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.
Key clients
- Monsanto Company (now Bayer AG)
- Motorola Mobility LLC
- Unilever
- Deer Park Refining Limited Partnership
Work highlights
- Representing Monsanto Company as trial counsel for the Roundup® product liability matters, including the first US jury trial defending against allegations that the herbicide causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
- Representing Motorola Mobility in long-running cases challenging the safety of cellular phones.
- Representing Deer Park Refining LP, an affiliate of existing client PMI Services North America, Inc., in connection with the defense of a personal injury lawsuit brought by an individual named in relation to an alleged environmental release of chemicals from a refining facility.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Sandra Edwards