Litigators of the Week: Covington Team Gets a Directed Verdict in First Trial Over Heavy Metals in Baby Food

Litigators of the Week: Covington Team Gets a Directed Verdict in First Trial Over Heavy Metals in Baby Food

February 24, 2023, The American Lawyer

Phyllis Jones, Michael Imbroscio, and David Sneed were named as "Litigators of the Week" by The American Lawyer, for having "convinced a federal judge in Texas to pull the plug on a trial against The Hain Celestial Co. due to a lack of expert evidence on general causation." The Covington team represented, The Hain Celestial Co., the maker of Earth’s Best baby food, in the first trial to consider whether trace amounts of heavy metals in baby foods can cause neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

According to the piece, "U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown pulled the plug on the plaintiffs’ case and granted Hain’s motion for a directed verdict. Brown found a lack of expert evidence on general causation. The judge said that wasn’t due to an oversight by the plaintiffs’ lawyers, but because 'the scientific facts are simply not there."

Other members of the litigation team included: Ali Mojibi, Kathleen Paley, Nicole Antoine, Maddie Dolan, and Elizabeth Fouhey.

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