Ellen K. Reisman 

Partner

Ellen.Reisman@rgtlegal.com

(202) 695-7712

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Ms. Reisman is nationally recognized for her skill in achieving innovative resolutions of complex mass tort litigation through class action, aggregate, inventory, and individual settlements. She joined in founding Reisman Greene Theis LLP (formerly Reisman Karron Greene LLP) in 2015 after nearly 30 years at an AmLaw 100 international law firm and two years as a senior lawyer at a major pharmaceutical company. Her extensive experience in successfully developing and implementing comprehensive, integrated settlement strategies includes: 

 

• Serving as a court-appointed Special Master in several federal multi-district litigations (and related state court litigation) to assist in the resolution of nationwide product liability and economic loss mass tort claims, the allocation of settlement funds, and the allocation of common benefit fees;

• Serving as a mediator for individual lawsuits and groups of related cases;

• Representing pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers and other companies in negotiating settlements of thousands of product liability and personal injury claims in some of the largest mass tort litigations;

• Counseling pharmaceutical and medical device companies and investors on potential product liability risks and mitigation strategies.

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NOTABLE MATTERS

 

Special Master and Mediator in Mass Torts

 

• Ms. Reisman was appointed by U.S. District Judge John W. Lungstrum (D. Kan.), U.S. District Judge David R. Herndon (S.D. Ill.), Judge Thomas M. Sipkins (District Court for Hennepin County, Fourth Judicial District, State of Minnesota), and Judge Brad K. Bleyer (Illinois First Judicial Circuit Court) to facilitate settlement negotiations of class action and individual claims in two federal courts and several state courts by thousands of corn farmers and other plaintiffs alleging economic loss arising from Syngenta’s sales of corn seed containing genetically modified traits approved in the United States, but not in China. Her efforts resulted in a global nationwide $1.51 billion class action settlement of claims asserted by farmers, grain handling facilities, and ethanol producers, which resolved the claims pending in the Kansas and Illinois federal courts and in multiple state courts. Ms. Reisman was also appointed by Judge Lungstrum to allocate common benefit attorneys’ fees and expenses in connection with the class action settlement. Her Reports and Recommendations as to fees and expenses were substantially adopted by the federal court supervising the settlement and by the 10th Circuit on appeal.  In re Syngenta AG MIR 162 Corn Litig., 61 Fed. 4th 1126 (10th Cir. 2023). She continues to serve as Special Master in connection with all aspects of the implementation of the settlement, including appeals of claim determinations in that settlement.

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• Special Master for Settlement in In re C.R. Bard Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, No. 2:10-md-2187 (S.D. W. Va.), appointed by Judge Joseph R. Goodwin to facilitate settlement discussions between plaintiffs' counsel and Bard in litigation involving Bard's pelvic mesh products. 

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• Common Benefit Special Master, in In re Abilify (Aripiprazole) Products Liability Litigation, No 3:16-md-2734 (N.D. Fla.), appointed by Judge M. Casey Rogers to monitor common benefit hours and expenses submitted by plaintiffs' counsel and to make a Report & Recommendation to the Court as to allocation of common benefit funds to those law firms seeking fee and expense awards.  Ms. Reisman was able to obtain the agreement of all law firms seeking such awards as to how the funds should be allocated, which allocation is set forth in a Report & Recommendation submitted to and adopted by the Court.

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• Special Master, in In re: Proton-Pump Inhibitor Products Liability Litigation, No. 2:17-md-2789 (D.N.J.), appointed by Judge Claire C. Cecchi.  Ms. Reisman's duties included:  mediating settlement discussions between plaintiffs' counsel and numerous defendants; issuing Wave Orders and supervising pre-trial discovery; providing Reports & Recommendations to the Court on pre-trial motions, including preemption, Daubert, motions in limine, and motions to dismiss; and assisting the Court in all aspects of litigation management, including docket clean-up and dispute resolution.

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• Special Master for Settlement, in In re: Ethicon Physiomesh Flexible Composite Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation, No. 1:17-md-2782 (N.D.Ga.), appointed by Judge Richard W. Story to assist in the implementation of a global settlement reached by the parties in the litigation involving Ethicon's Physiomesh hernia mesh.  Her duties included development of a framework to identify qualifying conditions and treatments and the value that should be assigned to each; determining the presence or absence of such conditions and treatments in claims submitted in the global settlement; and setting aside a portion of the settlement funds for an Extraordinary Injury Fund (EIF) and allocating that EIF among claimants as appropriate.

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• Special Master for both Settlement and Common Benefit, in In re: Atrium Medical Corp. C-Qur Mesh Products Liability Litigation, No. 1:16-md-2753 (D.N.H), appointed by Chief Judge Landya B. McCafferty. Ms. Reisman's duties as Settlement Special Master included developing an allocation methodology for the global settlement of claims involving Atrium’s C-Qur hernia mesh product, determining claimant allocations and EIF awards, and hearing appeals regarding those awards.  As Common Benefit Special Master, Ms. Reisman undertook a review of the common benefit work done by firms claiming common benefit fees and expenses and submitted Reports & Recommendations to the Court with her recommendations for allocations of fees and expenses to those firms.  All affected firms agreed with her recommendations, and those recommendations were adopted by the Court.

