Gladys Santana

Gladys Proa Santana is Senior Counsel at Wagstaff Law Firm and an experienced advocate for clients harmed by defective medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs, workplace injuries, and automobile accidents. With more than 10 years of experience in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, she has represented thousands of clients in complex mass torts and has headed litigation dockets including Actos, Pradaxa, IVC Filter, Taxotere, Talcum Powder, and Tobacco. Her litigation work spans the Cook Medical and Bard IVC filter MDLs, Pradaxa litigation in Connecticut state court, and the Actos and DePuy ASR litigations in Illinois state court, with results including a $2.4 billion resolution on behalf of individuals injured by a defective diabetes drug, a $12.2 million recovery for women injured by a defective contraceptive device, and a $7.6 million products liability settlement.

She volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for abused and neglected children with CASA Kane County and is fluent in Spanish. A board member of the Society of Women Trial Lawyers, she has been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star since 2018 and recognized by Best Lawyers in America since 2022. She earned both her J.D. and B.A. from Northern Illinois University and is admitted in Illinois and the Northern and Southern Districts of Illinois.