Kate Mullaley is a litigation partner in the Boston office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Kate has a range of experience in complex civil litigation, with an emphasis on mass torts and product liability actions. She has represented clients in federal and state courts around the country and has been an integral member of many trial teams, several of which have gone to verdict.
Kate has developed a sophisticated understanding of developing trial strategy and how to present complex scientific and medical information in a jury-friendly manner. She has experience on various aspects of trial preparedness, including handling a variety of work in pre-trial discovery, developing case themes, examining expert and fact witnesses at trial, preparing key witnesses for deposition and trial, drafting direct and cross-examination outlines for expert and fact witnesses, and crafting opening statements and closing arguments.
Prior to joining Kirkland, Kate was a member of a trial team that secured a unanimous defense verdict on behalf of Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon following a multiweek jury trial in a case seeking millions of dollars in damages for alleged personal injuries resulting from the use of two of the companies’ pelvic mesh medical devices. She was also a member of a trial team that secured three consecutive defense jury verdicts for Johnson & Johnson following multiweek trials in notoriously plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions where the plaintiffs sought billions of dollars in damages for alleged personal injuries resulting from their use of the company’s baby powder.
She also has substantial experience in deposing and defending fact and expert witness depositions. In particular, Kate deposed the plaintiffs’ key general causation expert in the talcum powder multidistrict litigation in a supplemental deposition ahead of the first bellwether trial. She also deposed a plaintiff’s estranged husband in a trial preservation deposition and elicited testimony that featured prominently at trial that the allegations were not truthful and the plaintiff was after the company’s deep pockets. In addition, she has played a significant role in the preparation and defense of numerous former and current employees who were subpoenaed for depositions in state and federal cases
Kate devotes a portion of her practice to pro bono work and recently secured political asylum for a client in an immigration matter.
