Colleen M. Hennessey

Colleen is a trial lawyer with 30 years of experience representing clients in high stakes complex products liability, pharmaceutical and medical device and health care litigation. She has served as trial counsel, national counsel and science counsel in coordinated state court proceedings and multi-district litigation in state and federal courts nationally.  Colleen also advises and represents corporate and individual clients involving professional liability and healthcare matters.

A dedicated and respected litigator, Colleen has a reputation for mastering complex scientific issues and presenting those issues in the most effective way in motion practice, evidentiary hearings and at trial. Colleen works with each of her clients to develop a strategy that supports the client’s objectives.  Clients appreciate her thorough and thoughtful approach to the issues they face, as well as her ability to efficiently analyze complex issues and work collaboratively with client representatives to achieve desired outcomes.

• American Bar Association
• Boston Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute
• Women’s Bar Association

• Lawyers for Civil Justice, Annual Meeting, The Accutane Decision and the Daubert Factors (December 2018)
• American Conference Institute, Drug and Medical Litigation Conference, Training the Next Generation of Life Sciences Attorneys to Become an Asset – Deposition Practice (December 2017)
• American Conference Institute, Women Leaders in Life Sciences Law, Year in Review: 2016-2017 Legal Updates by Practice Area (July 2017)
• American Conference Institute, Women Leaders in Life Sciences Law, What Women Leaders in the Life Sciences Law Must Know about Products Liability, Mass Torts, and “Bet-the-Company” Litigation (July 2016)
• Boston Bar Association, Multidistrict Litigation from the Plaintiff, Defense, and Judicial Perspectives (April 2016)
• American Conference Institute, Drug and Medical Litigation Conference, Preparing the Next Generation of Leaders of the Defense Bar- Strategy and Trial Advocacy Deep-Dive (December 2015)

In re: Accutane Litigation, 234 N.J. 340 (2018) (New Jersey Supreme Court adopts Daubert factors and affirms exclusion of plaintiff’s experts resulting in dismissal of over two thousand cases).

Freeman v. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., 300 Neb. 47 (2018) (affirming exclusion of causation expert).

Rossitto v. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Wilkinson v. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Reynolds v. Hoffmann- La Roche, Inc., and Young v. Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., Superior Court of New Jersey, Atlantic County, 2012 (Trial Counsel).

Andrews v. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Greenblatt v. Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., and Gaghan v. Hoffmann-La Roche, Superior Court of New Jersey, Atlantic County, 2011 (Trial Counsel).  “Roche Win Upheld in ‘Twin Peaks’ Star’s Accutane Case,” Law360, August 4, 2014.

McCarrell v. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Superior Court of New Jersey, Atlantic County, 2010 (Trial Counsel).

Palazzolo v. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., No. A-3789-07T3, 2010 WL 363834 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Feb. 3, 2010).

Stupak v. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., 326 Fed. Appx. 553 (11^th Cir. 2009).

• Senior Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America