Paulyne Gardner-Smith

Paulyne Gardner-Smith is the administrative partner in the Philadelphia office of Lewis Brisbois and a vice-chair of the Life Sciences Practice. She focuses her practice on the coordination and management of multi-state complex litigation matters, including a focus on mass torts, pharmaceutical litigation, medical malpractice and environmental cases at both the state and national levels.

For the last few years, Ms. Gardner-Smith has served as national coordinating counsel in both state and federal court matters. She has overseen national litigation involving a pediatric dental chain and represented a manufacturer in three cases involving more than 1,000 coal miners who claimed respiratory injuries from the use of a polyurethane grouting product utilized for roof stabilization.

Ms. Gardner-Smith has served as counsel for both brand and generic pharmaceutical companies. She represented a generic pharmaceutical company in a mass tort filed in Philadelphia County and has served as defense liaison counsel, working on behalf of all of the defendants in the mass tort by drafting, negotiating and finalizing Case Management Orders, document production protocols, and product identification and dismissal procedures.

She has also represented a brand pharmaceutical company and was successful in not only moving to transfer the action from state to federal court but also in getting the plaintiff to dismiss the lawsuit altogether. Ms. Gardner-Smith regularly monitors national litigation proceedings against a number of pharmaceutical manufacturers and suppliers for clients.

Ms. Gardner-Smith has also handled a variety of toxic tort cases involving allegations of injuries sustained from exposure to benzene and trace benzene. In the past, Ms. Gardner-Smith also has handled auto defense cases, municipal defense cases and cell tower litigation.

Education :

• Temple University School of Law, Juris Doctor, 1997
• Muhlenberg College, Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, 1994

Admissions :

• State Bar Admissions, Pennsylvania
• United States Courts of Appeals & Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• United States District Courts
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Associations : Montgomery County Bar Association