrillators and Pacemakers MDL, which resulted in a settlement of over $200 Million dollars.

Robin Taylor Symons is the co-managing partner of the Miami and Tampa offices and a member of the Labor and Employment, Insurance, and Commercial Litigation practice groups. Ms. Symons’ litigation and counseling practice focuses on sexual misconduct and employment practices liability, directors and officers liability, and complex insurance coverage litigation across all lines of insurance. Ms. Symons provides legal counsel and advice to small and mid-size employers, and has served as counsel to the local state court. She has tried numerous employment and insurance coverage cases, and serves as monitoring counsel/coverage counsel for insurers nationwide.

Ms. Symons’ labor and employment law expertise is also provided to businesses and specialty business groups across the U.S. through a computer-based national hotline service known as Enquiron®.

Ms. Symons also has considerable experience handling arbitrations, commercial litigation and professional liability claims, and has defended numerous complex class actions including FCRA and FDCPA; TCPA; PIP; and MSPA.

Stephanie O’Connor is a graduate of the Fordham University School of Law in New York City from which she obtained her juris doctor degree in 1988. She is licensed to practice in both New York and New Jersey. Prior to entering law school, Ms. O’Connor received her diploma from the Beth Israel School of Nursing in lower Manhattan followed by her Registered Nurse license in November 1976. Thereafter, she worked for several years as a medical-surgical nurse in the Intensive Care “step-down” Unit at the Beth Israel Medical Center, followed by several years in public health nursing while at Visiting Nurse Service of New York. In 1984, Ms. O’Connor obtained her Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (B.S.N.) cum laude, from the Hunter College of the City of New York in collaboration with its affiliate institution, The Brookdale School of Health Sciences.

Ms. O’Connor is currently involved in representing individuals who have been diagnosed with bladder cancer, heart failure and other serious and permanent injuries as a result of the diabetes drug Actos. Recently, U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca F. Doherty appointed Ms. O’Connor to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for the proceeding styled as In Re: Actos (Pioglitazone) Product Liability Ligation (MDL-2299), pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Judge Doherty further appointed Ms. O’Connor as Science Coordinator in charge of coordinating, overseeing and managing experts on behalf of plaintiffs in the MDL.