TaCara Harris

• Co-Counsel to TikTok in nationwide litigation in which individual plaintiffs allege personal injuries and school districts and other governmental entities allege economic damages arising from adolescent use of various online communications services, including in the In re Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Litigation MDL pending in the Northern District of California and the In re Social Media Cases JCCP pending in Los Angeles County.
• Served as a member of the trial team representing GlaxoSmithKline in federal court in Chicago in the matter of Wendy Dolin v. GlaxoSmithKline (N.D. Illinois 2017), for the first-ever tried "innovator liability" case.
• Member of team serving as national coordinating counsel for international pharmaceutical company in Proton Pump Inhibitors Product Liability Litigation involving allegations of acute and chronic kidney disease.
• Member of team serving as national coordinating and trial counsel for an international medical device company in female pelvic mesh litigation.
• Representing an SEC university in a putative class action pending in an MDL before the Northern District of Illinois that alleges the university failed to protect football players from concussion-related injuries.
• Member of the team serving as national coordinating and trial counsel for GlaxoSmithKline in Paxil®-birth defect litigation.
• Member of the trial team representing R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in numerous Engle progeny personal injury/wrongful death cases pending in Florida.

TaCara Harris is a partner in the Atlanta office of King & Spalding and serves as Chair of our Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Litigation practice. Her practice concentrates on representing clients in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and consumer products industries in nationwide product liability litigation. TaCara handles all aspects of large-scale, high-stakes mass tort litigation across the country in state court consolidated proceedings and in multidistrict litigation from early case assessment, through discovery, and on to summary judgment, trial, settlement, and appeal. Having obtained favorable results for clients in eight multi-week, product liability jury trials, TaCara handles each matter with a view toward trial, considering how to communicate effectively to a jury a host of complex scientific, technical, and regulatory issues.  In addition to her litigation practice, TaCara also conducts internal investigations and legal risk assessments, advising clients on liability avoidance and risk mitigation and management strategy.

Additionally, TaCara is a zealous advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion.  She co-chairs King & Spalding's Women’s Health Initiative, African American Affinity Group, and Pipeline, Recruitment, Retention, and Promotion Subcommittee of Diversity Committee.

TaCara earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School with honors in 2013. While attending law school, TaCara was a law clerk at the Office of the General Counsel of Vanderbilt University, where she assisted the university and medical center with defense of claims, compliance research and policy drafting regarding Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and other state and federal laws. 

Prior to law school, TaCara worked as an intern for the Office of the General Counsel of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University. She is also committed to pro bono work, including assisting military veterans with meritorious claims seeking benefits and healthcare. 

Publications

• Report of the Independent Investigation to the U.S. Soccer Federation Concerning Allegations of Abusive Behavior and Sexual Misconduct in Women’s Professional Soccer (co-authored with Sally Q. Yates and an all-female King & Spalding team), October 3, 2022
• Taking a “Hard Look” at Expert Witness Testimony Under Rule 702 | IADC’s Defense Counsel Journal, January 26, 2022
• FDA Warns That Most Hair Smoothing or Straightening Products Release Formaldehyde Gas During the Hair Straightening or Smoothing Process, (March 31, 2021)
• The Establishment of the White House Gender Policy Council and Its Implications for FDA Initiatives and Priorities, March 15, 2021
• “Is Forum Shopping for Equal Rights on the Horizon?” Baker Donelson’s Labor and Employment News, May 2014
• “Defending Against No-Injury Product Liability Litigation,” CLE Presentation – Hot Topics for In-House Counsel, Nashville, November 2013

Education

• Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 2013\n
  • Recipient − Vanderbilt Scholastic Excellence Award for Highest Grade in Legal Writing
  • Recipient − Highest Grade in Pre-Trial Litigation
  • Recipient − McGuireWoods Diversity Scholarship
  • Recipient − Bradley Arant Boult Cummings Diversity Scholarship
  • Recipient − Lloyd M. Johnson (Arnold & Porter LLP) Scholarship
  • Teaching Assistant − Legal Research and Writing
  • Research Assistant − Professor David Williams
  • Recruiting and Retention Chair − Black Law Students Association
  • Semi-Finalist − 1L Mock Trial Competition