Diane E. Lifton

Diane E. Lifton, ranked by The Legal 500 United States as one of the top product liability and mass tort defense lawyers (pharmaceuticals and medical devices), is Co-Chair of Hughes Hubbard's Life Sciences and Product Liability Groups. Ms. Lifton is also the Co-Chair of Hughes Hubbard’s Hiring and Diversity Committees.

In her roles as Co-Chair of the Product Liability Group and a member of the litigation department, Ms. Lifton has represented a broad spectrum of product manufacturers in the coordination and trial of high stakes pharmaceutical, medical device, and toxic tort product liability, patent, and commercial litigations. In addition, Ms. Lifton has handled numerous cases involving asbestos exposure, tobacco, and a variety of industrial products. She has extensive experience developing medical and scientific experts — and successfully challenging  the opponent’s experts — in a broad range of  fields, including  pharmacology, toxicology, oncology, pathology, gastroenterology, dermatology, neurology, rheumatology, cardiology, psychiatry, pulmonology,  materials science, and FDA regulations.

As Co-Chair of Hughes Hubbard’s Life Sciences Group, Ms. Lifton develops and serves on cross-disciplinary HHR teams that support the business goals of the firm’s pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology clients. With more than 25 years of experience, Ms. Lifton has counseled clients throughout the life cycle of their businesses and their products, evaluating existing internal company policies and developing new ones, collaborating in the evaluation and updating of compliance programs, supporting clinical trial programs through the drafting and negotiation of clinical research and indemnification agreements, reviewing contracts and sales and marketing material accompanying product launch, assessing the impact of social media on product safety surveillance, conducting due diligence associated with the licensing and acquisition of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and performing pre-litigation risk management and training. Cross-disciplinary teams provide client support in a host of areas, including in the identification of potential new areas of product investment through market research and analysis; in the acquisition of intellectual property, product lines and target companies through M&A, joint ventures and licensing deals; in the litigation and arbitration of disputes arising out of such collaborations; in the prevention and investigation of compliance-related issues; and in the assessment of export controls.

Ms. Lifton advocates for changes in local and federal laws affecting product manufacturers in her frequent lectures and publications and through her membership on the Legal Advisory Board of the New Jersey Institute for Civil Justice. Areas of reform she has addressed that are critical to reduction of mass litigation against industry include bringing state evidentiary standards applicable to the admissibility of scientific opinions in line with federal Daubert principles, reducing the reach of state consumer fraud statutes, reduction of exposure to punitive damages, and federal preemption of state law claims. 

