It might seem odd to describe a practice group at one of the country’s best-known firms as up-and-coming. The mass torts and insurance litigation group at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has done impressive work for years under the leadership of Sheila Birnbaum, a star of the product liability field. But two developments in 2009 significantly boosted the group’s profile.
The department’s first big break was when Pfizer Inc. picked partner Mark Cheffo as national coordinating counsel for litigation involving the antiepilepsy drug Neurontin. The pharma giant had previously used Davis Polk & Wardwell to handle consumer fraud suits related to Neurontin, and Shook, Hardy & Bacon to cover personal injury claims. But after Amy Schulman became Pfizer’s general counsel in 2008, the company selected Cheffo to coordinate both components of the Neurontin litigation.
