Kat Gallagher Receives 2016 Women In Law Award

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KAT GALLAGHER RECEIVES 2016 WOMEN IN LAW AWARD

March 23, 2016 – Beck Redden LLP is pleased to announce that partner Kat Gallagher has been selected by Lawyer Monthly magazine as a recipient of the 2016 Women in Law Award in recognition of her outstanding legal expertise and contribution within the area of litigation. The award recognizes and honors the achievements of women that have challenged, influenced or changed the practice of law over the last 12 months across the globe.

With more than 25 years practicing law, Kat Gallagher has distinguished herself as an elite trial lawyer with outstanding instincts for how to best tell her client’s story in the most persuasive and compelling manner. When some of the largest companies in the world, including Philip Morris USA, an Altria Company, need trial counsel they can rely on in high stakes litigation, they call Kat to represent them, regardless of the jurisdiction. Consistently recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America (2006‐2016), Kat has earned the respect of her peers and adversaries alike. For example, she is a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, a preeminent association of trial lawyers limited to the top one percent of lawyers in any given jurisdiction. In addition, she is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL) – membership in the Academy is limited to only 500 Fellows in the U.S. Kat is also an Associate in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).
Notable, recent wins for Kat include the following:

• With Kat at the helm, in the United States’ first Prosima pelvic mesh trial (Cavness v. Kowalczyk et al.), after deliberating for nearly seven hours following a two week trial, a Texas state court jury found no liability on the part of her clients, Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Ethicon, Inc. The 10‐2 verdict on October 5, 2015, rejected claims that the device was defectively designed and that the company did not adequately warn consumers of the potential risks. The plaintiff asked jurors to award $9.56 million in actual damages and a substantial punitive damages award. The jury determined that the plaintiff’s injuries were not the result of the Prosima, but instead were caused by a pelvic disorder that was triggered by the same on‐the‐job injury that initially led her to seek surgery for pelvic organ prolapse.
• On January 28, 2016 in the matter Doris Ewing, Personal Representative of the Estate of James R. Ewing v. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company; Philip Morris, USA, Inc., et al., (in the Circuit Court, First Judicial Circuit, in and For Escambia County, Florida), a jury in Florida found no liability on the part of Kat’s client, Philip Morris, of claims brought by a widow in an Engle progeny suit. The plaintiff sought wrongful death damages in the amount of $10 million and asserted an alternative survivor claim. The plaintiff also sought punitive damages. Although the jury found the decedent was a member of the Engle class, the jury determined Philip Morris was not a legal cause of his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

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