Harteis Returns to Products Liability Defense Litigation Roots
McCarter & English today announced Lindsey Harteis, former Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, has joined the firm’s Products Liability, Mass Torts & Consumer Class Actions group as special counsel in its Philadelphia office.
Harteis brings nine years of prosecutorial experience at both the federal and state levels, as well as a strong foundation in products liability litigation from her earlier private practice career. She looks forward to returning to defense work primarily focused in the life sciences and healthcare sectors.
“I have long admired McCarter for its impressive collective trial and appellate litigators in the life sciences space and I am excited to join the team.” Harteis said. “As an added bonus, I will be working with former colleagues who joined the firm before I did—doing great work with great people at a great place – it’s the trifecta for me.”
Harteis brings significant first chair trial experience in both state and federal courts. At the US Attorney’s office, she handled a wide range of criminal matters, including FDA criminal violations, unauthorized distribution of narcotics, economic crimes, tax crimes, immigration issues, and civil rights matters. Prior to serving as an AUSA, Harteis spent several years as an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia, where she handled dozens of bench and jury trials, hundreds of hearings, and more than 100 appeals—including obtaining a unanimous reversal on a case dispositive issue in the Pennsylvania superior court.
“Lindsey’s combined private practice experience and public prosecutorial work is invaluable in today’s regulatory environment,” said Ryan Richman, chair of the Products Liability, Mass Torts & Consumer Class Actions practice. “We know she will be effective for our clients in extremely high-pressure, high-stakes situations; we are fortunate to have her on our team.”
At the start of her legal career, Harteis was an associate at Reed Smith defending clients in the healthcare and life sciences industries in multidistrict and commercial litigation and counseling them on False Claims Act (FCA) matters, regulatory affairs, contract disputes, and sales and marketing practices. Notably, her work included overseeing the discovery and document production in a large scale FCA case.
Harteis received her J.D. from Temple University, Beasley School of Law, cum laude, and her B.A. in Government, magna cum laude, from Franklin & Marshall College.