Tell us about your top U.S. Supreme Court or federal appeals court victory over the past year and how you and your team achieved the win.

We represent[ed] Merck in a case involving failure-to-warn claims. Pharmaceutical manufacturers can prevail by proving the [Food and Drug Administration] would have rejected the warning. In Merck v. Albrecht, however, the Third Circuit required manufacturers to prove this defense to a jury, by clear and convincing evidence, effectively gutting it. [U.S.] Supreme Court review seemed unlikely without a split. But [we] asked the court to rein in the lower courts’ disregard for preemption, not to resolve a split. After the FDA took Merck’s side, the court granted certiorari and unanimously reversed. By putting preemption back in judges’ hands, the court eased manufacturers’ path toward victory.