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Experience and Background
Hope S. Freiwald focuses her practice on advising and defending companies that develop and market medicines and other health-related products. Her clients include life science as well as traditional pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. She has represented these companies in traditional product liability and "mass tort" litigations, as well as in complex class actions alleging consumer fraud, false marketing and other non-injury claims. She also represents clients in traditional business-related litigation. She has been noted for her work by both Chambers USA and Best Lawyers in America.
Ms. Freiwald was co-lead trial counsel for Merck in the Philadelphia Vioxx® litigation and served as the lead defense liaison counsel in all New Jersey-coordinated Vioxx® cases. She was one of Merck's trial counsel in the Humeston v. Merck case, where the company scored its first defense win, as well as in later successful Vioxx® cases. She helped lead Merck's national expert and science team, including Merck's team that developed medical experts for New Jersey Vioxx® trials.
Ms. Freiwald was lead trial counsel for GlaxoSmithKline ("GSK"), in Pauley v. Bayer, et al., which was tried to a jury in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and resulted in a defense verdict for GSK. In the Baycol® litigation, Ms. Freiwald also headed GSK's science team and led GSK's defense of several thousand cases filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
Previously, Ms. Freiwald represented Baxter Healthcare in cases involving its blood factor concentrates and immune globulins. Ms. Freiwald led Baxter's efforts to obtain summary judgment in multiple claims filed against the company in Arizona, which raised legal issues of first impression under Arizona law. She successfully argued for Baxter before both the trial and State Supreme Court.
Ms. Freiwald was trial counsel to a manufacturer of nutritional supplements where she led the expert team and represented the company in the Daubert hearing that ultimately paved the way for a global mediation of claims. She also has represented manufacturers of acne medication, anti-hypertensive medication, heart valves and latex gloves.
Currently, Ms. Freiwald co-heads the science/expert team for AstraZeneca in the Seroquel® product liability litigation. She has helped develop and implement the company's case-specific causation defense strategy, which has resulted in multiple Daubert victories and subsequent case dismissals.
Ms. Freiwald regularly counsels clients in avoiding litigation risks, particularly focusing on issues that arise in co-promotion and in-licensing agreements as well as emerging injury and liability theories. She has worked on pre-litigation dispute resolution, including resolution of putative mass tort claims in Europe. She has advised clients appearing before government review panels with regard to their prescription medications and advised them in lobbying efforts concerning compensation fund legislation. She has appeared on TV discussing product liability issues facing pharmaceutical and consumer goods manufacturers and has served as a media spokesperson for several clients faced with high-stakes mass tort litigation.
Bar and Court Admissions
- Member, Pennsylvania and New Jersey Bars
- Admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Third and Fourth Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court
Education
Brown University, A.B., magna cum laude, 1986
Columbia Law School, J.D., 1990
Clerkship, the Honorable Jan E. DuBois of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Publications and Lectures
Ms. Freiwald is a frequent author and lecturer on topics relevant to life science and pharmaceutical companies, including the liability risks of co-promotion agreements and marketing-based liability claims, limits on commercial speech, managing risks in drug development, Daubert and other science-based defense strategies, and overall litigation risk avoidance and reduction. She is a member of the Defense Research Institute.
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