• Moderator, Women Leaders in Life Sciences Law, "I Wish Someone Had Told Me: Advice from Life Sciences General Counsel on Embracing Influence and Power and Running a Successful Legal Department," American Conference Institute, Boston, MA, July 27-29, 2016
• Co-speaker, American Conference Institute (ACI) Forum on Promotional Review Compliance for Drugs and Devices, "Proactively Structuring Your Promotional Review Systems by Identifying New Drug and Device Litigation Trends," American Conference Institute, Philadelphia, PA, Jan. 11-13, 2016
• Moderator, Women Leaders in Life Sciences Law, "I Wish Someone Had Told Me: Advice from Life Sciences General Counsel on Embracing Influence and Power and Running a Successful Legal Department," American Conference Institute, Boston, MA, July 23-24, 2015
• Moderator, 19th Annual Drug and Medical Litigation, "View from the General Counsel's Office: Limiting Liability and Managing and Reducing Costs in Drug and Med Litigation," American Conference Institute, New York, NY, Dec. 8-10, 2014
• Moderator, Women Leaders in Life Sciences Law, "I Wish Someone Had Told Me: Advice from Life Sciences General Counsel on Embracing Influence and Power and Running a Successful Legal Department," American Conference Institute, Boston, MA, July 28-29, 2014
• Moderator and Panelist, 16th Annual Drug and Medical Litigation, "Diversity: What Are Corporate Counsel Looking For and Has It Fallen By the Wayside," American Conference Institute, New York, NY, Dec. 5-7, 2011
• Moderator, 15th Annual Drug and Medical Litigation, "Alternative Litigation Strategies and Models Directed at Reducing Legal Costs," American Conference Institute, New York, NY, Dec. 7-9, 2010
• Panelist, 13th Annual Drug and Medical Device Litigation, Expert Strategies for Leading Litigators and In-House Counsel, "Reducing and Managing Costs Associated with Product Liability Litigation," American Conference Institute, New York, NY, Dec. 9-11, 2008
• Panelist, Third Annual Biotech Institute and Regional Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Workshop, Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association, "Negotiating an Effective Clinical Trial Agreement and Limiting Litigation Exposure," Rockville, MD, Oct. 8, 2008
• Panelist, Third Legal and Regulatory Forum on Conducting International Clinical Trials, "The Integrity of the Process: Securing Valid Informed Consent and Ensuring That Trials Are Conducted in an Ethical Manner," Boston, MA, Sept. 25, 2008
• Speaker, 10th National Conference on Managing Risks in Structuring and Conducting Clinical Trials, "Negotiating Risk Allocation with Limitation of Liability, Indemnification and Insurance Provision," Boston, MA, Sept. 23, 2008
• Panelist, Gibbons Women's Initiative and New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association, "The Changing Face of the Workforce - Attracting and Retaining Women at All Levels and Across Generations," Morristown, NJ, June 5, 2008
• Speaker, 12th Annual Drug and Medical Device Litigation, Expert Strategies for Leading Litigators and In-House Counsel, "Controlling the Uncontrollable: How Recent Drug Safety Legislation and Tort Reform Will Affect Products Liability Risk (Punitive Damages)," American Conference Institute, New York, NY, Dec. 12-14, 2007
• Co-speaker, 11th Annual Drug and Medical Device Litigation, "Mastering Procedural Trends in Multidistrict Litigation (MDL), Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), and State Court Consolidated Proceedings," New York, NY, Dec. 14-15, 2006
• Co-chair and speaker, DIA Workshop – Are Your Intellectual Assets at Risk? "Drilling Down to the Common Denominator: Tips for Ensuring that Your Policies and Procedures for Data and Document Management Minimize Litigation Risks," Baltimore, MD, Dec. 4-5, 2006
• Program Speaker Preemption, Drug and Medical Device Litigation, Expert Strategies for Leading Litigators on the FDA and In-House Counsel, American Conference Institute, Chicago, IL, June 29-30, 2006
• Co-speaker with Sheila Birnbaum on the Class Action Fairness Act, Tenth Annual Program on Advanced Issues in Drug and Medical Device Litigation, American Conference Institute, New York, NY, Dec. 13-14, 2005
• Co-chair, program moderator, and speaker on Tort Reform and Protective Orders, Ninth Annual Program on Advanced Issues in Drug and Medical Device Litigation, American Conference Institute, New York, NY, Dec. 12-14, 2004; Co-speaker with Allen Waxman of Pfizer on tort reform. Speaker, workshop on Protective Orders
• Program moderator on The Rise of Preemption, American Bar Association Annual Regional Meeting on Current Issues in Pharmaceutical Litigation and Policy, Nov. 8, 2004
• Co-chair, program moderator and speaker, Ninth Annual Program on Advanced Issues in Drug and Medical Device Litigation, American Conference Institute, New York, NY, Dec. 12-14, 2004, Co-speaker with Allen Waxman of Pfizer on Tort Reform. Speaker, workshop on Protective Orders

• Selected to try the first New Jersey cases alleging cardiac and stroke injuries in a New Jersey pharmaceutical mass tort litigation with successful resolution of 125 cases after initiation of expert challenges
• Secured preclusion of plaintiff's sole medical and addiction causation expert under Daubert in a product liability case
• Selected to try the first case alleging psychiatric injury in a New Jersey pharmaceutical mass tort litigation and won summary judgment pretrial following a Rule 702/703 hearing and exclusion of the plaintiff's sole medical causation expert
• Tried the first case alleging systemic injury in a New Jersey pharmaceutical mass tort litigation
• Obtained a directed verdict on punitive damages
• Obtained a defense verdict on the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act
• Secured appellate reversal of a multimillion-dollar plaintiff's verdict
• Spearheaded successful opposition to the designation of a New Jersey pharmaceutical litigation as a "mass tort"