Dechert LLP

Product Liability and Mass Torts

Partner

Mara Cusker Gonzalez specializes in representing manufacturers in complex product liability and mass tort cases in federal and state courts. She has extensive experience litigating personal injury, consumer fraud, RICO, and False Claims Act cases filed by individuals, third-party payors, class action lawyers, and attorneys general. Her expertise includes counseling pharmaceutical manufacturers in national litigations involving the marketing and labeling of FDA-approved medicines, and she has in-depth knowledge of federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) practice and state court coordinated proceedings. Ms. Cusker Gonzalez has managed hundreds to thousands of cases involving statins, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, pain medications, and chemotherapy. She has also represented major chemical manufacturers and home builders in cases alleging environmental exposure.

Ms. Cusker Gonzalez regularly leads the briefing of complex dispositive motions and appeals. She has won motions to dismiss False Claims Act and consumer fraud class actions and motions to exclude experts and for summary judgment in federal and state courts. Her appellate work includes obtaining a decision affirming summary judgment orders that shut down an entire MDL involving more than 3,000 cases in In re Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium) Marketing, Sales Practices & Products Liability Litigation (No II) MDL 2502, 892 F.3d 624 (4th Cir. 2018).

Ms. Cusker Gonzalez has been recognized for her work on pro bono immigration, employment and housing cases, and for her dedication in training and mentoring junior lawyers.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.S., 1998, Phi Beta Kappa New York University, M.U.P., 2001 Columbia Law School, J.D., 2005, Stone Scholar, Managing Editor of Columbia Journal of Transnational Law