LAWYER
Judy L. Leone
Senior Counsel | Philadelphia
Judy L. Leone

Judy L. Leone has more than 20 years’ experience working on cutting-edge litigation, leading teams in the defense of individual and class actions involving product liability, consumer fraud, warranty, negligence and misrepresentation claims. Ms. Leone has been nationally recognized by The Legal 500 US for her work in the Product Liability and Mass Torts: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices field. She has been consistently ranked as a leading lawyer by The Best Lawyers in America for mass tort class action litigation and personal injury litigation. Since 2013, she has been consistently named a "Life Sciences Star" by LMG Life Sciences. She has also been a member of the nationally recognized and Chambers ranked product liability and mass torts practice group at Dechert.

Ms. Leone represents pharmaceutical companies in product liability, mass tort and consumer fraud litigation, having started her career defending some of the first consumer fraud class actions in the United States, including representing Philip Morris in cases brought nationwide under new Consumer Protection Acts. Her extensive experience representing these clients in the Mass Tort Program in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas (PCCP) provides her with a unique perspective on that Court.

  • Bayer as local trial counsel in mass tort litigation in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas concerning prescription anti-coagulant medication.
  • Johnson & Johnson as lead appellate counsel in Pennsylvania mass tort litigation claiming personal injury from use of Risperdal, a prescription atypical antipsychotic medication.
  • Saint-Gobain Corporation in an action by 247 UK residents and their estates who seek damages as a result of the 2017 fire at Grenfell Tower, a high-rise apartment building in London. In March 2020, Saint-Gobain secured an order of dismissal due to its lack of involvement in the fire or products at issue.
  • Pfizer as national counsel in the Zoloft MDL, where hundreds of plaintiffs alleged that maternal use of Zoloft, an antidepressant, caused their children to be born with various birth defects. Dechert convinced the court early in the litigation that the most efficient approach to the MDL would be to stage general causation ahead of other case specific issues. With that framework, Dechert successfully excluded all of plaintiffs’ general causation testimony and secured summary judgment in the entire MDL. The Third Circuit unanimously affirmed. Dechert also successfully defended and defeated cases pending in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
  • AstraZeneca in multi-district litigation and state court product liability litigation related to an anti-psychotic medication, playing lead roles in the preparation and defense of company witnesses and in briefing strategy and in the coordination and U.S. and Canadian litigation.
  • Views from the Plaintiff and Defense Bar on the New Rules — HarrisMartin Complex Litigation Conference: Examining the Court's New Mass Tort and Asbestos Protocols, Philadelphia, PA (June 5, 2012)
  • Minimizing Purchaser/Consumer Fraud Class Action Off-Label Liabilities — ACI 6th Annual Pharmaceutical Counsel's Guide to Off-Label Communications, Philadelphia, PA (July 15, 2009)
  • Optimizing the Effectiveness of Multiple Communication Channels While Minimizing Off-Label Promotion Risks — Third Annual Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Counsel's Guide to Off-Label Communications, Chicago, IL (September 13, 2006)
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    • Vanderbilt University, B.A., 1978, summa cum laude
    • Temple University Beasley School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude
    • Pennsylvania
    • Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
    • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
    • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit