Bradley Pratt is a partner with King & Spalding’s Tort and Environmental Litigation Practice.
Mr. Pratt currently represents a number of foreign and domestic companies in high exposure product liability, toxic tort, and personal injury cases around the country. This practice often involves “bet-the-company” litigation which potentially poses an existential threat to the company by targeting a flagship product or the overall corporate brand. Examples of recent experience include:
- Member of King & Spalding team that is serving as national coordinating counsel and trial counsel in product liability litigation involving GlaxoSmithKline’s prescription antidepressant Paxil® and claims that Paxil® causes birth defects. Most recently, Mr. Pratt was a member of the trial team for the “bellwether” Blyth v. GSK trial, in which the team successfully obtained judgment as a matter of law following ten days of trial in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
- Member of King & Spalding team that is serving as national coordinating counsel and trial counsel in product liability litigation involving Purdue Pharma’s prescription pain medication OxyContin® and claims that OxyContin® causes addiction and psychological dependence. Most recently, Mr. Pratt was a member of teams obtaining numerous dismissals and summary judgments, including defending these judgments on appeal, in state and federal courts across the country.
- Defense of clients in consumer fraud and mass tort class actions, Multi-District Litigation, the Philadelphia Mass Tort Program, Attorney General actions, and other aggregated actions in jurisdictions around the country, including California, Florida, Georgia, and Illinois.
- Defense of one of the world’s largest shipping and logistics companies in various tort and commercial disputes across the country.
- Defense of one of the world’s largest oil companies in various tort and commercial disputes, and in governmental investigations, across the country.
- Defense of several major industrial manufacturers in toxic tort litigation throughout the Southeast.
- Advising corporate clients on tort and environmental liability issues affecting mergers and acquisitions, product recalls, and other business and safety issues.
Mr. Pratt has a successful appellate practice before state and federal appellate courts around the country, including representing interested clients as amicus curiae. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Pratt clerked for the Honorable Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Recent experience includes participation in the following appeals:
- Allen v. Barksdale, Appeal No. 1080242, 2009 Ala. LEXIS 215 (Ala. Sept. 18, 2009) (representing several media companies and a newspaper trade association as amici curiae) (successfully defending trial court decision that Open Records Act should be construed in favor of public disclosure and ordering release of incident reports following prison murders).
- Mason v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., 283 Ga. 271 (2008) (representing several business interests as amici curiae) (successfully upholding the constitutionality of the Georgia Legislature’s adoption of the Daubert standard to govern expert testimony).
- Green v. Dept. of Community Health, 2008 Ga. App. LEXIS 904 (Ga. App. Aug. 1, 2008) (representing Atlanta Legal Aid Society as amicus curiae) (successfully vacating superior court’s decision to uphold the Dept. of Community Health’s termination of child waiver medical assistance because the superior court failed to apply the correct standard of review).
- Bodie v. Purdue Pharma, Appeal No. 05-13834, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 12725 (11th Cir. 2007) (successfully defending summary judgment for pharmaceutical company and applying learned intermediary doctrine against novel theory of direct-to-consumer website marketing).
- Spottsville v. Terry, 476 F.3d 1241 (11th Cir. 2007) (successfully reversing district court’s dismissal of petition for writ of habeas corpus for violation of petitioner’s Constitutional rights under the 6th and 14th Amendments).
- Evans v. Walter Industries, et al., 449 F.3d 1159 (11th Cir. 2006) (in issue of first impression, successfully reversing remand of class action and obtaining judgment that plaintiffs bear the burden of establishing exceptions to federal jurisdiction following removal under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005).
- United States v. Delacruz, Appeal No. 05-15920-AA (11th Cir. 2006) (successfully vacating criminal conviction for violation of defendant’s Constitutional rights under the 5th and 6th Amendments).
- Hart v. Walker, Appeal No. 04-16271 (11th Cir. 2006) (successfully reversing district court’s dismissal of petition for writ of habeas corpus for violation of petitioner’s Constitutional rights under the 6th and 14th Amendments).
Mr. Pratt also has a robust pro bono practice focusing primarily on issues in Constitutional Law, and was awarded the 2008 “Civil Rights” Pro Bono Award from the Daily Report. He is on the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, and has an active trial and appellate docket that includes cases in prisoner’s rights litigation, civil rights litigation, habeas corpus, criminal defense, and election rights.
Memberships
- Barrister, Logan E. Bleckley Inn of Court.
- Member, Advisory Committee to Board of Directors for Atlanta Legal Aid Society.
- Member, Artemis Board for Atlanta’s Fernbank Museum of Natural History.
- Georgia Bar: Member, Appellate Practice Section, Product Liability Section, Ethics & Professionalism Committee for the Young Lawyers Division, and Judicial Liaison Committee for the Young Lawyers Division.
- King & Spalding: Member, Pro Bono Committee. Former Member, Hiring Committee.
- Former Member, Board of Directors for Peachtree Hills Civic Association.
Publications
- Co-author of Trends in U.S. Product Liability Litigation, PLC Cross-border Handbook, Life Sciences (2007).
- Client Alert: Federal Appellate Court Affirms Scope and Strength of Learned Intermediary Doctrine in Prescription Drug Cases (20 Jun 2007).
