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Deborah M. Russell

Partner

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Practices
Industries
Education
  • University of Richmond School of Law, JD, Notes and Comments Editor and Member, University of Richmond Law Review, Chancellor, McNeill Law Society
  • Virginia Commonwealth University, BS, with High Honors
Admissions
  • Maryland
  • Virginia
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
Affiliations

Permanent Member, 4th Circuit Judicial Conference

Lawyers Committee and Executive Committee, The National Center for State Courts

Member, Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section, American Bar Association

Member, International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)

Member, Litigation Section, Virginia State Bar

Member, Virginia State Bar/Virginia Bar Association Joint Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution, 1995-2004

Member, Richmond Bar Association

Member, Metropolitan Richmond Women's Bar Association

Alumni Board, Law School Association, University of Richmond Law School, 2000-2003

Print

Deborah has served as co-chair of the firm’s life sciences industry group and chair of the products liability and litigation management department. Her practice has focused on products liability litigation and complex commercial litigation at the trial and appellate levels, as well as FDA regulatory compliance, and ERISA benefits and insurance coverage litigation.

She has defended companies in cases involving prescription and over-the-counter medications, medical devices, and biological products. Deborah has defended automobile manufacturers in "crashworthiness" litigation, including cases involving active and passive restraint systems, automotive glass or glazing, and seating systems. Her litigation and trial experience includes commercial disputes involving UCC sale of goods, diverse claims for benefits under ERISA employee benefit plans and under individual or group insurance policies, and eminent domain and inverse condemnation litigation.

vCard
T: +1 804 775 1034F: +1 804 698 2157drussell@mcguirewoods.comOne James Center
901 East Cary Street
Richmond, VA 23219-4030
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case.

Representation of solar panel manufacturer (as plaintiff adverse to supplier) as trial and appellate counsel in a complex breach of supply contract case.  After two-week jury trial, Maryland Circuit Court entered $8,849,447 judgment in favor of client which Maryland Court of Special Appeals affirmed on appeal.

Defense of Japanese motor vehicle distributor and manufacturer in jury trial involving carotid artery injury allegedly resulting from interaction with passive seat belt.

Litigation counsel for global pharmaceutical company in coordinated personal injury cases in Maryland state court involving child and parent plaintiffs and allegations of autism resulting from pediatric vaccines.

Defense of pharmaceutical company in consolidated proceedings under Virginia’s Multiple Claimant Litigation Act involving claims alleging personal injuries and death from Schedule II pain medicine.  Briefed and argued successful motions to sever and to transfer cases.

Representation of global pharmaceutical company in products liability action in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia involving alleged fatal side effect from diabetes drug.  Briefed and argued successful Motion to Dismiss.

Defense of domestic motor vehicle manufacturer in novel state-wide class action seeking to declare illegal cars equipped with tempered glass in side and rear windows.  Case dismissed on merits (based on primary jurisdiction doctrine).

Representation of domestic car manufacturer as trial and appellate counsel in passive restraint products liability action (alleging failure of airbag to deploy) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Motion to exclude Plaintiff's expert testimony granted; Judgment entered in favor of client at trial; Judgment affirmed by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Advice on FDA regulatory compliance issues, including premarket approval or clearance, quality system requirements, adverse event reporting, labeling and warnings, and product withdrawal and recall.

Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Mass Tort Litigation and Personal Injury Litigation, Woodward/White, Inc., 2005-2013

Named a "Leading Products Liability Practitioner," Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers, Law Business Research Ltd., 2006-2012

AV Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

Co-author, Chapter 33, "Virginia," A Practitioner's Guide to Class Actions, 1171-1177, Marcy Hogan Greer, ed., American Bar Association, 2010
Author, "Supreme Court Deadlocks On Whether Michigan "Fraud-On-The-FDA" Exception Is Preempted Under Buckman," Health Lawyers Weekly, March 7, 2008
Author, "Amendments to Labeling: Implications For Preemption Defense," Food and Drug Law, American Health Lawyers Weekly, January 25, 2008
Author, "Class Action Fairness Act of 2005," Lexis/Nexis Mealey’s Defense Strategies in Pharmaceutical Litigation Conference Handbook, January 26-27, 2006
Author, Emerging Issues in Noninjury Class Litigation Targeting Product Lines, 39 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. 137, 2003
Author, Living and Dying by the Sword: Failed Spoliation Motions in Virginia Courts, 15 J. Civ. Lit. 3 , Fall 2003
Presenter, "Product Liability Preemption: Analyzing the Supreme Court’s New Decisions and Strategies for Asserting Preemption in an Uncertain Landscape," Webinar sponsored by Strafford Publications, Inc., August 16, 2011
Speaker, "Controlling the Damage," ACI's Summit on Drug and Device Product Recalls, March 22, 2011
Speaker, "Asserting the Preemption Defense in Non-Warning Cases," ACI Drug & Device Preemption Conference, July 15, 2008
Speaker, "Drug and Device Litigation: Preemption Update," Audio conference sponsored by Practicing Law Institute, June 16, 2008
Drug and Device Litigation: Pre-emption Update, June 16, 2008
Presenter, "Class Action Fairness Act of 2005," Mealey’s Defense Strategies in Pharmaceutical Litigation Conference, January 26-27, 2006
Presenter, "Strategies to Address Recurring Discovery Issues for the Global Company," DRI Drug and Medical Device Seminar, April 6-7, 2000