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• Selected as mediator by Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers in In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, No. 4:22-md-03047 (N.D. Ca.).

 

National Mass Tort Settlement Counsel

 

• National Settlement Counsel for Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and American Medical Systems, Inc. and successors in connection with litigation involving AMS Pelvic Repair System Products, resulting in the settlement of over 70,000 claims;

• Represented BP in negotiating the Deepwater Horizon Medical Benefits Class Action Settlement; 

• Represented Scientific Protein Laboratories and American Capital Ltd. in product liability litigation and regulatory matters involving contaminated heparin from China;

• Represented Wyeth (formerly American Home Products Corporation) in the diet drug (“fen phen”) litigation – she served as national counsel coordinating the defense of tens of thousands of lawsuits, and as lead negotiator of the National Diet Drug Class Action Settlement (Brown v. American Home Products, No. 99-20593, E.D. Pa.) and architect and lead negotiator in the Diet Drug “Global Settlement Process,” resolving over 60,000 opt-out cases; and

• Represented Pfizer Inc. and Shiley Incorporated in product liability and other matters involving the Bjork-Shiley Convexo-Concave Heart Valve, including a class action settlement, a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, and U. S. and international regulatory issues.

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SELECTED PRESENTATIONS AND ARTICLES

 

• Panel, “Exit Strategies,” 5th Annual Western Alliance Bank Class Action Forum, March 2023

• Panel Moderator, “Ideas for Collaboration in a Digital Data World,” 2023 Epiq Global Mass and Class Summit, March 2023

• Panel Moderator, “Settlement in Mass Torts:  Helping Each Other Understand the Opportunities and Challenges,” Trial Lawyers of Mass Torts Bench & Bar Conference, Women’s Summit, March 2023

• Panel, “Settlement Strategies,” Trial Lawyers of Mass Torts Bench & Bar Conference, December 2022

• Panel Moderator, “Mass Tort Settlement Administration – Established Practices,” Huntington Bank Conference, Preventing Fraud in Settlement Funds, November 2022

• Panel Moderator, “Mass Tort Settlements” 2022 Epiq Mass Tort Special Masters Summit, June 2022

• Speaker, "Confronting Confidentiality in Our Public Courts," 2020 Forum for State Appellate Judges, The Pound Civil Justice Institute, July 2020

• Panel, "Global Settlement Architecture,” Perrin Conferences, May 2019

• Panel, "Ethical Considerations in Settling Mass Torts,” ABA Annual Spring CLE Meeting, Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Committee, April 2017

• Panel, "The Defense Perspective,” Texas Trial Lawyers Association Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Seminar, February 2017

• Panel, "Closure Mechanisms,” Emory Law School Institute for Complex Litigation and Mass Claims, December 2016

• Panel Moderator, "Coordination: Related Class Actions, Mass Actions and Parallel State Litigation,” Emory Law School Institute for Complex Litigation and Mass Claims, December 2016

• Panel, "Application of Alternative Mass Tort Resolution Strategies to Asbestos Litigation,” Perrin Asbestos Litigation Conference: A National Overview and Outlook, September 2015

• Panel, "CPSA – Buyer Beware, Medical Devices,” HB Litigation Conferences, Judicial Teleconference Series with Hon. Marina Corodemus, October 2011

• Ellen K. Reisman and Ethan P. Greene, “Ethical Issues in Class Action Settlements”, DRI Class Action Seminar, July 2011

• Ellen K. Reisman and Ethan P. Greene, “Ethical Limitations on Attempting to Prevent or Restrict an Attorney from Bringing Future Claims as Part of a Settlement Agreement”, DRI Drug and Medical Device Conference, April 2008

• Panel, "Developing Your Settlement Position with Respect to Mass Tort Products Claims,” ABA: Resolving Mass Tort Products Claims, March 2007

• Panel, "Settling the Big Case,” ABA: Environmental, Mass Torts and Products Liability Litigation, January 2007

• Panel, "Making the Decision to Settle and Devising Novel End-Game Strategies,” ACI: 11th Annual Drug and Medical Device Litigation Conference, December 2006

• Panel, "Settlement Strategies for Big Time Litigation – When to Hold ‘Em and When to Fold ‘Em,” ABA: Toxic Torts & Environmental Law Meeting – Science & The Law, April 2006

• Panel, "Balancing Expectations and Ethics in Class Settlements,” ABA: 9th Annual Institute on Class Actions, October 2005

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EDUCATION AND PRIOR EXPERIENCE
 

• B.A. 1981, Boston College, summa cum laude

• J.D. 1984, University of Chicago Law School, cum laude 

• Partner, Arnold & Porter LLP, 1992-1999, 2001-2015 (Washington. D.C. and Los Angeles, CA) 

• Associate General Counsel of American Home Products Corporation and Vice President, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, 1999-2001

• Associate, Arnold & Porter LLP, 1984-1991 (Washington, D.C.)

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BAR ADMISSIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
 

Ms. Reisman is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia and California.

Fellow, Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals