Profile: Harvey L Kaplan

Life Sciences

Biography: Life Sciences

Harvey Kaplan is a partner of Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP in Kansas City. He chairs the firm's pharmaceutical and medical device litigation division. Mr Kaplan has tried high profile pharma cases in many jurisdictions, and he has won defence verdicts in cases involving serious personal injuries allegedly caused by drugs and medical devices such as DES, the Cu-7 IUD, the Dalkon Shield IUD, and the FenPhen diet drug combination.

He is a Fellow of: the International Academy of Trial Lawyers; the International Society of Barristers; the American Bar Foundation; and the Litigation Counsel of America. He has served on the board of directors of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) and the Defense Research Institute (DRI). He was also director of the IADC's defense counsel trial academy; co-chair of the DRI corporate counsel roundtable; and he has been at the forefront of launching DRI Europe.

Mr Kaplan is listed in: The Best Lawyers in America; Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business (nominated for 2007 Chambers Award for Excellence in product liability litigation); The Legal 500 United States; Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers (recognised as one of the most highly regarded product liability lawyers globally); Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Product Liability Lawyers; Lawdragon: The 500 Leading Lawyers in America; Lawdragon: The 500 Leading Litigators in America; Benchmark: America's Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys; The Legal Media Group Guide to the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyers; Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers (named to Top Ten in both states); PLC - Which Lawyer? Yearbook; PLC - Life Sciences Handbook; and PLC - Dispute Resolution Handbook.

Excerpts from these publications indicate the high esteem in which he is held by his clients and fellow lawyers:

"He is reputed to be an 'eminent practitioner with international experience and standing' and an expert in the pharmaceutical field." (Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2007)

"[T]he pre-eminent figure in the field." (Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Product Liability Lawyers 2007)

"Kaplan is deemed 'a trial lawyer foremost and a master strategist'." (The Legal 500 United States 2007)

"'[O]ne of the significant thinkers' in products liability law and peers say this partner is 'everywhere and into everything.'" (Benchmark: America's Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys 2008)

"Clients describe Harvey Kaplan as 'one of the greatest product liability specialists.' His presence in court is also praised. 'He is a great communicator and works like a well-oiled machine.'" (Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2007)

"A 'hardened trial lawyer with the respect of his clients', he is also involved in medical device litigation, overseeing the hip and knee implant litigation for Sulzer - the settlement of which saved the company and made possible its acquisition by Zimmer." (Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2007)

Mr Kaplan is admitted to practise before the Supreme Court of the United States; the United States court of appeals for the fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth and tenth circuits; the United States Tax Court; the Missouri Supreme Court; and the federal courts of Missouri, Kansas, Arizona and Nebraska.