Hon. Janice M. Symchych (Former) a lifelong federal courts practitioner, has spent the last twenty years dealing with class/mass actions as arbitrator, mediator, civil litigator, deputy general counsel, and United States Magistrate Judge. She is widely respected for her ability to manage all aspects of this complex litigation.
Representative Matters
- As Magistrate Judge, ruled on class action discovery/pretrial issues and conducted settlement conferences
- As in-house counsel, led strategy and teams of outside and inside counsel on mass tort / MDL class actions in medical device industry, in high-visibility, high-stakes matters. Formulation of litigation theories, critical motion practice and appeals. MDL argument strategy and preparation, as well as post-settlement MDL procedural resolution. Selection and preparation of bellwether trial cases.
- Personally negotiated resolutions with plaintiffs' steering committees. Hands-on experience and leadership in parallel proceedings with such matters, including shareholder class actions, government investigations, regulatory enforcement, qui tam litigation, and insurance coverage disputes
- As lead outside counsel, handled numerous federal class action matters, including nationwide race and gender employment matters, ERISA, product liability, consumer, and fraud matters. Conducted full discovery, as well as litigated motions and privilege disputes. Prepared and argued class certification motions, and prepared and argued class arbitration motions and appeals, conducted settlement negotiations on behalf of clients
- Played oversight and collateral proceedings roles in significant international arbitrations involving insurance coverage disputes secondary to medical device recalls/class actions
- Has first chaired bet-the-company cases over the course of 15 years of outside counsel work, representing clients in nationwide class actions, qui tam matters, parallel proceedings, and complex commercial litigation
- Served on a nationwide asbestos litigation panel (baseball arbitration)
- Served as arbitrator on Pan Am Games panel
