Russell Stewart is a litigation partner in the firm. He focuses on the defense of prescription drugs and toxic torts, and has most recently served as national and trial counsel in Seroquel®, pain-pump and thimerosal litigation. He has extensive experience defending manufacturers of bupivacaine, ropivacaine, second generation anti-psychotics, flu vaccines, dtp vaccines, breast implants and PPA. He has taken and defended hundreds of depositions of plaintiffs and experts in disciplines such as epidemiology, immunology, pathology, rheumatology, psychiatry, neurology, ophthalmology, pathology, pharmacology, pulmonology, anesthesiology, orthopedics and toxicology. He has prepared and argued extensive Daubert motions, and has decades of experience identifying, interviewing, retaining, deposing and presenting experts for Daubert hearings and trial. Russell is a sustaining member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, where he is the immediate past chair of the Toxic and Hazardous Substances Litigation Committee.
Representative litigation and decisions:
- In re: Seroquel Product Liability Litigation, 6:06-md-1769-Orl-22DAB (M.D. Florida 2006) (More than 6,000 cases alleging that second generation anti-psychotics cause weight gain and diabetes)
- Friedland v. TIC, No. 04-CV-01263, 2008 WL 185693 (D. Colo. Jan. 18, 2008) ($20 million CERCLA contribution action involving the Summitville Mine)
- Theiss v. I-Flow, 08-CV-02606-CMA (D. Colo. 2008) (bupivacaine)
- Hoy v. DJO, 08-CV-1435 (Arapahoe County, Colo. 2008) (bupivacaine)
- Alderfer v. Breg, 08-CV-1297-EWN (D. Colo. 2008) (bupivacaine)
- Sullivan v. I-Flow, 08-CV-02648-MSK (D. Colo. 2008) (bupivacaine)
- Hansen v. DJO, 08-CV-365-MSK (D. Colo. 2008) (bupivacaine)
- Archuleta v. Houseworth, 08-CV-962 (D. Colo. 2008) (bupivacaine)
- St. John's Church in the Wilderness v. Scott, 194 P.3d 475 (Colo. App. 2008) (First Amendment appeal raising conflict between free speech and free exercise protections)
- Mailes, et al. v. McDonalds Restaurants of Colorado, Inc., civil action no. 03-CV-1118-WDM-PAC (D. Colo. 2003) (Section 1981 discrimination claim)
- Sidhu v. Sherard, et al., civil action no. 06-CV-208 (D. Wy. 2007) (wrongful termination of participant in Wyoming Medicaid program)
- Nance v. Kone, et al., civil action no. 05-CV-3703 (Denver District Court) (defense of personal injury allegations arising from accident at Coors Field)
- Fanning v. Laboratory Corporation of America, case no 05-cv-01899-LTB-CBS (D. Colo. 2005) (prostatectomy; application of the Colorado Health Care Availability Act)
- City Council of the City of Cherry Hills Village v. South Suburban Park and Recreation District, no. 05-CA-0292 (March 22, 2007) (vacating $9.6 million trial court award)
- Garcia v. Aventis Pasteur Inc., 01-2-27335-3 (King Co. Wash., 2003) (nationwide medical monitoring class action; National Vaccine Injury Act)
- Mead v. Aventis Pasteur Inc., 0107-0737 (Multnomah County, 2003) (nation wide medical monitoring class action; National Vaccine Injury Act)
- Blackmon v. American Home Products Corp., Slip Copy, 2005 WL 1503547, (S.D.Tex., 2005) (DTaP thimerosal)
- Blackmon v. American Home Products Corp., 346 F.Supp.2d 907, (S.D.Tex., 2004) (DTaP/thimerosal)
- Blackmon v. American Home Products Corp., 328 F.Supp.2d 647,( S.D.Tex., 2004) (DTaP/thimerosal)
- Owens ex rel. Schafer v. American Home Products Corp., 203 F.Supp.2d 748, (S.D.Tex., 2002) (DTaP/thimerosal)
- Blackmon v. American Home Products Corp., 267 F.Supp.2d 667, (S.D.Tex., 2002 (DTaP/thimerosal)
- Byrn v. Aventis Pasteur, Inc., 1-03CV0118 (E.D. Tex. 2003) (influenza vaccine)
- Davidson v. Aventis Pasteur, Inc., CJ-2003-43 (PC), (Kay County Ok., 2003) (influenza Vaccine)
- Owens v. Wyeth, 203 F.Supp2d 748 (S.D. Tex. 2002) (National Vaccine Injury Act; thimerosal)
- Strauss v. Wyeth, 208 F.Supp2d 711 (S.D. Tex. 2002) (National Vaccine Injury Act; statute of limitations)
