Deirdre C. Gallagher has been a practicing trial attorney for over 20 years, representing companies in complex litigation in both Missouri and Illinois. She has tried over 30 cases to verdict in various state and federal courts, mostly in Madison County, Illinois and the City of St. Louis. Although her practice encompasses the defense of class actions, mass torts and toxic exposure claims, she focuses in the area of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device litigation.
Ms. Gallagher has successfully obtained summary judgment for pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, Genentech, Dow Corning, Medtronic, Merrill Dow, and Eli Lilly. Gallagher brought successful Daubert challenges in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in lawsuits against Novartis for its product Parlodel. In both cases, plaintiffs' experts were excluded from testifying that Parlodel caused plaintiffs' strokes based on a lack of scientific reliability, and Novartis received summary judgment.
In 1997, in Rodriguez v. Suzuki Motor Corporation, after reversal of the verdict by the Missouri Supreme Court, Suzuki changed its trial team and Ms. Gallagher was hired to defend Suzuki. In the second trial the jury awarded plaintiff approximately one-third of the original verdict. This verdict was again overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court on evidentiary issues. Gallagher was a part of a mediation team that settled the case after four days of intense negotiation. The Rodriguez case created the strict legal standard for the award of punitive damages in Missouri.
Ms. Gallagher also represented the large long-term care facility chain, National HealthCare, against the government in the first quality of care fraud and abuse case prosecuted outside of Pennsylvania. After two months of contentious discovery, NHC reached a very favorable settlement with the United States Government.
Most recently, Ms. Gallagher sued The May Department Stores Company for infringing on the trademark of her client, bebe stores, inc. She sought and was granted a preliminary injunction against May, who was ordered to cease using the infringing mark in their new proprietary line of clothing. This case was reported across the country and was reported by the Washington Post to be as high as a $34 million loss to May.
Ms. Gallagher has been an adjunct professor at UM-St. Louis School of Nursing and has spoken to many groups on the topics of medical liability, including lecturing physicians on proper prescribing practices, drug-drug interactions, recognizing, documenting and treating suicidality, and medical ethics. She also published a monthly column in the St. Louis Lawyer for several years. She is currently on the advisory board for Legal Advocates for Abused Women, the Development Board of the APA and the Legislative Committee of the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation. In March of 2003 she was awarded the UM-St. Louis "Trail Blazer" award.
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