Shook Adds First-Chair BigLaw Trial Partner to Fold

SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Shook, Hardy & Bacon welcomes Partner Jessica Grant to expand the firm's first-chair trial bench. Well-known nationally, Grant brings 25+ years of experience in a wide spectrum of areas including product liability, antitrust, class action, employment and intellectual property. Her client successes include trying three cases over $100 million and two cases over half a billion dollars. She will join Shook's world-renowned Product Liability Litigation Practice and she is expected to serve clients across a broad array of industries.

"Jessica is a natural fit for our bench of premier trial lawyers, a strategist who knows her way around the courtroom and a master of pre-litigation work," said Shook Chair Madeleine McDonough. "She has tried five cases with Shook lawyers and knows our firm well. It will be a seamless transition, one that will benefit our clients."

Grant has substantial class action experience including serving as lead trial counsel in one of the largest wage and hour class actions ever to be tried to verdict in California. She has extensive IP litigation experience in complex cases involving patent, copyright infringement and trademark matters from inception of the case to trial. She is frequently asked to take over cases on the eve of trial, particularly business litigation matters. Multifaceted, Grant has also represented direct purchaser plaintiffs in one of the largest antitrust cases ever certified as a class action, in a strategic growth area for Shook.

"We've known Jessica for quite some time and we have great respect for her skills in the courtroom," said Product Liability Litigation Co-Chair Bill Geraghty, who tried a case with Grant. "She has demonstrated the ability to collaborate with lawyers, connect with juries and bring home winning results."

Shook has represented some of the largest pharmaceutical and medical device companies in the world, with client relationships dating back many decades. Those companies look to the firm to handle their most complex and contentious product liability cases, from MDLs, class actions, mass actions and multi-jurisdiction onslaughts of individual cases as well as challenging individual cases. 

"It's unusual to join a firm where you have already tried many cases with their lawyers and feel so comfortable about the move," said Grant, who is in between trials and will try a case for Shook in August. "I'm excited to join Shook for the opportunity to practice with high caliber lawyers and advocate for such a sophisticated roster of clients. An added plus is that Shook lawyers are down to earth and friendly. The culture is a natural fit for me."

Grant is a member of the International Association of Defense Council and serves as a mediator in the San Francisco Superior Court Early Settlement Program. She has earned many accolades including Benchmark Litigation's Top 250 Women in Litigation, The National Law Journal's Litigation Trailblazer, and has twice been named by California Lawyer as the Attorney of the Year. She earned her law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law and her undergraduate degree in Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley.

About Shook, Hardy & Bacon
Founded in 1889, Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. has 18 offices in the United States and London, with attorneys and professional staff serving clients in the health, science and technology sectors in areas ranging from product liability defense and commercial litigation to intellectual property prosecution and litigation, environmental and toxic tort, privacy and data security, and regulatory counseling.

SOURCE Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.