Kathleen O’Connor is a partner in the Litigation Department in Weil’s New York office. She has been a litigator for over 20 years and has been recognized by leading legal publications, including The Legal 500 (US) 2011, where she was recommended for her work in the area of crisis management. Ms. O’Connor brings a unique perspective to the practice because of her experience as an in-house lawyer at Merck, where she managed the Vioxx® litigation and also provided counseling and advice on regulatory, public affairs, and marketing issues.
Since leaving Merck for private practice, Ms. O’Connor has focused on commercial disputes, complex product liability claims, consumer fraud class actions, licensing and co-development disputes, and government investigations. She regularly advises clients on overall strategy and coordination issues, particularly in complex matters that involve concurrent civil and government actions. Ms. O’Connor also consults regularly with clients in their efforts to manage and mitigate risk.
Recent Representations
- Advice on a host of issues arising out of potential FCPA violations;
- Strategic advice to a major pharmaceutical company on managing risk associated with FDA inquiries relating to a significant product and responsibility for ensuing litigation;
- A resolution of claims relating to the sale of assets;
- The defense of two companies in dozens of consumer fraud class action cases;
- A multi-year DOJ investigation;
- The defense of a medical device company in hundreds of product liability lawsuits;
- Representation of a leading pharmaceutical company in a dispute relating to an agreement to develop a potential blockbuster drug;
- Preparing C-level executives to give testimony in a series of government investigations and inquiries of the company;
- Overall responsibility for an internal investigation for a pharmaceutical company; and
- Advice to two European life sciences companies on managing litigation risk and avoiding fraud and abuse risk.
In addition, Ms. O’Connor is regularly called upon to present on complex commercial litigation topics. In the 2010 edition of The Legal 500 (US), Ms. O’Connor was “highly regarded” for product liability and mass tort defense work.
Prior to joining Merck, Ms. O’Connor was at a private NY law firm in which she focused on complex civil litigation, at both the trial and appellate level. She litigated complex insurance coverage matters involving mass torts, professional malpractice cases, and cases involving securities and banking law issues.
Ms. O’Connor received her J.D. from Boston University School of Law, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Annual Review of Banking Law. She received her B.A. from Florida State University, where she was a recipient of the Selby Scholarship for academic excellence and the English Department award for outstanding achievement. Ms. O’Connor also serves on the Board of Directors of New York Live Arts.