Biography: Product Liability Defence

Shook, Hardy & Bacon Partner Michelle Fujimoto is former managing partner of the Orange County office and specialises in products liability litigation, with a focus on pharmaceutical and medical device defence. She has more than 24 years of experience in complex, products liability, and toxic tort litigation and in the defence of mass tort litigation.

Michelle has handled both local and national cases involving a variety of pharmaceuticals, including contraceptives, hormone therapies, diet drugs and obesity medications, immunosuppressants, smoking cessation therapies, allergy medications, antidepressants and anti-inflammatories, and several chemicals. Her expertise in this area extends to the integration of medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, and general medicine within the legal framework, as well as the effective management of experts and the science issues running through products liability litigation. Her medical device experience includes heart valves, neurovascular coils, orthopedic products, cosmetic implants, cardiopulmonary devices, CT scan injectors, surgical instruments and solutions, tracheotomy tubes, intraocular lenses, and respiratory protective devices. Michelle's trial experience includes the defence of medical device and drug design and warnings, drug discovery, chemical exposure, breach of contract involving the divestiture of product lines, research agreements, distributor agreements and environmental remediation agreements.

Michelle is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), where she serves on the diversity committee and as the drug, device and biotech committee's vice chair of publications. In 2009, she also served on the programming committee for that year's IADC Annual Meeting. In addition, Michelle is active in the Defense Research Institute (DRI), sitting on the steering committee for the drug and medical device section and on the programming committee for DRI's Women In Law Seminar. She is a member of the California Women Lawyers and the Orange County and American Bar Associations.

Michelle has lectured for the IADC and DRI, as well as the California Continuing Education of the Bar, the American Bar Association and Mealey's Conferences. She has been nominated for the Orange County Business Journal's 2009 "Women In Business" award.