Barnes & Thornburg has added William V. Essig as a partner in its Chicago office. Essig joins the firm’s Litigation Department with a focus on defending pharmaceutical and medical device companies in mass tort and product liability litigation.
Essig defends manufacturers in matters involving strict liability, negligence and wrongful death involving medical devices and over the counter and prescription drugs. He also has experience representing clients in consumer fraud and other consumer class action litigation. Essig works with his clients in pre-trial preparation for expert witnesses and has served as national coordinating counsel.
“Bill has an established and well-rounded practice that helps clients defend their products in high-stakes litigation,” said D. Randall Brown, chair of the firm’s Litigation Department. “We are thrilled to continue bolstering our team and to have Bill on board.”
Essig has experience in federal multidistrict and state courts for mass tort and product liability litigation. Notably, Essig was a member of the trial team and national counsel defending a prescription fluoroquinolone in more than 1,500 federal multidistrict and more than 2,000 state court cases.
“We are excited to continue the expansion of our litigation bench in Chicago and to welcome Bill to the firm,” said Michael Carrillo, Chicago office managing partner. “He is an experienced litigator who offers strategic insights that our pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturer clients will benefit from.”
He also has successfully defended consumer fraud and other consumer class action litigation. Bill is also experienced in achieving successful resolutions for his clients in mediation and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes.
“I am thrilled to be joining the exceptional group of litigators at Barnes & Thornburg, many of whom I have had the pleasure of working with before in other drug and medical device litigations, said Essig. “I look forward to contributing to the continued growth of the products liability and litigation practices at Barnes & Thornburg.”
Essig earned his J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, cum laude, and his B.A. from Yale University.