Public Justice nominated Ms. Johnson and the rest of the Neurontin trial teams for Trial Lawyer of the Year.

Kristen A. Johnson is a partner in Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP’s Boston office. She represents plaintiffs in antitrust, RICO, and mass tort cases involving the pharmaceutical industry.

Ms. Johnson serves as court-appointed alternate lead counsel in the In re New England Compounding Pharmacy Litigation Multidistrict Litigation (D. Mass., MDL 2419, Zobel J., Saylor, J., Boal, M.J.). She has overseen litigation brought by a dozen plaintiffs’ groups against over two dozen defendants. During the nascent stages of the MDL, Ms. Johnson was personally appointed liaison counsel to speak for the at least 751 victims who contracted fungal meningitis or suffered other serious health problems as a result of receiving contaminated products produced by NECC. Through a Chapter 11 Plan of reorganization and later settlements, the litigation created a pot of over $200 million for the benefit of tort victims (before fees and expenses).

In In re Celebrex (Celecoxib) Antitrust Litigation (E.D.V.A., 14-cv-00361, Allen, J., Miller, M.J.), the Court appointed the firm lead counsel; Ms. Johnson managed day-to-day responsibilities for the direct purchaser class actions. Ms. Johnson led the briefing team responsible for both an affirmative motion for partial summary judgment and opposing Pfizer’s motion for summary judgment; she deposed several key fact witnesses; she worked with the key patent experts; and she was prepared to present fact and expert witnesses at trial. The case settled on the eve of trial for $94 million (pending final approval).

Ms. Johnson was one of four attorneys who presented or cross-examined witnesses for the plaintiffs during the 2014 Nexium antitrust trial (In re Nexium (Esomeprazole Magnesium) Antitrust Litigation, D. Mass., MDL No. 2409, Young, J.). In 2009, Ms. Johnson was a member of the trial team responsible for the $142 million RICO verdict against Pfizer for fraudulently marketing the drug Neurontin to treat off-label condition (Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, et al v. Pfizer, Inc., et al, D. Mass., 04-cv-10739, Saris, J.).

Ms. Johnson was part of the team of attorneys that prepared the In re Flonase Antitrust Litigation case for trial. Ms. Johnson worked closely with the former Commissioner of the FDA and presented him during an evidentiary hearing and a Daubert hearing. Ms. Johnson cross-examined the Defendant’s FDA expert. Ms. Johnson also played a major role in the summary judgment briefing. In June, 2013, the case settled for $150 million on behalf of the direct purchaser class.

Ms. Johnson was instrumental in the $350 million settlement on behalf of a class of third party payers in the Neurontin litigation, as well as the Prograf ($98 million), and other antitrust settlements.

In 2014, the National Law Journal honored Ms. Johnson as one of the 40 lawyers under 40 in Boston and as a rising star. In 2011, Public Justice nominated Ms. Johnson and the rest of her trial team for Trial Lawyer of the Year for their work securing a $142 million RICO verdict against Pfizer for fraudulently marketing the drug Neurontin.

Ms. Johnson graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College and earned her J.D. at Boston College Law School. Ms. Johnson is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the District of Massachusetts, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the First, Second, and Third Circuits. She is a member of the American Association for Justice and Public Justice’s Class Action Preservation Project Committee.

Education

Boston College School of Law, J.D.

Bar Admissions

Massachusetts

Court Admissions

U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
First Circuit Court of Appeals
Second Circuit Court of Appeals
Third Circuit Court of Appeals