- Culbertson v. Leavitt, 4:05 CV-00067-RP-TJS (U.S. Dist. Iowa 2004) (National Vaccine Injury Act)
- Teiken v. Reynolds, 904 P.2d 1387 (Colo. App. 1995) (silicone breast implants)
- Pall Corporation v. HemaSure, 99-M-675 (D. Colo. 1999) (blood filter patent validity and infringement action)
- Canino v. Novartis, 03-WD-0295 (D. Colo. 2003) (PPA)
- Emswiler v. Novartis, 5-CV012-D (D. WY. 2005) (PPA)
- In re Breast Implant Litigation,11 F.Supp.2d 1217 (D. Colo. 1998) (Daubert ruling dismissing silicone breast implant claims)
- Sturm v. Old Republic Insurance Co., 14-REB-2319 (D. Colo. 2004) (Insurance Coverage dispute)
- Casias v. Skyline Corporation, 99-CV-126 (Otero Co. Colo. 1999) (alleged product defect, manufactured homes)
- In re Western Pacific Airlines, Inc., 216 B.R. 437 (D. Colo. 1998) (aircraft and aircraft engine lease disputes)
- Spokes v. IMCOA, 97- Z-1694, (D. Colo. 1997) ($65 million licensing and breach of contract dispute)
- UHC Management Co. v. Computer Sciences Corporation, 148 F.3d 992 (8th Cir. 1998) (arbitration of $23 million claim)
- Teleconnect v. US WEST, 508 N.W.2d 644 (Iowa 1993) ($60 million claim filed tariff doctrine)
- Schmidt v. Frankewich, 819 P.2d 1074 (Colo. App. 1991) (establishing privity requirement for attorney malpractice claims)
- Central Bank Denver, N.A. v. Mehaffy, Rider, Windholz & Wilson, 940 P.2d 1097 (Colo. App. 1997) (dismissal of attorney malpractice claims)
- Gerimed v. TransAmerica Insurance Co., 00-N-6592 (D. Colo. 2000) ($1 million claim on behalf of client for insurance company's refusal to pay on stop loss coverage policy)
- Pharo v. HCA, 00-CV-643 (Denver Dist. 2000) (jury verdict)
- Denver v. L..C. Fulenwider, et al, 88-CV-24566 (Denver Dist. 1988) ($58 million condemnation award by commission in favor of landowners whose property was taken for construction of the Denver International Airport)
- The Best Lawyers in America — Mass Tort Litigation; Product Liability Litigation, 2012
- International Association of Defense Counsel — Colorado Chapter, Chair
- International Association of Defense Counsel — Toxic and Hazardous Substances Litigation Committee, Chair, 2008-10
- The Defense Research Institute
- Colorado Supreme Court — Committee on Jury Instructions
- City of Cherry Hills Village — Mayor Pro Tem
- U.S. District Court of Colorado, Hon. Richard P. Matsch, 1984-86
- Managing the Global Law Firm
International Association of Defense Counsel, Barcelona (2010)
- The Summitville Mine, CERCLA Contribution, and the Collateral Source Rule
International Association of Defense Counsel, Carlsbad (2009)
- Recent Experience with Express Preemption Defenses Following Bates v. Dow Agrosciences, and the Future for Implied Preemption
International Association of Defense Counsel, Bermuda (2007)
- Legal Trends and Best Practices in Class Arbitration
The Colorado Lawyer (2011)
- A Practitioner's Guide to Class Actions
Chapter on Colorado law, American Bar Association (2010)
- CERCLA Contribution Claims and the Collateral Source Rule
Defense Counsel Journal, Vol. 76., No. 4 (October 2009)
Related Practices
Class Actions
Consumer Fraud Litigation
Drug & Device Litigation
Health Care Litigation
Litigation & Advocacy
Mass Tort Litigation
Product Liability Litigation
Toxic Tort Litigation
Related Industries
Health Care
Life Sciences
Manufacturing & Industrials
Education
University of Michigan Law School
J.D. (1984)
Colorado College
B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa (1981)
Legal Updates
10-November-2009 - CERCLA Contribution Claims and the Collateral Source Rule
News
06-September-2011 - Ninety Faegre & Benson Lawyers Listed in The Best Lawyers in America
10-September-2010 - Jim O'Neal and Russell Stewart Author Chapters in ABA Publication
Bar Admissions
Colorado
Kansas
Wyoming
Court Admissions
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas
U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
Representative Matters
Won Supreme Court Decision in Favor of Client TIC-The Industrial Company