Thomas J. Sheehan

Tom has more than 20 years of experience focused exclusively on high-stakes product liability and health effects litigation, with a primary emphasis on the defense of pharmaceuticals and biologic products. He uses his decades of legal experience combined with the scientific training he obtained with his master’s in epidemiology to routinely coordinate strategic scientific defenses for clients facing mass tort litigation.

Tom also advises companies on risk management strategies to avoid litigation. He identifies and works with experts at the top of their fields to develop a broad and deep understanding of the science as it relates to questions of causation and company decisions. He takes depositions of expert witnesses and develops admissions critical to assessing and challenging the reliability and admissibility of expert testimony. He also serves on leadership teams to coordinate the scientific defense in multiple-defendant mass tort litigation, ensuring a consistent, cohesive scientific position.

At his previous firm, Tom served as the leader of the Science Team Practice Group, and brings a depth of experience to the scientific defense of pharmaceutical litigation appreciated by in-house counsel, company scientists and expert witnesses. Tom has represented pharmaceutical manufacturers in the defense of cases involving numerous, varied therapies, including phenylpropanolamine, antidepressant medications, antidiabetic medications, vaccines, hormone replacement therapies, antiemetic therapies and ulcer treatments. Strategies developed and implemented involved diverse scientific areas and alleged injuries, including, among others, autism, birth defects, cardiovascular disease and cancer.