Tara Sutton Named a Litigation Trailblazer by The National Law Journal

Minneapolis, MN—November 1, 2017—Robins Kaplan LLP^® is pleased to announce that Tara Sutton, chair of the firm’s Mass Tort Group and a member of its Executive Board, has been named to The National Law Journal’s list of Litigation Trailblazers. She is one of only 25 individuals honored nationwide.

From the firm’s history-making win against Big Tobacco nearly 20 years ago to her $300 million settlement in August against a pharma giant, Sutton repeatedly has achieved victories that create a path to recovery for thousands injured by drugs and medical devices.

Most recently, she served on the executive committee and plaintiffs’ negotiating committee of a 2,000-plaintiff multi-district litigation over the blood pressure medication Benicar, which was resolved for a proposed $300 million. Sutton also acted as lead plaintiffs’ counsel in litigation over antipsychotic drug Abilify.

She has served as lead counsel in many other matters, including: the first bellwether trial over smoking cessation drug Chantix, which settled three days before jury selection and led to the nearly $300 million settlement of virtually all pending cases; the massive Stryker Rejuvenate/ABGII modular hip litigation, in which she spearheaded the development of a $1.4 billion global settlement program; and the first bellwether trial over the Parkinson’s disease drug Mirapex, which resulted in a $8.2 million jury verdict ($7.8 million in punitive damages), and nearly 300 Mirapex cases that she subsequently settled.

A longtime advocate for social and economic justice, Sutton was elected president of Public Justice, a non-profit public interest law firm, in July. Her role includes guiding the firm’s litigation, fundraising, and advocacy work.

The National Law Journal’s annual list recognizes attorneys who have moved the needle with innovative legal strategies and out-of-the-box thinking that is changing how their colleagues practice law.

Sutton is the fourth consecutive Robins Kaplan partner to make this list since 2014, when Martin Lueck, chairman of Robins Kaplan’s Executive Board, was recognized. Roman Silberfeld was recognized in 2015, and Ronald Schutz was recognized in 2016.

Sutton’s profile can be viewed here, and the full list of Litigation Trailblazers is available here.