HarrisMartin's MDL Conference Speaker Profiles

D. Todd Mathews graduated from Nova Southeastern University School of Law in 1996. He is licensed to practice law in Missouri, Illinois, Florida and Washington, D.C. He is admitted to U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, U.S. District Court Central District of Illinois, U.S. District Court Western District of Missouri, U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida, U.S. District Court Eastern District of Missouri, U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois, U.S. District Court of Washington D.C., U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit.

Mr. Mathews is a member of National Trial Lawyers Association, Madison County Bar Association, Missouri Bar Association Solo and Small Firm Committee, Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, Member, American Association for Justice, American Association for Justice Leaders Forum, National Asbestos Mesothelioma Trial Lawyers, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, American Bar Association, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.

Mr. Mathews currently serves on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committees for the Atrium Hernia Mesh Litigation MDL (NH), and the Smith and Nephew Hips MDL (MD). He serves on the Leadership Committees of the Bard Hernia Mesh Coordinated Cases (RI State Court), Draft Kings/Fan Dual MDL (MA), Talcum Powder Ovarian Cancer MDL (NJ), Mirena PTC MDL (NY) and Taxotere MDL (LA). Mr. Mathews has served on numerous other Leadership Committees in the past including, Actos Coordinated Cases (IL State Court), Eliquis (MDL (NY) and as lead counsel on the Granuflo Litigation in St. Louis City.

In 2010, Aimee became a founding partner of Andrus Wagstaff. Since that time, she has dedicated the entirety of her professional life fighting against pharmaceutical and medical device companies who harm her clients by continually putting profits before safety. The vast majority of Aimee’s litigation is done through national mass tort consolidations, usually multidistrict litigations (MDLs) or Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings (JCCPs). In that regard, Aimee has been appointed by federal and state court Judges across the country to co-lead four national litigations by the age of 40, such litigations representing tens of thousands of injured claimants.

In 2016, the Honorable Vince Chhabria appointed Aimee to serve as national Co-Lead counsel of MDL 2741- In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation, situated in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. In that MDL, Plaintiffs allege that exposure to Monsanto’s billion dollar weed killer, Roundup, causes cancer. Because Roundup is sprayed on (an estimated) 80 percent of the food we eat, the case has generated considerable media attention. Here are a few of the articles: “EPA Official Accused of Helping Monsanto ‘Kill’ Cancer Study”, “Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents”, “Monsanto Ghostwrote Cancer Studies of Its Own Weed Killer, Plaintiffs in Lawsuit Say.”

In 2015, Aimee made MDL history when the Honorable Judge Kathryn H. Vratil appointed her to serve as Co-Lead counsel of the first ever majority women MDL plantiffs’ steering committee (PSC) – MDL 2652: In Re: Ethicon, Inc., Power Morcellator Products Liability Litigation, situated in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. The morcellator litigation involves women and their families all over the United States who have been diagnosed with devastating and permanent injuries, including leiomyosacroma (“LMS,” a deadly form of cancer), following the use of Ethicon’s power morcellator during a fibroid removal or hysterectomy surgery. That MDL was also historic for its pace of resolution, within a year.

A partner based in our Nashville office, Kenneth S. Byrd is an experienced trial attorney at Lieff Cabraser, obtaining several large jury trial verdicts against Big Tobacco over the past several years. He received the Tennessee Association for Justice’s 2015 Paladin Award for his successful litigation against cigarette manufacturers R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Philip Morris USA Inc., and Lorillard Tobacco Company in Florida federal courts. The Paladin Award is TAJ’s highest honor and is given to the state’s top trial lawyer of the year.

Kenny represents clients in mass tort cases, defective product cases and consumer fraud litigation. He represents consumers in consumer class action cases as well as injured individuals and their loved ones in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits filed in across the country. Kenny is also a member of Lieff Cabraser’s False Claim Act/Fraud on the Government practice group, assisting whistleblowers to stop fraud and the misuse of funds in government contracts and programs.

Over the past several years, Kenny has represented the families of deceased smokers in trials in Florida federal court against the tobacco companies for their 50-year conspiracy of misrepresenting the dangers of smoking cigarettes and for intentionally engineering the design of cigarettes to make them more addictive. In 2013 and 2014, Kenny was the lead trial attorney in obtaining several substantial jury verdicts for smokers and their families, including a $27 million jury verdict and a $41 million jury verdict. His verdicts paved the way to a $100 million global settlement with Big Tobacco on behalf of hundreds of gravely injured smokers in Florida.

Jennifer A. Moore recently tried the first case in federal court involving the weedkiller, Roundup, proving that it caused her client’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma resulting in an $80 million verdict against Monsanto. For over 20 years, Ms. Moore has fought to secure justice for her clients and held numerous wrongdoers accountable resulting in multi-million dollar trial verdicts and settlements.

She is the founder of her own law firm, Moore Law Group, PLLC, based in Louisville, Kentucky and represents individuals and families all over the country who have been injured as a result of harmful products, drugs, and medical devices, medical negligence, nursing home neglect and abuse, and automobile and truck wrecks.

In 2016, a Kentucky jury returned a verdict of $4,583,472.39 in favor of the young girl Ms. Moore represented against an insurance company who denied her catastrophic claim. She also served as co-lead trial counsel in a Kentucky case that resulted in a $3.2 million jury verdict for the estate of a man who died in a vehicle fire.