Dechert LLP announced today that partners Kimberly Branscome and Jay Bhimani, and counsel Benjamin Sadun have joined the firm’s leading product liability and mass torts practice, based in Los Angeles. Ms. Branscome will also serve as Managing Partner of the firm’s Los Angeles Office. The trio join the firm from the Los Angeles branch of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
The trio is one of the country’s most highly acclaimed trial teams in the product liability and mass torts defense space. Between them, they have represented many leading global businesses, including in the pharmaceutical, capital management, financial services, consumer products, and oil and gas industries, in their highest stakes trial and litigation matters. They are joining Dechert’s world renowned product liability team, led by Sheila Birnbaum and Mark Cheffo, strengthening the trial offering of that practice nationally and on the West Coast.
Andrew Levander, Chair of the firm’s Policy Committee, said, “We are delighted to welcome this extraordinary and highly accomplished team to Dechert. This further enhances our reputation as the premier product liability and mass torts practice and will also help strengthen our profile and presence in California. We continue to invest in core practices in key geographic markets, and California remains a strategic target for growth and expansion for the firm.”
Sheila Birnbaum, co-chair of Dechert’s product liability and mass torts practice, added, “Kim, Jay, and Ben are extremely talented litigators who will deepen our bench in California, a key region with enormous opportunity for our practice and the firm. Their sophisticated and diverse experience greatly compliments our practice and they will be tremendous assets to our clients.”
Ms. Branscome is a trial lawyer with a particular emphasis in mass tort and product liability litigation. She has served as trial counsel in a number of high-profile cases, and her experience includes product and professional liability, environmental and toxic tort, and securities matters. In 2019, Ms. Branscome was named among the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Top Litigators & Trial Lawyers,” and “Most Influential Women Lawyers.” She was also included in the Daily Journal’s 2019 list of “Top Women Lawyers,” and “Top 100 Lawyers in California.” Ms. Branscome received a J.D. from Harvard School of Law, and a B.E. in Biomedical Engineering & Chemical Engineering, magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University.
Mr. Bhimani represents companies and individuals in complex commercial litigation matters, with a particular focus on product liability trial work and securities matters. He has served as trial counsel in matters profiled by the Daily Journal as among the “Top Verdicts” of both 2018 and 2019 and has also litigated high-profile securities matters in which plaintiffs sought many billions of dollars in damages. Mr. Bhimani received a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and a B.A. in Political Science, magna cum laude, also from UCLA.
Mr. Sadun has successfully represented Fortune 100 companies, private companies, and individuals in federal and state courts and has served as trial counsel in highly publicized jury trials where plaintiffs sought hundreds of millions of dollars. This includes a complete defense victory in a 10-week jury trial profiled by Law360 as a “Legal Lion Verdict of the Week” and selected by Courtroom View Network as one of the year’s “Top 10 Most Impressive Defense Verdicts.” Mr. Sadun received a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and a B.A. in Political Science and Legal Studies, with honors, from Northwestern University.
Ms. Branscome said, “Dechert’s market-leading global platform supports an array of international, national, and California-based clients, and is well positioned to support more clients in both Southern and Northern California. I look forward to working alongside my new colleagues to grow the firm’s presence in California to continue advising clients on their most critical and complex mass litigations.”
Dechert’s product liability and mass torts practice is widely recognized as an international powerhouse and the top choice for companies facing product liability legal issues. The group comprises approximately 70 lawyers; our global network of internationally recognized legal practitioners regularly lead the defense of nationwide litigations with thousands of cases across a broad spectrum of industries. We know that our clients require both domestic and international expertise, and we leverage our global presence to the fullest in order to provide the best advice for our clients, regularly serving as national trial counsel and appellate counsel in landmark cases in state and federal appellate courts. Dechert’s award-winning litigators consistently earn the highest accolades as proven mass tort case defense specialists, and were named the 2019 “Litigation Department of the Year, Product Liability” by the New York Law Journal and the 2019 “Practice Group of the Year” for Product Liability by Law360. Dechert is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers USA for Nationwide Product Liability & Mass Torts.
