Two women have been appointed to lead federal multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder, including one whose firm obtained three verdicts this year.
U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson of the District of New Jersey appointed Leigh O’Dell and Michelle Parfitt as co-leads on a plaintiffs leadership team that includes six other women and 12 men. The appointment is the second in the past week in which leadership posts in multidistrict litigation, traditionally dominated by male attorneys, have been given to two women. On Nov. 30, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania appointed two women to lead an antitrust case.
