Ms Sandra Edwards > Winston & Strawn LLP > San Francisco, United States > Lawyer Profile

Drawing upon the expertise of lawyers across the US with significant product liability expertise and also leveraging the firm’s overarching litigation pedigree, Winston & Strawn LLP is well-positioned to defend leading manufacturers and brands against high-profile consumer class action and product liability claims in the tobacco, oil and gas, and food and beverage sectors. Vastly experienced Chicago-based duo George Lombardi and Dan Webb are recognized for their versatility, with Lombardi having a particularly strong track record across product liability matters. In Miami, David Coulson has a formidable reputation for defending clients against consumer class actions, including claims in the food and beverages space. In Chicago, the ‘excellent’ Christopher Essig is noted for his ‘collegiate approach’ and is increasingly involved in cases brought against major consumer product companies. San Francisco-based Sandra Edwards chairs the product liability practice, which also includes Washington DC-based John Rosenthal, who is ‘one of the foremost thought leaders in e-discovery’, and Stephanie Clouston, who joined the firm’s Dallas office in June 2023 from Alston & Bird LLP; she is noted for her broad litigation practice.

Leveraging ‘a strong overarching litigation brand’ – which includes a number of well-regarded trial lawyers based in the Midwest and on both coasts – as well as a deep knowledge of the underlying science/medicine, Winston & Strawn LLP ‘excels at handling large cases and MDLs’ involving product liability and consumer fraud allegations against pharmaceutical/medical devices companies. As well as regularly acting as lead trial counsel on high-profile matters, the team is also adept at leading the overarching litigation strategy, often acting as national counsel helping to work up the case, dealing with expert witnesses and providing expertise at a motions stage. Christopher Essig is noted for his ‘very collegiate’ approach, ensuring that he is a popular choice on large-scale MDLs often involving multiple defendants. Alongside ‘outstanding’ trial lawyer Scott Ahmad, Essig is lead national counsel for Hikma Pharmaceuticals in all of its opioid-related litigation. San Francisco-based team head Sandra Edwards  is also a very accomplished trial lawyer whose oeuvre of work has included a number of high-profile MDL successes for pharmaceutical companies over the years.

With in-depth procedural and substantive law expertise, as well as drawing upon vast scientific knowledge, Winston & Strawn LLP is regularly active in high-profile toxic tort class actions/MDLs in federal and state courts throughout the country. Many of these are in the role of lead trial counsel, where the firm is able to call upon the skill of a vast reservoir of highly acclaimed first-chair trial lawyers among its ranks, including many who are adept at handling complex toxic tort cases. For example, both San Francisco-based team head Sandra Edwards and the vastly experienced George Lombardi in Chicago, continue to handle many of the key trials for Monsanto as defendant in the long-running Roundup litigation. Lombardi is also involved in relation to PFAS litigation, particularly where trials are set. At a more junior level, Chicago-based Bryce Cooper is also key to the firm’s success in many of the highest-profile toxic tort MDLs and has a core involvement in the aforementioned Monsanto matter, as well as for Abbott Laboratories in relation to the infant milk mass tort litigation. The arrival in February 2023 of both Eric Knapp and Troy Yoshino from Squire Patton Boggs enhances the firm’s growing status in the Bay Area, with both regularly involved in toxic tort/environmental class action litigation in the immediate geographical area and beyond.