Biography: Product Liability Defence

Maja C Eaton is a partner in Sidley's products liability and mass tort group in the firm's Chicago office. She has handled and tried a wide variety of products liability cases, ranging from the defence of toxic tort litigation to cases and mass litigation involving pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices. Her experience also includes the defence of class actions and complex mass torts involving multiple defendants. Ms Eaton's background in the sciences lends itself well to this specific practice area, and has resulted in particular experience in working with and developing defence expert witnesses in a wide array of medical and scientific specialties.

Ms Eaton has served as national coordinating counsel for a number of Fortune 500 clients in both toxic tort and drug and medical device litigation. She serves as national coordinating counsel and member of the national trial team for a major client in asbestos litigation, and in 2005 secured a defence verdict for the client in a significant asbestos case tried in Madison County, Illinois. She has also served as national coordinating and national trial counsel for a client involved in mass tort litigation involving silicone medical devices. She currently serves as trial counsel to General Electric in the MDL and state court litigation involving gadolinium-based MRI agents. Other products that she has successfully defended include termiticides, intravenous solutions and drugs, surgical devices, anti-reflux drugs and devices, contraceptive devices, heart valves, cardiology drugs and infusion pumps.

Ms Eaton has successfully defended trial court level victories in both state and federal appellate courts. She spends a significant amount of her time advising corporate clients on products liability litigation issues, and in giving presentations to corporate legal departments on issues of products liability, mass tort and class action law. Ms Eaton has also represented pharmaceutical companies nationally in putative class actions alleging violations of state consumer fraud statutes.

Ms Eaton received her JD (with high distinction) from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1984, and her BA from the University of Iowa in 1977. She is admitted to practise in the state of Illinois.