Dechert’s toxic tort practice spans litigation in the appellate, federal, and state courts, with the team also advising on federal and state regulatory matters. The practice is jointly steered by Mark Cheffo, Douglas E. Fleming III and Jay Bhimani. New York-based Cheffo and Los Angeles-based Bhimani continue to serve as lead national counsel to GlaxoSmithKline in multidistrict and state-court mass tort litigation alleging a link between Zantac and cancer. Also in New York, Fleming represents Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corporation as lead counsel in litigation relating to PFAO and PFAS contamination. Hope S. Freiwald in Philadelphia and Hayden Colemanin New York are also key members of the team. Philadelphia-based Sozi Tulante rejoined the firm in January 2025 from Form Energy, while New York's Sheila Birnbaum rejoined the firm from retirement in June 2025. Tulante regularly advises clients across the medical device, pharmaceutical, and health care sectors, while Birnbaum’s experience spans complex product liability, mass torts, and insurance litigation. Bert Wolff, Danielle Gentin Stock, and Caroline Power departed the firm.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction: Lawyer & team quality
Client satisfaction: Sector knowledge
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Will Sachse has excellent fact development skills and knows all key legal issues. He knows case inside and out.'
- 'The team has deep expertise in mass tort product liability.'
- 'Mark Cheffo--great leader and strategist. Excellent capabilities with communicating with litigation opponents.'
Key clients
- Essity AB
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Purdue Pharma
- Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics
- Sun-Maid Growers of California/Plum, PBC
- Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.
- W. L. Gore & Associates
Work highlights
Serving as lead counsel to GSK in Zantac litigation alleging that a heartburn medication caused cancer.
Representing Plum, PBC in ongoing product liability litigation, including a baby food heavy metals personal injury case alleging harmful levels of lead, arsenic, and mercury in commercial baby foods.
Representing Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corporation as lead counsel PFAS litigation.
Practice head
Jay Bhimani; Mark Cheffo; Douglas Fleming
Other key lawyers
Hope S. Freiwald; Hayden Coleman; Sozi Tulante; Sheila Birnbaum; Will Sachse