Ethicon Media Monitoring 8/17/2018

Client Attorney Privileged/Attorney Work Product/At Request of Counsel

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1. Rising Star: Greenberg Traurig's Marcella Ducca

   Aug 16, 2018 | Law 360

   By Emily Field
   
   
   Greenberg Traurig LLP shareholder Marcella Ducca’s expertise in women’s health products, particularly her work for Bard in the massive transvaginal mesh litigation, has landed her a spot among the five product liability attorneys under 40 on Law360’s list of Rising Stars.

Client Attorney Privileged/Attorney Work Product/At Request of Counsel

Online Sources

1. Rising Star: Greenberg Traurig's Marcella Ducca

   Aug 16, 2018 | Law 360

   By Emily Field

   Greenberg Traurig LLP shareholder Marcella Ducca’s expertise in women’s health products, particularly her work for Bard in the massive transvaginal mesh litigation, has landed her a spot among the five product liability attorneys under 40 on Law360’s list of Rising Stars.

   Her most challenging case:
   Working on the long-running transvaginal mesh multidistrict litigation for Bard has been the biggest challenge of Ducca’s career, she said. Bard is one of a number of companies that have been sued for allegedly making mesh surgical products for stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse that caused severe injuries.
   
   “It’s actually one of the largest product liability mass torts to date, and what I’ve been really involved in for Bard is working on the expert’s side and the science side,” Ducca said.
   
   Ducca is charged with finding medical and scientific experts, particularly in the fields of urology and gynecology, and helping them prepare for deposition.
   
   Right now, she and her team are trying to wrap up the MDL and the court has ordered thousands of cases to be worked up, she said.
   
   “It’s a very exciting time but it’s a lot to coordinate and one of my biggest roles is trying to marshal the team, focus on the medical and science issues, and lead the charge on working with experts,” Ducca said.
   
   Proudest moment as an attorney:
   Ducca was raised in Cleveland, Ohio, by her mother and father, respectively a manicurist and hairdresser, and is the only person in her immediate family to go to college.
   
   “So going to law school and of course passing the bar were tremendous accomplishments for my parents and for me,” Ducca said.
   
   As a practicing attorney, she said her proudest moment was winning a large case in Kansas City, Missouri, called Sherrer v. Boston Scientific et al., which is one of the only vaginal mesh trials that has involved multiple manufacturers to date.
   
   In 2016, a Missouri state jury found Boston Scientific and C.R. Bard weren’t liable in a woman's $28 million suit alleging the companies' pelvic mesh implants made her incontinent, and left her suffering from pain and other ailments. During the trial, the companies argued that previous pelvic surgeries dating back to the late '90s could have caused the woman’s problems.
   
   “It involved a lengthy trial, we were in Kansas City for months and months over the holidays, and ultimately we got a very successful full defense verdict in a challenging jurisdiction,” Ducca said.
   
   Volunteer work:
   Ducca volunteers as a broadcaster for the Georgia Radio Reading Service by reading articles and columns from local newspapers for the blind and visually impaired. She has been involved for six years now with the organization.
   
   “It’s something I can do first thing in the morning,” Ducca said. “I’m an early bird and I’m much happier getting up at four a.m. and reading something that will be broadcast at nine a.m. than trying to fit something in on the weekend.”
   
   Ducca also reads the comics out loud and keeps a notebook to keep track of the various characters’ names.
   
   “That’s something you have to do with enthusiasm and zeal,” Ducca said. “I also do the voices.”
   
   Advice for younger attorneys:
   Younger attorneys, particularly those who want to work on trials, need to put in the hours, Ducca said. She added that many of the exciting and interesting opportunities have come her way because she put in the time developing a subject matter expertise and dedicated time to learning the facts and the nitty-gritty of cases.
   
   “More and more I see lawyers wanting a work life balance and I understand that, but I think that being a trial lawyer is something that you have to put in the time and hours in order to do,” Ducca said. “It’s going to be a lot of nights and weekends."

   What drew her to the law:

   If you ask her parents, they’ll chalk it up to her watching L.A. Law as a child, Ducca said.
   
   “I asked my dad a long time ago why I’ve always said I wanted to be a lawyer and how I got to this path,” Ducca said. “It’s something I’ve said since I was three years old and now here I am.”
   
   If she hadn’t become a lawyer, Ducca said that she would have been a doctor, which is why she enjoys working with medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
   
   “That being said, I can’t deal with smelling or being around vomit,” Ducca said. “I’d have never made it past medical school.”

   https://www.law360.com/articles/1065345/rising-star-greenberg-traurig-s-marcella-ducca
   

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