Michelle Parfitt

Proven Verdicts
Washington, DC44 years experience

About Michelle Parfitt

Michelle A. Parfitt is a Senior Partner at Ashcraft & Gerel, LLP and head of the firm's Mass Tort practice. Over more than thirty-eight years, she has distinguished herself as a leader in mass torts, focusing on pharmaceutical and product liability cases. She has represented thousands of individuals in state and federal courts across the country in suits against pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, and has been appointed to numerous Plaintiffs' Steering Committees in national mass tort and complex litigations. She currently serves as Co-Lead Counsel in the Talcum Powder MDL and is regarded as one of the most knowledgeable attorneys in medical science and expert testimony preparation.

Proven verdicts and settlements

$5.5 billion (minimum)Settlement

After fifteen years of litigation and three failed bankruptcy maneuvers by Johnson and Johnson subsidiaries, Ashcraft and Gerel attorneys R. Bryant McCulley and Michelle Parfitt helped negotiate a global, uncapped settlement of at least $5.5 billion covering approximately 76,000 ovarian-cancer claims.

D.N.J. MDL No. 2738 · 2026Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$417 million (vacated)Verdict

An L.A. jury awarded Eva Echeverria $417 million after finding that decades of Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder use caused her ovarian cancer, though the trial judge later vacated the verdict and the Court of Appeal affirmed the vacatur.

Los Angeles County Superior Court (JCCP 4872) · 2017Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$5 millionVerdict

A federal jury in Cleveland awarded $5 million to Paul Decker and his wife after finding that GE Healthcare failed to adequately warn patients about the risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis from its Omniscan MRI contrast agent, making Decker the first gadolinium NSF case in the country to reach a jury verdict.

N.D. Ohio (Cleveland), aff'd 6th Cir. 2014 · 2013Product LiabilityRead the full story →
View all 3 proven verdicts →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

Hofstra University School of Law
J.D., 1980
Hofstra University
Undergraduate

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of District of Columbia
State Bar of Virginia
Co-Lead Counsel, Talcum Powder MDL
Plaintiffs' Steering Committees (multiple national mass torts)

Awards & recognition

Best Lawyers in America
Super Lawyers
Best Lawyers in Washington, DC
Washingtonian Top Lawyers
The Trial Lawyer magazine - The RoundTable: America's 50 Most Influential Trial Lawyers

Other attorneys at Ashcraft & Gerel, LLP

View firm →

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