Mollie Benedict

Practice Areas

Mollie Benedict represents clients in federal and state courts across the United States, frequently in the role of lead national counsel and as trial counsel in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation. Her complex business litigation practice also includes all manner of product liability defense, class action defense, and false advertising. She has written and argued appeals on issues including invasion of privacy, statutory immunities for physicians, and appropriate standards for medical expert testimony.

Professional Memberships

• Defense Research Institute: Drug and Medical Device Steering Committee; Publications Committee

• International Association of Defense Counsel: IADC Foundation Board – President (2022-2023); IADC 46th Annual Trial Academy Faculty (2018)

Publications

• Science Basics for the Drug and Medical Device Lawyer, DRI, Editor (2020)

• FDA Basics for the Drug and Medical Device Lawyer, DRI, Editor (2015)

• “Biologics and the Heeding Presumption,” IADC Drug, Device and Biotechnology Newsletter (January 2015)

• Women Rainmakers: Roadmap to Success, DRI Defense Library E-Book, Contributor (2014)

• “Developing a Regulatory Story That Counts,” IADC Drug, Device and Biotechnology Newsletter (May 2014)

• “California Code of Civil Procedure Section 437c: The Ghost in the Empty Chair After a Codefendant’s Summary Judgment,” IADC Drug, Device and Biotechnology Newsletter (August 2013)

• “Reliability and Admissibility of Forensic Toxicology Testing in Civil Cases,” IADC Drug, Device and Biotechnology Newsletter (December 2012)

• “Out of Your Jurisdiction: Why FDA Recalls and Courts Do Not Mix,” IADC Drug, Device and Biotechnology Newsletter (August 2011)

Industry Sector Expertise

• Pharmaceutical

• Medical Device

• Product Manufacturers of all types

Experience

• Represented a pharmaceutical company as co-lead national counsel in product liability litigation involving a weight loss medication taken off the market for a potential cancer risk; successfully negotiated to resolve all U.S. litigation

• Represented a major pharmaceutical company as lead national counsel in MDL and coordinated state-court litigation defending a diabetes medication in thousands of personal injury lawsuits

• Represented a medical device company as trial counsel in a product liability MDL involving transvaginal pelvic mesh; trial counsel in two bellwether cases jury trials in U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia

• Represented a medical device manufacturer as national counsel for all product liability cases related to a Class III medical device

• Represented a medical device company in a wrongful death case involving surgical clips; three-week Los Angeles County jury trial

• Represented a telecommunications company in an alleged breach of contract for scrap metal recovery in seven states, fraud, and punitive damages; Los Angeles County jury trial

• Represented insurance companies in an eight-week trial involving claims for breach of contract, fraud, and punitive damages arising out of insurance agreements related to vehicle service contracts written in 50 states; Los Angeles County jury trial

• Represented an industrial machine manufacturer in a case involving loss of body parts from an allegedly defective heavy machine press; Orange County, California jury trial

Education

Awards