Makenzie Windfelder | McCarter & English, LLP

Makenzie Windfelder is a veteran litigator who regularly represents some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in high-stakes product liability and multidistrict litigation. She is valued by clients for her depth of experience particularly in the realm of e-Discovery, where she advises clients on complex discovery issues and implementation of defensible, consistent, cost effective strategies.

Makenzie has been involved in defending major pharmaceutical companies in various state and federal product liability, antitrust, and patent litigations where she has assisted with witness preparation, interviewing and advising company employees, and liaising with regional and national defense counsel on a variety of issues.

Makenzie has collaborated with counsel on defense steering committees as lead defensive discovery counsel, appearing in court and managing all aspects of e-discovery, helping to ensure discovery does not become an expensive side show. She routinely advises clients on issues relating to litigation preparedness as well as discovery strategy in active litigation, including implementation of cost-efficient, defensible, and consistent discovery strategies and protocols.

Makenzie has considerable experience in the electronic discovery arena and has served as Special Discovery Master in the Superior Court of Delaware. She is also a member of the Electronic Discovery Institute and the Sedona Conference® Working Group on Electronic Document Retention and Production.

In her general practice, Makenzie has experience litigating arbitrations and disputes in both federal and state courts in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Makenzie is a member of McCarter’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and McCarter’s Women’s Initiative Steering Committee, which presides over the policies that have led to McCarter receiving Gold Standard Certification from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum for five consecutive years. Prior to joining McCarter, Makenzie worked in sales and marketing for two global pharmaceutical companies.

Makenzie is actively engaged in providing pro bono representation to clients through Delaware Volunteer Legal Services, which contributed to the Delaware State Bar Association awarding McCarter & English the Leadership Award for its commitment to Delaware’s indigent population.

Served as Special Discovery Master in Novipax Holdings LLC v. Sealed Air Corp, a closely watched litigation in the Superior Court of Delaware involving issues related to anti-reliance clauses and fraud claims in merger agreements.

Serving as national E-Discovery counsel to an international pharmaceutical company and affiliates in opioid litigation involving thousands of cases filed by multiple state and local government entities as well as private plaintiffs asserting claims relating to the clients’ alleged sales, marketing and/or distribution practices with respect to prescription opioid medications. Many of these cases have been coordinated in a federal MDL pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, while others remain pending in various state courts.

Serving on the defense steering committee and as national discovery counsel to a major multinational pharmaceutical business in ongoing and high-profile litigation alleging a class of heartburn drugs cause chronic kidney disease, renal failure, or other kidney problems. The representation involves over 10,000 cases, and includes appearing in Court and advising on all discovery issues related to In Re: Proton-Pump Inhibitor Products Liability Litigation, a multi-district litigation in the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, and in numerous state courts across the country.

Served as discovery counsel for Fortune 100 client sued for $50 million in damages in the Middle District of Florida. Court granted summary judgment, pursuant to discovery which proved client was a mere conduit and therefore did not have control of funds and carried out its obligations in good faith.

Served on the team that obtained summary judgment for a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company in the PPI bone fracture multi-district litigation. After granting our motion to exclude plaintiffs’ expert testimony on general causation, the Court granted our general causation motion for summary judgment in its entirety, resulting in the dismissal of the remaining plaintiffs in the MDL. There were in excess of 1,700 plaintiffs in the MDL; plaintiffs have paid the pharmaceutical company ~$80,000 in sanctions. The company has paid no settlements, and all of the claims have been or will soon be dismissed. There are still 37 cases left in California state court, although we are hopeful that the state court judge will be influenced by the MDL court’s analysis and decision.

Served as national discovery counsel in the defense of hundreds of cases consolidated in the Superior Court of the State of California that alleged a multinational pharmaceutical company’s blockbuster cholesterol drug causes diabetes, cardiovascular problems, and liver and kidney problems.

Served as national discovery counsel in mass tort litigation targeting a blockbuster antipsychotic drug. Managed what was at the time the largest and most compressed ESI production effort in the history of electronic discovery. Responsible for the oversight and management of a review team comprised of over 800 reviewers. Produced ~4,752,000 documents (40 million pages) and 13GB of structured data.

Served as national discovery counsel in Bupivacaine pain pump litigation. Managed discovery for litigation filed in various jurisdictions nation-wide. Conferred with numerous plaintiffs' counsel for the purpose of memorializing the terms of ESI Agreements and Protective Orders and drafting of same.

Served as E-Discovery counsel in MDL in which plaintiffs allege that they suffered diabetic ketoacidosis and kidney damage from a blockbuster diabetes drug. The plaintiffs alleged that the drug’s co-promoters failed to adequately test the drugs and to warn doctors and patients of risks.

Liaised with national counsel in numerous matters, including product liability, patent and antitrust litigations, on discovery issues, as well as drafting and negotiating favorable orders that tailor the scope of discovery to align with litigation strategy.

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