Rebecca Weinstein Bacon
Professional Practice
Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP, 1999-Present, Partner (since 2003)
Extensive litigation experience in complex commercial cases
throughout the country.
O'Melveny & Myers, LLP, New York office, 1997-1999
Products Liability, mass tort and class action litigation
In re: Trasylol Litigation (2006-Present)
National counsel for Bayer in product liability cases in state and federal court involving Trasylol, a drug used during coronary bypass surgery.
WeightSmart® Litigation (2007-present)
Consumer fraud class actions brought against Bayer relating to a vitamin in its OneADay® franchise. On July 21, 2011, the District Court in New Jersey refused to apply the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act to a proposed nationwide class of WeightSmart consumers and denied Plaintiff’s motion to certify a nationwide class. Plaintiff was given 30 days to re-file a motion for a Florida-only class.
In re Teflon® Product Liability Litigation (2006-2009)
National counsel for DuPont in more than 20 alleged intrastate class actions brought on behalf of consumers who purchased Teflon®-coated cookware. The cases were consolidated for pretrial proceedings pursuant to an order of the panel on multidistrict litigation. The district court denied class certification and leave for appeal was denied.
Baycol® Litigation
National counsel for Bayer in litigation resulting from withdrawal of Baycol®. Cases were pending throughout country. MDL in Minnesota.
Haltom v. Bayer Corp. (Nueces County, Texas 2003)
Product liability case involving anticholesterol drug Baycol. Plaintiff sought $560 million in actual and punitive damages. One month jury trial in state court in Corpus Christi, Texas. Represented Bayer. Jury verdict for Bayer on all issues.
Other representative cases
DuPont v. Cardinal Healthcare 200, Inc. (M.D. Tenn. 2002-2006)
Counsel for DuPont in case for breach of contract and promissory estoppel relating to DuPont’s business that makes fabric for surgical drapes and gowns. Case settled just before trial with settlement worth over eight figures
Hoover v. BISSELL Inc. (N. District Ohio 2003)
Represented BISSELL Inc. in patent infringement and trade dress suit brought by Hoover involving a nozzle configuration for vacuums. Hoover seeking injunctive and monetary relief. Case settled.
B.J. Services v. Halliburton Energy Services (S.D. Texas 2002)
Representation of Halliburton in patent infringement matter involving a patent on methods for fracturing subterranean formations to stimulate oil and gas recovery. Hired to try case ninety days before trial. After month-long jury trial, jury verdict for BJ Services for less than 25% of damages sought.
Guidant Corp. v. Boston Scientific Corp. (N.D. Illinois 2002-2003)
Representation of Guidant in contract dispute involving drug-eluting coronary stent technology.
Residential Funding Corp. (GMAC) v. DeGeorge Financial Corp. (D. Connecticut 2001)
Lender liability case involving an agreement to purchase home construction loans. Represented Residential Funding in jury trial. DeGeorge represented by Stephen Susman. DeGeorge sought $390 million plus punitive damages. Residential Funding sought $96 million by counterclaim. Jury verdict for Residential Funding on all issues. Jury awarded Residential Funding $96 million in damages. Case listed as one of the Top Plaintiffs’ Verdicts for 2001 by The National Law Journal.
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., et al. v. Scour, Inc. (S.D. New York 2000)
Defended Scour against copyright infringement suit brought by members of The Recording Industry of America, the Motion Picture Association of America and the National Music Publishers Association.
Precor, Inc. v. Life Fitness (W.D. Washington 1999)
Represented Brunswick Corp. subsidiary in jury trial relating to exercise treadmill patent and unfair competition dispute. Jury verdict for Precor. Federal circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part.
BISSELL v. Oreck (W.D. Michigan and E.D. Louisiana 2002-2001)
Represented BISSELL in multiple patent and trade dress infringement and unfair competition actions. Cases settled.
Hubbell Steel v. Dun & Bradstreet; Gibraltar Steel v. Dun & Bradstreet (N.D. New York 1999-2000)
Represented Dun & Bradstreet in actions for tort and breach of contract relating to Dun & Bradstreet’s reporting services. Case settled.
University of Chicago v. Chou (N.D. Illinois 1999-2002)
Defended University of Chicago in suit claiming that a researcher was wrongfully denied credit as co-inventor of herpes vaccine. Case dismissed by federal district court in Chicago. Briefed and argued appeal to Federal Circuit. Case reversed in part and remanded in part. Case settled.
Bandag, Inc. v. Michelin (D. Iowa 2000)
Represented Bandag, a leading retreader of truck tires, in claims against Michelin for raiding Bandag’s network of independent retread dealers. Michelin filed counterclaims for antitrust violations. Michelin sought a preliminary injunction against Bandag and alleged co-conspirator Bridgestone/Firestone to prevent them from working together in competition against Michelin
Defeated preliminary injunction motion following an evidentiary hearing in April 2001. Case settled.
Acknowledgements, presentations, and publications
Frequent speaker on electronic discovery
Social Media: The Impact on Pharma – upcoming Drug and Medical Device Litigation Conference of the American Conference Institute (New York, December 2010)
Handling Trial Themes in Difficult Cases – Women in Products Liability Conference (Chicago 2009)
Disappearing Act: When a dot-com fails, creditors may find they have few legal protections if insiders try to loot the company's virtual assets, The Daily Deal, June 6, 2000 (with J.B. Heaton, Ph.D.)
Personal Jurisdiction and the Internet, New York Law Journal, July 20, 1998 (with Dale M. Cendali)
Business on the Web: Personal Jurisdiction and the Internet, The Multimedia and Web Strategist, July and August, 1998 (with Dale M. Cendali)
News
Big Wins
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Residential Funding v. DeGeorge (2001)