About Melanie Muhlstock
Melanie H. Muhlstock is the Managing Partner of the Mass Torts Department at Parker Waichman LLP, with more than 25 years of experience representing plaintiffs in complex litigation involving pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and consumer products. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Loyola University Chicago School of Law, she is admitted in New York, New Jersey, multiple U.S. District Courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. She has been recognized since 2014 as a member of the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers and has held leadership roles in national MDLs including Hair Relaxer, Elmiron, Tasigna, and Zantac. She is a frequent speaker at leading mass tort conferences including HarrisMartin, Masters of Mass Torts, and Mass Torts Made Perfect. Early in her career, she earned recognition for pro bono advocacy on behalf of homeless children in New York.
Proven verdicts and settlements at Parker Waichman LLP
These results are credited to Parker Waichman LLP. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.
A Nassau County jury found on June 26, 2025 that South Shore Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Freeport violated the Public Health Law and was negligent in caring for resident Henry Serrapica, who developed pressure ulcers on his heels, ankle and sacral area during 2019 and died that December. The jury awarded $5 million, including $1 million in punitive damages. In January 2026 the trial court denied the defense motions to set the verdict aside, reduce it or order a new trial, and the case then went to the Appellate Division.
A Richmond County jury awarded $1,102,000 to the family of a 73-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease who fell at a Staten Island nursing facility and died weeks later; the Appellate Division reversed the judgment in 2020 and ordered a new trial.
In early 2014, Biomet agreed to pay at least $56 million to settle about 1,000 federal lawsuits over its M2a 38 and M2a Magnum metal-on-metal hip implants, consolidated in the Northern District of Indiana. Qualifying patients who had the device revised received a base award of $200,000, adjusted by individual factors. Thomas Anapol was court-appointed Co-Lead Counsel with W. Mark Lanier and signed the agreement for the Plaintiffs' Executive Committee. The figure covers many unrelated plaintiffs, is a reported minimum rather than a final total, and is not itemized by person.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.
