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Overview

Brittany has extensive litigation experience defending businesses in commercial litigation and toxic tort and product liability matters and advises product manufacturers on regulatory compliance and product safety issues.

Brittany is a skilled litigator whose practice focuses on product liability and commercial litigation. She works closely with in-house counsel teams--particularly those in the manufacturing, healthcare, and aerospace industries--to develop trial and defense strategy, manage pending litigation, and to protect the business interests of large companies. She has served as trial counsel for multiple Fortune 500 companies and second-chaired complex commercial cases in federal court. She has tried bench and jury trial matters to verdict and handled arbitration matters to a final award. Brittany vigorously defends clients in state and federal court through all phases of litigation, including discovery, depositions, motion practice, expert retention, alternative dispute resolution, settlement negotiations, and trial. As national coordinating counsel, Brittany also manages the defense of thousands of toxic tort matters in the most challenging jurisdictions in the country.

As a proactive measure, Brittany helps clients bring new and existing products to market and guides clients in all aspects of product safety, including compliance issues, product recalls, and potential exposure to lawsuits. She drafts product warnings, warranties, and instructions and guides clients in product testing and product warning analysis. She also advises clients on reporting requirements to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Health Canada, and several EU countries and is knowledgeable about state, federal, and international regulations, as well as industry and consensus standards.

Since moving to the District of Columbia, Brittany has gained experience in white-collar crime, internal investigations, and defending clients in politically-appointed positions before certain committees of the United States House of Representatives. She also advises clients on new and emerging issues in the space industry, including product development and recall strategies, intellectual property, global international trade, and data privacy.

Industries

Services

Recognition

Education

  • J.D., Saint Louis University School of Law
    • Dean’s Honor Scholarship
    • Moot Court Competition Team
    • Moot Court Advisory Board
    • Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy, Staff Editor
    • Trial Advocacy Competition Team
  • B.A., Pepperdine University
    • Political Science, International Studies
    • Dean’s Scholar

Admissions

  • Missouri
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
  • Illinois
  • District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Court, District of Maryland

Professional Memberships and Certifications

  • International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization
  • The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Young Lawyers Division
  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • The Missouri Bar

Languages

  • Spanish, conversant


*Contact Brittany to set up an in-person consultation by appointment in the Washington, DC office.

Featured Experience

Court Sets Aside $5 Million Default Judgment Case

When a national restaurant chain did not respond quickly enough to a lawsuit, the court entered a default judgment of $5 million. The restaurant chain needed a determined team of attorneys to persuade the court to set aside the judgment. With no time to lose, Brittany wrote the motion to set aside the default judgment and the brief requesting that the court grant the motion based on excusable neglect. The team argued the issue and convinced the court to set aside the $5 million judgment.


Additional Experience

Litigation

  • Second-chaired a federal jury trial in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, representing a leading North American beverage company against one of its distributors in a complex commercial contract dispute. Conducted the direct examination of the client's accounting and damages expert and argued motion for directed verdict.
  • Second-chaired a federal bench trial in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, representing an agricultural products manufacturer in a breach of contract dispute.
  • Serves as national coordinating counsel for defense of asbestos litigation on behalf of large global companies. Supervised regional local counsel and developed settlement and trial strategies for defense of these matters. Managed legal spend and risk of asbestos liabilities for Fortune 500 companies and helped achieve early resolution of cases through dismissal, tolling agreements, or packaged settlement arrangements for lower values.
  • Represented a home security company in a product liability case involving a fire in a Washington, D.C. condominium. The claims alleged that the fire started as a result of an alarm and the security system panel.
  • Served as regional counsel for Fortune 500 corporation in numerous investigations and litigation involving electrical failures, as well as liquid propane and natural gas explosions.
  • Persuaded court to set aside order of default against mine owner/operator entered in lien foreclosure action.
  • Secured voluntary dismissals for medical center and provider of healthcare services in wrongful death actions.

Counseling/Advising

  • Serves as national product safety and compliance counsel for multiple manufacturers and a major retailer of consumer and industrial products. This representation includes development of strategy and addressing risk management issues related to product safety and regulatory compliance.
  • Advised international furniture manufacturer during nationwide recall of furniture item imported and distributed at nationwide retailer following reports of potential hazard to consumers. Advised on reporting requirements to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and compliance with state, federal, and international regulations, as well as industry and consensus standards, and worked with third-party product recall centers to ensure the removal of a potentially dangerous product from the marketplace. Prepared a corrective action plan, product warnings, warranties, and instructions for new products, and guided client through product testing and product warning analysis.
  • Counseled client and led nationwide and international recall of pool equipment in the United States, Canada, and Germany following reports of possible electrical hazard.
  • Handled an investigation into the safety testing of a baseball catcher's helmet and drafted compliance reporting and filings submitted to Consumer Product Safety Commission.
  • Led an investigation for major retailer into a possible injury hazard with a children's bed and drafted compliance reporting and filings submitted to Consumer Product Safety Commission.
  • Trained legal and product quality/compliance departments on matters related to product safety, warnings and products liability.
  • Worked with major manufacturers to craft domestic and international consumer product warnings.
  • Counseled client on organization and structure of claims handling, investigations, and resolutions.
  • Established compliance program for seller of consumer products.
News Releases | May 28, 2020
Husch Blackwell Named CLOC's Inaugural Legal Innovation in Operations Project Award Winner

Husch Blackwell is believed to be the only law firm to date to be recognized by both the CLOC LIO Project and ACC Value Champion award series for its ability to implement legal solutions that cut spending, improve predictability and achieve better outcomes.

Outside the Office

As a Kansas City native, Brittany enjoys attending Chiefs games with family, friends, and clients multiple times a year. Brittany also has an intense interest in the United States Supreme Court. Since moving to Washington, D.C., she regularly attends oral arguments and has attended the Lying in Repose ceremony of every justice that has passed since Chief Justice Rehnquist.

Community Leadership

Brittany offers her time to help youths pursue their musical interests.

She serves on the board of directors and volunteers with L.I.F.E. Cultural and Performing Arts, a nonprofit organization that supports kids who are interested in pursuing music. Whether the young person’s interest is singing in choir, playing an instrument or music therapy, the organization can help. As a classical bass player, Brittany understands the importance of music in a young person’s life and enjoys giving children a chance to pursue a creative outlet through music.

NextGen Committee

Brittany serves as chair of the firm’s NextGen committee, which functions as the voice of associates and non-partner attorneys with less than 10 years of experience.

The committee works to create policies and initiatives that positively impact newer attorneys’ careers and encourage their engagement with the firm.

Led by an executive committee, NextGen has four subcommittees which mirror the firm’s C-Suite structure. The leaders of each subcommittee have been paired with their counterpart on the firm’s leadership team. In addition, each office location has one to three designated NextGen representatives, who help keep a pulse on associate issues and plan their own associate social gatherings. NextGen has monthly calls with these representatives to discuss any issues or concerns.

NextGen’s recent successes include a shift in how associate billable equivalent hours are recorded, along with the development of a dashboard that allows associates to easily track these hours by category. The committee also leads the “Next Up” Initiative, which highlights the firm’s next generation of leaders—the ones who are “next up” to lead the firm in the future. The program pairs NextGen committee members with senior leadership mentors at both the executive and individual office level, with meetings held quarterly.