Ms. Abrams was appointed by U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe to the national Avandia litigation (MDL- 1871) Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (“PSC”). The PSC consisted of only 12 members nationally.

Ms. Abrams served on the committee for the California State Sulzer Hip Implant litigation and was an active member of the Science and Expert Committee for the DePuy ASR Hip Implant litigation, In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation , MDL No. 2197. She also worked in the CA state coordinated DePuy ASR litigation, DePuy ASR Hip System Cases, JCCP 4649. In addition to being actively involved in the Sulzer-Hip Implant and DePuy ASR litigation, Ms. Abrams has extensive experience in orthopedic device litigation, including litigating cases against Johnson & Johnson/DePuy Orthopaedics, Zimmer, and Stryker Howmedica.

On April 17, 2012, Chief U.S. District Justice Joseph R. Goodwin appointed Ms. Abrams to the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee for the coordination of Transvaginal Mesh lawsuits brought by hundreds of women throughout the United States. Specifically, Ms. Abrams was appointed by Judge Goodwin to the PSC of the American Medical Systems, Inc. Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation (2:12-md-02325, S.D. WV.), Boston Scientific Corp., Pelvic Repair Systems Product Liability Litigation (2:12-md-02326, S.D. WV.), C.R. Bard, Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation (2:12-md-02187, S.D. WV.), Coloplast Corp. Pelvic Support Systems Product Liability Litigation (2:12-md-02387, S.D. WV.), and Ethicon Inc., Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation (2:12-md-02327, S.D. W V.) As a member of the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee, Ms. Abrams had a key leadership role in speaking for injured women and coordinating pretrial proceedings for transvaginal mesh lawsuits.

In 2013, Ms. Abrams was appointed by Judge Cathy Seibel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to the PSC of In Re: Mirena IUD Products Liability Litigation (13-MDL-2434).

Further, Ms. Abrams was also appointed by Judge Donovan Frank of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota to the PSC of In Re: Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation (13-MDL-2441).

Ms. Abrams was appointed by Judge Matthew Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to the PSC of In Re: Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation (14-MDL-2545).

Ms. Abrams is actively working in both the federal and California state court Talcum Powder litigations (In Re: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Products Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation (16-MDL-2738) and Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Cases (JCCP 4872). She is on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for the JCCP.

Ms. Abrams served on the Executive Committee for the California Consolidated cases for Pradaxa (JCCP 4863).

Ms. Abrams was appointed and served as Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel In re: Viagra (sildenafil Citrate) and Cialis (Tadalafil) Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2691) by the Honorable Judge Richard Seeborg.

Ms. Abrams was appointed and currently serves on the PSC of In Re: Juul Labs, Inc., Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation (19-MDL-02913), by Judge William H. Orrick of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Ms. Abrams actively worked with the PSC of the Zyprexa MDL. Ms. Abrams was the Co-Chair of the Science and Expert Committee for the Zyprexa litigation, working extensively with experts in various fields. Furthermore, Ms. Abrams participated in the settlement negotiations on behalf of over 8,000 individual cases that led to an agreement by Eli Lilly and Company to pay $700,000,000 to resolve those individual cases. Ms. Abrams served as a Special Attorney General prosecuting claims by the Attorney General of New Mexico for damages incurred by the State of New Mexico for the inappropriate marketing, promotion and sale of Zyprexa.

Ms. Abrams has been extensively involved in the Uber and Lyft JCCPs (5188 and 5061, respectively). In fact, she is one of the leading attorneys representing rideshare sexual assault survivors and has been quoted in many newspapers and websites, including NPR, Business Insider, The New York Times, The Seattle Times, USA Today, CBS News, CNET, Vice and others.

Most recently, Ms. Abrams was appointed as Co-Lead and to the PSC in In Re: Uber Technologies, Inc., Passenger Sexual Assault Litigation (23-MDL-3084), by the Honorable Judge Charles Breyer.

“Rachel Abrams, a lawyer who represents about 1,000 sexual assault victims in lawsuits against Uber and Lyft, said the report from Lyft was long overdue. ‘We’ve all been waiting for it,’ she said. ‘They are not implementing the safety measures to prevent this from happening, and it’s just going to keep mounting,’ Ms. Abrams added. She said “Lyft should incorporate video surveillance in its vehicles to monitor for safety problems.”
– (The New York Times – Oct 21, 2021)

“’Most women saw [Lyft’s cars adorned with whimsical] pink mustache[s] and thought that’s a safer ride home because they said that,’ said Rachel Abrams, an attorney who represents about 100 clients suing Lyft. ‘They didn’t do anything to actually make themselves the safer ride home.’”
– (USA TODAY – Jan 6, 2020)

“99% of these crimes would be prevented if there was a camera.”
– (CBS News – Jun 29, 2021)

“Each of these plaintiffs’ experiences are horrifyingly unique. But what has not been unique is Lyft’s appallingly inadequate response to their trauma.”
– (CNET, Jan 21, 2021)

Rachel Abrams authored an article for Plaintiff Magazine, published January 2016, titled “The Pros and Cons of Multi-District Litigation Consolidation”.

Plaintiff Magazine featured Rachel with an in-depth two page profile in their December 2018 edition: “Rachel Abrams – Would-be marine biologist uses her scientific expertise to litigate against Big Pharma, medical device firms.”

JURISDICTIONS ADMITTED TO PRACTICE

• All California State Courts
• S. District Court, Northern, Eastern and Central Districts of California
• S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• Pro hac vice admissions in the numerous states

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University of San Francisco School of Law

University of California, Santa Cruz