Kendra Goldhirsch

Kendra is a 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 Super Lawyers Rising Star for the New York Metro area. Ms. Goldhirsch’s practice focuses on complex product liability and mass tort litigation, as well as significant personal injury matters. She has developed particular expertise in the area of pharmaceutical and medical device litigation.

Ms. Goldhirsch currently handles the day-to-day management of the firm’s Zantac, Essure, Transvaginal Mesh, Hernia Mesh, 3T Heater Cooler Unit, Talc, Pradaxa, and Xarelto litigations. She has been a member of multiple trial teams in pharmaceutical bellwether cases that were tried to verdict in state and federal courts.  Ms. Goldhirsch has further prepared successful petitions to centralize mass tort litigations.  She also briefed successful dispositive and evidentiary motions and oppositions addressing a variety of topics including, jurisdiction, removal and remand, forum non-convenies, complex expert and regulatory matters, drug labeling, and federal preemption.

Before joining Chaffin Luhana, Ms. Goldhirsch was an associate at another prominent national plaintiffs firm, where she represented thousands of injured individuals in pharmaceutical and medical device cases.  In 2014, Ms. Goldhirsch was a member of the Actos Multidistrict Litigation trial team that secured a multi-billion dollar verdict.  (See Allen, et al. v. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. et al., Case No. 6:12-cv-00064).   She was also involved in briefing a successful motion in limine opposition that resulted in the admission of evidence of a hip implant recall in the DePuy ASR California state court bellwether trial. Ms. Goldhirsch also prepared presentations and appeared at hearings and Case Management Conferences on behalf of the DePuy PSC. The DePuy ASR litigation and ultimately resolved with a large global settlement prior to any trials.

Ms. Goldhirsch has been involved in Electronically Stored Information (ESI) discovery in a number of litigations.  In the DePuy ASR Hip Implant Multidistrict litigation (MDL), Ms. Goldhirsch coordinated the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee’s (PSC) review of over 60 million pages of corporate ESI discovery on behalf of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee (PEC).  She also managed the white papers submissions that were used by PSC counsel for corporate deposition preparation.   Ms. Goldhirsch has also negotiated corporate discovery of ESI in an Over-The-Counter dietary supplement litigation. She further managed a team responsible for targeted document review in the Fosamax MDL to support plaintiffs’ preemption briefing.

Ms. Goldhirsch’s mass tort litigation experience has included various products including 3T Heater Cooler Unit, Actos, Cochlear Implants, Accutane, Avandia, DePuy ASR, Fosamax, Hydroxycut Dietary Supplements, Power Morcellator, Seroquel, and Xarelto.

In addition to mass tort litigation, Ms. Goldhirsch litigates catastrophic single-event cases from inception.  As such, she is responsible for researching and investigating theories of liability and causation, drafting pleadings, motions, and discovery, and the preparation of experts, trial submissions and settlement materials.

Kendra’s 2018 and 2019 Chaffin Luhana Foundation charity donations were to The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH). This charity was started in 1998 as a food pantry servicing Bedstuy, Brownsville, and Ocean Hill and has grown to be the largest food pantry in Brooklyn. Kendra’s contribution will support the food pantry as well TCAH’s mission to connect local Brooklyn residents with healthy living programs, financial services, and educational programs.

Additional Plaintiff Successes

• Member of the trial teams for pharmaceutical bellwether trials in:
  • In Re: Actos [Pioglitazone] Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 2299;
  • In Re: Fosamax Products Liability Litigation II, MDL 2243 (D.N.J.) (femur fracture); and
  • New Jersey State Court Accutane bellwether case, Kathleen Rossitto v. Hoffman-La Roche, 007481-10
• Lead brief writer for:
  • Plaintiff’s case-specific and general medical causation Daubert opposition brief in In Re: Actos [Pioglitazone] Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 2299;
  • Plaintiff’s case-specific and general medical causation Daubert opposition brief In Re: Fosamax Products Liability Litigation II, MDL Docket No. 2243; and
  • Plaintiffs’ opposition to Order to Show Cause on Preemption in In Re: Fosamax Products Liability Litigation II, MDL 2243 (D.N.J.) (femur fracture)
  • Plaintiff’s Summary Judgment opposition and oppositions to motions to exclude plaintiffs’ experts (Kemp motions) in New Jersey State Court Seroquel bellwether cases
  • Plaintiff’s Summary Judgment opposition on the adequacy of the label and proximate causation in a New Jersey State Court Accutane bellwether case

Practice Areas

• Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Mass Torts
• Product Liability
• Premises Liability
• Auto and Trucking
• Workplace Injuries

Recognitions and Publications

• Super Lawyer Rising Stars, New York Metro, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019
• Co-Author, “The Consent Requirement on a Removal Petition, PaJustice News. Vol IX, No. 2.” (May 2016)
• Author, The Legal Examiner

Education

• Brooklyn Law School
• Boston University; B.A. in Psychology and Sociology

Memberships, Affiliations, and Philanthropy

• Member, American Association for Justice
• Member, InjuryBoard

Bar Admissions

• New York
• E.D. New York
• S.D. New York
• U.S. Supreme Court