Gwyn Williams > Latham & Watkins LLP > Boston, United States > Lawyer Profile
Latham & Watkins LLP Offices
200 CLARENDON STREET
BOSTON MA 02116
MASSACHUSETTS
United States
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Gwyn Williams
Work Department
Gwyn Williams, a partner and Global Chair of the Product Liability, Mass Torts & Consumer Class Actions Practice, has extensive experience in the defense of mass tort and product liability claims, and other types of personal injury/wrongful death claims. Her experience has encompassed the defense of manufacturers of cigarettes, industrial products, and a wide range of pharmaceutical products and medical devices.
Position
Litigation Partner
Career
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco)
(Leading lawyers)Appreciated by clients for its ‘highly collaborative, co-ordinated and efficient’ approach, Latham & Watkins LLP has ‘superb expertise in complex product liability cases’, and is regularly involved in big-ticket aggregated cases, including class actions and MDLs. The team’s generalist approach to work in the space ensures that it has expertise across a wide range of consumer products, including within the hi-tech sector, however, it has undoubtedly gained most acclaim for its longstanding representation of Philip Morris in relation to mass tort and RICO suits. A significant amount of this work now relates to work outside of the country, with ‘very sharp’ Washington DC-based partner Christine Rolph being central to the firm’s role defending the tobacco giant against high-profile and high-value healthcare recoupment suits brought against it, including by Brazilian and South Korean governments. Key to Rolph’s success in the area, is her ability to digest and develop highly complex scientific information, an area where she has ‘reams of experience with expert development’. Recognized as a ‘master strategist’, litigation heavyweight Kenneth Parsigian has also been pivotal to the firm’s tobacco-related work both nationally and internationally, work which he combines with an eclectic mass tort offering which is reflective of his overarching role as a trial lawyer par-excellence. With a ‘work ethic that is second to none’, Gwyn Williams co-heads the practice alongside Parsigan and is able to draw upon vast experience involving a variety of consumer products, which deal with a wide variety of state and federal consumer protection statutes.
United States > Healthcare > Health insurers
Latham & Watkins LLP‘s team combines a strong transactional practice with a focus on complex litigation. John Manthei and Ben Haas co-head the healthcare team from the Washington DC office, while fellow co-head Judith Hasko takes the lead from her base in San Francisco. On the litigation side, Gwyn Williams and David Tolley, both located in Boston, defend major insurers in a series of underpayment claims cases, while Washington DC’s Daniel Meron focuses on False Claims Act matters. Its transactional offering was further strengthened in October 2022 with the arrival of co-chair Jason Caron and Kevin Miller, both formerly at McDermott Will & Emery LLP. Based in Washington DC, Caron leverages clinical and government experience to advise clients on complex healthcare regulatory, reimbursement, and policy matters, while Chicago-based Miller’s practice focuses on advising private equity sponsors and portfolio companies on investment-related transactional healthcare insurance matters.
United States > Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort
Latham & Watkins LLP‘s nationwide offering, which draws upon lawyers with expertise across product liability, environmental law and complex commercial disputes, provides advice to clients facing down a variety of toxic tort private class actions, government investigations, and enforcement actions, as well as in the context of environmental clean-up cases. The firm has been at the cutting-edge of environmental issues for many years and regularly helps major industrial and manufacturing clients respond to high-stakes toxic tort matters, not only from a purely litigious perspective but also in a risk management context. In Chicago, the ‘creative and extremely hardworking’ Mary Rose Alexander is adept at guiding clients, including energy and chemical companies, through all aspects of multi-plaintiff toxic tort and environmental litigation including case management, expert discovery and trial. As well as handling conventional matters relating to alleged exposure to chemicals, metals and solvents, she has also been active defending clients in cases where plaintiffs have initiated tort litigation as a means of advancing ESG goals. Boston-based partners Gwyn Williams and Kenneth Parsigian co-head the firm’s overarching product liability, mass tort and consumer class action group which houses the underlying toxic tort offering. Kegan Brown left the firm in January 2024.
Lawyer Rankings
- Leading lawyers United States > Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco)
- Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco) United States > Dispute resolution
- Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort United States > Dispute resolution
- Health insurers United States > Healthcare
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Insurance > Advice to policyholders
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: global offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- Antitrust > Cartel
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Energy > Energy transactions: electric power
- Energy > Energy transactions: oil and gas
- Environment > Environment: litigation
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Finance > Fintech
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Real estate > Land use/zoning
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Real estate > Land use/zoning
- Environment > Environment: litigation
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Real estate > Land use/zoning
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: transactional
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort
- Finance > Project finance
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism
- Industry focus > Sport
- Finance > Structured finance: derivatives and structured products
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Media, technology and telecoms > Telecoms and broadcast: regulatory
- Media, technology and telecoms > Telecoms and broadcast: transactions
- Intellectual property > Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters)
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Venture capital and emerging companies
Firm Rankings
- International Trade > CFIUS
- Intellectual property > Copyright
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Energy > Energy regulation: electric power
- Energy > Energy regulation: oil and gas
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Insurance > Insurance: non-contentious
- Dispute resolution > International litigation
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Real estate > Real estate
- Healthcare > Service providers
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization
- International Trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Government > Government contracts
- Healthcare > Health insurers
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: litigation
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Finance > Financial services regulation
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)