Hillary Nicholas

Hillary defends corporations against complex product liability actions in federal and state courts throughout the country and provides regulatory counseling for medical device, pharmaceutical, consumer product, and agribusiness companies. She has broad litigation experience spanning initial case strategy and development, motion practice, expert and fact workup and discovery, expert witness preparation, and serving on trial teams in multi-week jury trials. Hillary has considerable experience managing the discovery and trial preparation of product liability cases in complex actions and focuses on shaping defenses and themes across individual cases to support their effective presentation at trials across a litigation. In addition, Hillary has a robust motion practice, identifying and briefing legal arguments resulting in key dispositive wins for her clients across industries.

As part of her regulatory practice, Hillary advises clients regarding FDA, USDA and FTC compliance. She has counseled clients on product labeling, marketing and advertising, risk assessment and management. Hillary has had the opportunity to present several courses for legal and regulatory professionals, as well as seasoned practitioners, covering the ever-changing regulatory landscape of over-the-counter drugs and labeling. She also recently spent time as an associate general counsel at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, counseling the company on both litigation strategy and navigating the regulatory framework for health insurance companies.

Hillary is committed to pro bono work. She works with the firm’s Project Affirmation clinic—a pro bono name change and gender marker amendment clinic that serves the transgender community in and around Kansas City. In addition, she works with the Veteran’s Consortium Discharge Upgrade Program representing veterans nationwide who have been discharged due to conduct related to PTSD, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and other anti-LGBTQIA+ policies, as well as military sexual trauma. Hillary has also represented individuals seeking asylum in the United States, after fleeing conditions in Guatemala and Afghanistan. 

While in law school, Hillary was a member of the Raymond F. Rice Scholars Program, which brings Kansas residents with outstanding academic records and proven leadership back to Kansas to attend the University of Kansas Law School. She also spent time representing state and federal prisoners in appellate and post-conviction litigation through the Paul E. Wilson Defender Project, interned for the Honorable Judge Julie A. Robinson for the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, and served as the editor-in-chief of the Kansas Law Review. Hillary graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law as a member of the Order of the Coif and recipient of the Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement.