The following is an excerpt from Practice Perspectives: Vault's Guide to Legal Practice Areas.
Amanda Blau advises and defends leading pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer product, and life sciences companies in complex product liability, mass tort, and commercial litigation. She has significant experience managing federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) and state court coordinated proceedings, representing clients in matters that often carry high financial and reputational stakes. Amanda also maintains an active pro bono practice and has been a recipient of the Sidley Austin Pro Bono Award (2018–2024). Prior to joining Sidley, she was an intern in The Office of White House Counsel and for Judge Judith E. Levy of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Morgan Branch is a trial lawyer and litigation strategist who represents clients in their most important trial-level litigation matters and arbitrations. She has a diverse range of experience advising clients in pharmaceutical, medical device, food and beverage, manufacturing, commercial, and consumer goods in complex product liability cases, commercial litigation, and consumer class actions in state and federal courts. She also advises on domestic and international arbitration matters. Morgan counsels clients at every stage of litigation, from case management and discovery strategy through fact and expert witness depositions, mediation, jury exercises, arbitration, and trial.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
Morgan: I am a trial litigator and primarily defend companies that make and sell products: pharmaceuticals, medical devices, cosmetics, food and beverages, dietary supplements, and other consumer goods. My cases often involve large, complex MDL and high-stakes jury trials. My role spans the litigation life cycle: I help develop compelling narratives and case themes, prepare and defend witnesses at depositions, depose adverse witnesses, work with leading experts, file dispositive and expert motions, and prepare for trial. It also includes selecting and preparing bellwether trial cases. The most rewarding part is seeing that work all the way to the end when we take cases to a trial verdict. The most challenging (and fun) aspect about working on products liability matters is figuring out how to make important scientific concepts easily accessible for a judge or jury.
Amanda: My practice is focused on advising and defending leading pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer product, and life sciences companies in complex product liability, mass tort, and commercial litigation. I manage large-scale discovery and MDL coordination, advise clients on fact and expert development, and draft pleadings and dispositive briefing—motions to dismiss and remand and summary-judgment briefs. I also prepare and oppose Rule 702 and other evidentiary challenges. I counsel clients on a variety of legal issues regarding causation, jurisdiction, choice-of-law, and damages that provide the scaffolding for our factual and expert proofs. Clients turn to me for guidance on pre-litigation risk assessments, recall planning and crisis response, and advice on settlement posture and strategic trade-offs to align their legal strategy with business objectives.
What types of clients do you represent?
Our team represents global life sciences companies from bio/ pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers to major retailers. We also represent consumer product companies spanning food, beverage, dietary supplements, consumer packaged goods, and cosmetic manufacturers and retailers. We also represent automotive, social media and other technology, chemical and other industrial manufacturers, suppliers, and insurers.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
Morgan: My cases are focused on personal injury claims, mass torts (involving prescription drugs, devices, and consumer products), product-related class and consumer actions, and product-related commercial disputes. The products I defend may include items purchased in stores, treatments pre-scribed by doctors, and content consumed on the Internet.
Amanda: I handle the full range of product liability matters from high-exposure individual personal injury suits to coordinated mass tort MDLs and product-related class and consumer actions. I also work on regulatory-adjacent disputes that implicate FDA or other agency enforcement, cross-border discovery and multijurisdictional coordination, and coverage/indemnity issues for insurers and suppliers.
How did you choose this practice area?
Morgan: When I was a young lawyer, I was hyper-focused on chasing trial work. There was a product liability case that was getting ready for trial at the time, and I was lucky to be pulled into a jury exercise leading up to trial. I quickly realized that I enjoyed blending science with storytelling to create a compelling narrative for the jury. I continued working on product liability cases because the combination of science and human stories was fascinating to me, and product liability cases often lend themselves to jury trials. In addition, the product liability practice offers early, substantive experience for junior lawyers. The mass action format, which is often the framework for product liability litigation, provides early, hands-on experience for junior associates, including depositions and company witness preparation opportunities that my peers in business litigation were not getting.
Amanda: I was attracted to product liability because it is an exciting mix of rigorous legal analysis and high-stakes court-room practice. I enjoy the challenge of converting complex legal theories into trial-ready materials, but the opportunity to work directly with sophisticated in-house teams on their most important legal and business issues cemented my choice. Getting to serve as a trusted legal adviser to corporate litigation and product safety leaders helping shape litigation strategy, settlement posture, recall plans, and regulatory interactions makes the work not only intellectually challenging but also meaningfully tied to a client’s operational and reputational priorities.
What is a “typical” day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
Morgan: Product liability involves a great deal of collaboration and strategy. I spend a lot of time working with company witnesses and experts discussing strategy with our clients and co-counsel, communicating with opposing counsel, and coordinating the work of our teams. I am in constant communication with the lead partners on my cases, frequently in strategy sessions. Depending on the stage of the case, I argue at hearings, take and defend depositions, and handle dispositive briefings. Once a case is trial-ready, the work shifts to witness preparation, examination drafting, and trial strategy.
Amanda: There really isn’t a single “typical” day in products work. It’s driven by case stage and what’s next on the calendar, but most days blend strategic client counseling, intensive legal work, and hands-on trial preparation. Some days involve lots of meetings with clients or co-counsel to set priorities, while other days can be spent focused on researching thorny legal issues and drafting dispositive or evidentiary motions. During the height of discovery, I am primarily managing discovery strategy and disputes or preparing for fact or expert depositions. As we approach trial, the work shifts to witness prep, mock examination, demonstratives, and trial strategy.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
Products liability is a great practice area for someone with genuine curiosity about how things work and how to explain to juries why their preconceived notions about big companies might need more exploration into real details. While you undoubtedly need a good grasp of civil procedure, evidence, and torts, it will also be helpful to take some seminars or CLEs on basic statistics, scientific literacy, or an introductory course on engineering or public health—anything that helps you parse technical reports and expert methodology. If you’re interested in trial work, knowing your way around Microsoft PowerPoint is surprisingly useful.
What misconceptions exist about your practice area?
Two misconceptions stand out. First, the idea that this work is purely technical and, therefore, best suited only to people with scientific degrees or training is a misconception. A science background is not required, and many product liability lawyers do not have a significant science background, just like many business litigators do not have finance degrees. Success in this practice requires the ability to take the technical points and translate them to lay audiences and subject matter experts, and it is a real advantage to be skilled in bridging the gap between the technical experts and the judges and juries. The second misconception is that many product liability and mass tort lawyers show up only after litigation begins. In reality, a large part of the practice involves pre-litigation counseling, risk assessment, and recall/crisis planning. We are proud not only to represent our clients in litigation but also to mitigate the risk of going to litigation.
What is unique about your practice area at your firm?
Sidley’s product liability and mass torts practice is defined by integrated strength: national trial experience and MDL leadership combined with firmwide regulatory, government investigations, appellate, and transactional capabilities. A cross-functional approach means that every case or client’s counseling benefits from the wide breadth of specialists in Sidley’s global platform. We routinely serve as lead counsel in MDLs and state coordinated proceedings, and our partners have taken cases to verdict across the United States. Clients benefit from case management that is both high-caliber and client-focused. We prioritize plans that are efficient, strategic, and aligned with business goals.
Equally important, our approach emphasizes fact and expert development. We embrace complex scientific and medical issues and invest in developing the experts and narrative themes that drive litigation success. We also provide proactive counsel, including preapproval risk assessments and recall/crisis responses, so clients can address vulnerabilities before litigation arises. Finally, our cross-disciplinary interface (with the FDA, EPA, DOJ, and intellectual property, regulatory, and corporate teams) and a bench that includes former agency officials give clients an insider’s perspective on com-plex enforcement and compliance challenges.
How do you see this practice area evolving in the future?
Product liability work is evolving and becoming more technically complex, global, and regulatory-driven. As products integrate more software, connectivity, and AI, litigation will increasingly involve cybersecurity, data integrity, and algorithmic causation, requiring deeper cross-disciplinary expert work.
At the same time, heightened agency and prosecutor activity will make pre-market counseling, compliance advice, and crisis planning more critical than ever. Global supply chains and cross-border issues will demand sophisticated multijurisdictional coordination, while advances in e-discovery, analytics, and visualization will reshape case development. Courts’ scrutiny of expert methods will increase, with lawyers needing to work on having even better technical literacy, sharper project management skills, and truly integrated teams.
What kinds of experiences can summer associates gain in this practice area at your firm?
Summer associates get substantive, hands-on exposure from drafting research memos on causation and admissibility to preparing deposition outlines, summarizing technical materials, and assisting with MDL or coordinated proceedings. They are also invited to court hearings, depositions, and client meetings. Under close supervision, summer associates take on real responsibility researching and drafting motions, supporting witness prep, and preparing for client presentations so they see how cross-disciplinary teams collaborate from start to finish.