Kaye Scholer

Early in her career, Ms. Yates was responsible for the Daubert case on behalf of Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. She drafted the summary judgment motion which lead to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision (see below). Throughout her career, Ms. Yates has worked extensively with medical experts in several disciplines, including hearings to exclude plaintiff experts based on the Daubert standard.

Ms. Yates has tried cases in multiple state and federal court venues, most recently, obtaining a defense verdict in U.S.D.C., Southern District of West Virginia. She has also obtained defense verdicts in multiple product liability lawsuits in different states, including California and Texas. She has extensive experience in MDL and class action work, and for many years has acted as national coordinating counsel in mass tort cases. In that role she has been responsible for all aspects of litigation, including trial preparation and trial, settlement including hundreds of arbitrations and mediations, and management and coordination of regional and local counsel.

In 2009, 2010 and 2011, Ms. Yates was recognized as one of California’s top women litigators in Daily Journal’s, supplement feature, “Top Women Litigators.” In the 2010 edition of the Legal 500 United States, Kaye Scholer is ranked in the first tier in the area of Product Liability and Mass Tort Defense. In the 2007 edition of Legal 500, Ms. Yates received individual acknowledgment in this area of practice, described as “superb in court.” She was also featured in Who’s Who Legal, California 2007, 2008 and 2009 in the area of product liability, and is recognized by the International Who’s Who of Life Science Lawyers 2010.

In addition, Chambers USA (2008) named Kaye Scholer the best product liability firm in the U.S. at its 2008 “USA Awards for Excellence” ceremony. In presenting Kaye Scholer the award, Chambers noted that clients praise the firm for its “impressive depth of quality attorneys.”

In January 2006, Kaye Scholer’s product liability lawyers were awarded The American Lawyer Litigation Product Liability Department of the Year. The award specifically references several successes in the Rezulin litigation, which involved Ms. Yates.

In August 2005, The National Law Journal’s “The Defense Hot List, sizing up Defense Firms With Big Wins” featured Ms. Yates’ defense verdict, discussed below, in a multiple plaintiff products case, In Re Rezulin Litigation, JCCP No. 4122 (Los Angeles County, California, Superior court, 2004).

Representative Matters

• In July 2011, Ms Yates served as trial counsel for Pfizer units, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Pharmacia & Upjohn Co., and obtained a defense verdict in a case involving claims of injuries from the client's hormone therapy ("HT") medicines. After a three-week trial, the jury found that the HT prescription medicines did not cause plaintiff's breast cancer and that plaintiff's claims were time-barred by the applicable statute of limitations. Notably, this is the first defense verdict for Pharmacia & Upjohn. Hines v.Wyeth, et al.
  
  
• In 2008, Ms. Yates served as trial and coordinating counsel in two HT trials in state and federal court.
  
  
• The landmark case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 727 F.Supp. 570 (S.D. Cal. 1989); aff'd 951 F.2d 1128 (1991); 509 U.S. 579 (1993). Daubert sets forth the standard by which judges are to act as gatekeepers in excluding "junk science" from the courtroom.
  
  
• Currently acting as national, regional and local counsel for Pfizer Inc in the hormone therapy ("HT") litigation. Responsibilities include handling all phases of litigation, involving several hormone therapy products.
  
  
• Recently served as national and local counsel for Pfizer Inc (Warner-Lambert) in the Rezulin (diabetic medication) litigation. Responsibilities covered all aspects of litigation. Ms. Yates obtained defense verdicts against all plaintiffs in the first in the nation consolidated plaintiff trial. All three plaintiffs claimed liver injury from exposure to the medication. All defense verdicts were unanimous. This verdict was featured in The National Law Journal’s “The Defense Hot List: Sizing Up Defense Firms with Big Wins” (August 22, 2005).
  
  
• Ms. Yates, along with others on the Kaye Scholer team, won an important Daubert victory in the Rezulin multi-district litigation (2005 WL 583751 (S.D.N.Y.)). After a two-day hearing, the court ruled that plaintiffs could not rely on their proposed expert testimony that Rezulin caused a “silent” liver injury. Ms. Yates cross-examined the plaintiffs’ lead toxicologist, the focus of the court’s Daubert opinion excluding said testimony.
  
  
• Previously, Ms. Yates acted as National Coordinating Counsel in the silicone breast implant litigation, representing Baxter Healthcare Corporation and Baxter International Inc. Responsibilities included handling all phases of litigation, including trials. Ms. Yates obtained defense verdicts in two separate multiple plaintiff trials in Texas. All plaintiffs claimed defective implants due to rupture, negligence, failure to warn, strict liability and fraud. The juries returned defense verdicts on all claims.
  
  
• Previously represented Wyeth Inc., defending their diet medications Dexfenfluramine and Fenfluramine in the Phen-Fen litigation. Specifically, Ms. Yates was responsible for deposing and defending expert witnesses, and developing national experts in the areas of cardiology and pulmonology.
  
  
• Previously acted as national counsel for a major pharmaceutical corporation, the manufacturer of Bendectin, an anti-nausea medication for pregnant women. She successfully defended the company against claims of birth defects, ultimately resulting in many courts excluding plaintiff’s expert evidence on the grounds of “junk science,” following her Daubert success.
  
  
• She also served as national counsel for pharmaceutical clients in the L-trytophan litigation. Claims involved manufacturing and design defects resulting in Eosinophilia Myalgia Syndrome.
  
  
• Defended heart valves and other surgical devices on behalf of Baxter Healthcare Corporation.
  
  
• Defended multiple clients in toxic tort exposure claims.
  
  
• Defended and advised clients in product recalls, including consumer products.

Pro Bono Activities

Ms. Yates is the Los Angeles partner in charge of pro bono activities, ranging from tenant disputes with landlords, asylum cases, death penalty cases, victims of home equity fraud and guardian ad litem cases.

Ms. Yates was a finalist in the philanthropy category for her pro bono leadership at the Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2009 “Women Making A Difference” program and ceremony on May 5, 2009.

Ms. Yates was a recipient of the 2007 Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono legal services awarded by the State Bar of California’s Board of Governors in recognition of her “voluntary provision of legal services to the poor.”

Reported Cases

In Re Rezulin Products Liability Litigation (2005) WL 583751 (S.D.N.Y.)

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 727 F.Supp. 570 (S.D. Cal. 1989); aff’d 951 F.2d 1128 (1991); 509 U.S. 579 (1993)

Obiago v. Merrell National Laboratory, Inc., 560 So. 2d 625 (La. App. 4 Cir); writ denied 565 So. 2d 445 (La. 1990)