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About The Lanier Law Firm

The Lanier Law Firm, founded by W. Mark Lanier in 1990, is a nationally recognized plaintiffs trial firm with offices in Houston, New York, and Los Angeles. The firm handles mass tort, pharmaceutical liability, product liability, asbestos and mesothelioma, business litigation, and personal injury cases, and has secured over $20 billion in recoveries for clients.

Proven verdicts and settlements won by The Lanier Law Firm

$9 billion (reduced to $36.8 million)Verdict

A Louisiana federal jury awarded Terrence Allen $9 billion in punitive damages against Takeda and Eli Lilly after finding they hid Actos's bladder cancer risk for years, with W. Mark Lanier serving as lead trial counsel in the first federal bellwether trial of the massive MDL.

U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana · 2014Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$4.69 billion (upheld $2.11 billion on appeal)Verdict

A St. Louis jury in July 2018 awarded 22 women and their families $4.69 billion, the largest U.S. verdict of that year, finding that asbestos in Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder products caused ovarian cancer; a Missouri appellate court upheld $2.11 billion in 2020.

Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri · 2018Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$1.04 billion (reduced to ~$543 million)Verdict

A Dallas federal jury awarded $1.04 billion to six California patients harmed by Johnson and Johnson's metal-on-metal Pinnacle hip implants, with W. Mark Lanier leading an eight-week trial that produced one of the largest product-liability verdicts of 2016.

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, Dallas (MDL 2244) · 2016Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$650 millionVerdict

After a six-week federal trial, a jury found three of the nation's largest retail pharmacy chains created a public nuisance by flooding Lake and Trumbull Counties, Ohio with opioid pills, and a judge ordered $650 million to fund a 15-year abatement plan.

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, Cleveland (MDL 2804) · 2021Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$502 million (reduced to ~$151 million post-trial; vacated on appeal)Verdict

In the second federal bellwether trial, a Dallas jury awarded five Texas plaintiffs $502 million against Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy unit over defective metal-on-metal Pinnacle hip implants, with W. Mark Lanier leading trial for the plaintiffs.

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, Dallas (MDL 2244) · 2016Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$260 millionSettlement

Hours before opening arguments in the first federal opioid bellwether trial, W. Mark Lanier and co-counsel secured a $260 million settlement from distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson, plus manufacturer Teva, on behalf of Cuyahoga and Summit counties in Ohio.

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, Cleveland (MDL 2804) · 2019Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$253 million (reduced to ~$26 million)Verdict

A Texas jury handed down the first U.S. verdict against Merck over its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx, awarding $253 million to the widow of Robert Ernst after W. Mark Lanier persuaded jurors the drug caused Ernst's fatal heart attack.

District Court of Brazoria County, Angleton, TX · 2005Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$247 millionVerdict

A Dallas federal jury awarded six New York patients $247 million against Johnson and Johnson and its DePuy unit, finding that the metal-on-metal Pinnacle hip implant system was defectively designed and that the company concealed known risks from patients and surgeons.

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, Dallas (MDL 2244) · 2017Product LiabilityRead the full story →
View all 8 proven verdicts →

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

Proven verdicts and settlements from other Houston firms

The Buzbee Law Firm
The Buzbee Law Firm
$1.1 billion · $1.1 Billion Verdict for Child Left Brain-Damaged by Oil-Fortune Heir
Arnold & Itkin
Arnold & Itkin
$2.065 billion · Cobb County Jury Awards John Barnes $2.065 Billion in Roundup Cancer Trial
Williams Hart & Boundas
Williams Hart & Boundas
$15.3 billion · Texas Recovers $15.3 Billion From Tobacco Industry in Landmark 1998 Settlement
Abraham Watkins
Abraham Watkins
$32 million · Barn Door Collapse at Midtown Hilton Garden Inn Leads to $32 Million Verdict, Later Reduced to $12 Million
Sutliff & Stout
Sutliff & Stout
$6.09 million · Wrongful Death Truck Case Settles for $6.09 Million, Ranked Ninth Among All Texas Settlements in 2019

Attorneys at The Lanier Law Firm

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