HarrisMartin's Pharmaceutical Antitrust Litigation Conference Speaker Profiles



Co-Chair Dianne M. Nast, NastLaw LLC, Philadelphia Show/Hide Bio

Co-Chair Dianne M. Nast

Dianne M. Nast is a magna cum laude graduate of Rutgers University School of Law. She is the founder and senior member of NastLaw LLC in Philadelphia. For almost 20 years, she was a senior shareholder with the Philadelphia law firm of Kohn, Nast & Graf, P.C. (now Kohn, Swift & Graf, P.C.), and then a senior shareholder at RodaNast, P.C. from 1995 to 2012. Ms. Nast, an active member of the bar for over four decades, has extensive experience in complex litigation. She has a reputation for working cooperatively with co-counsel and facilitating resolution of disagreement.

Led by Dianne M. Nast, who has extensive experience in consumer litigation, NastLaw LLC is a nationally recognized law firm with a long track record of success in complex litigations.

Ms. Nast holds an AV Martindale-Hubbell rating. She has been selected to be listed in each edition of The Best Lawyers in America (Antitrust Law, Mass Tort Litigation, Class Actions, Personal Injury Lawyer) since 2003. The National Law Journal has selected Ms. Nast as one of the nation’s top fifty women litigators. Ms. Nast has also been repeatedly selected by Philadelphia Magazine as one of Philadelphia’s Best Complex Litigation Lawyers. She has been named as one of Pennsylvania’s Top Fifty Women Lawyers. She has been named a Super Lawyer every year since 2002. She appears in numerous Who’s Who publications. Ms. Nast is listed in Chambers US.

In April, 2015, the American Bar Association Tort and Trial Practice Section awarded Ms. Nast its Pursuit of Justice Award. In June 2016, Ms. Nast was selected by The Legal Intelligencer, Pennsylvania’s leading legal newspaper, to receive its Life Time Achievement Award. In 2017, The Legal named Ms. Nast a recipient of its Professional Excellence Award.

Ms. Nast served as a Director of the Federal Judicial Center Foundation for eleven years. In 1998, then Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist named Ms. Nast Chair of the Board of Directors of the Foundation.

Co-Chair Thomas M. Sobol, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Boston Show/Hide Bio

Co-Chair Thomas M. Sobol

• Partner & Executive Committee Member, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro
• Leads Hagens Berman’s Boston office
• Leader in drug pricing litigation efforts against numerous pharmaceutical and medical device companies
• Lead negotiator in court-approved settlements totaling more than $2 billion
• Currently court-appointed lead counsel for In re Skelaxin Antitrust Litigation, In re Nexium Antitrust Litigation, In re Lipitor Antitrust Litigation, In re Effexor Antitrust Litigation and In re Wellbutrin XL Antitrust Litigation
• Appointed lead counsel in MDL No. 2419: In re New England Compounding Pharmacy Inc. Products Liability, representing more than 700 victims who contracted fungal meningitis or other serious health problems as a result of receiving contaminated products produced by NECC, resulting in a $200 million settlement
• Lead counsel to the Prescription Access Litigation (PAL) project, the largest coalition of health care advocacy groups that fight illegal, loophole-based overpricing by pharmaceutical companies

Co-Chair Lauren Guth Barnes, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Boston Show/Hide Bio

Co-Chair Lauren Guth Barnes

• Partner, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
• Practice focuses on antitrust, consumer protection and RICO litigation against drug and medical device manufacturers in complex class actions and personal injury cases for consumers, large and small health plans, direct purchasers and state governments
• Secured $72.5 million class settlement for direct purchaser three days before trial in MDL 2503: In re Solodyn Anitrust Litigation
• Helped reach a $73 million class settlement for direct purchasers in MDL No. 2343: In re. Skelaxin Antitrust Litigation
• Co-lead class counsel for direct purchasers in In re Intuniv Antitrust Litigation, In re Niaspan Antitrust Litigation, In re Solodyn Antitrust Litigation and In re Asacol Antitrust Litigation
• Liaison counsel for In re Fresenius Granuflo/Naturalyte Dialysate Products Liability Litigation
• Represented the state of Connecticut and helped secure a $25M settlement in its' action against Eli Lilly over unlawful promotion of and mistrepresentation about Zyprexa
• Represented health benefit providers in the firm's Ketek and copay subsidies class litigation, and individuals harmed by pharmaceuticals such as Yaz, Actos and Granuflo and medical devices including pelvic mesh
• Pro bono counsel in a successful constitutional challenge to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ exclusion of legal immigrants from the state’s universal healthcare program