Sandra Edwards

Trial Experience

• Served as trial counsel with Winston & Strawn on the team defending Monsanto Company in the first Roundup® product liability and failure-to-warn case to go to trial in the U.S. Following an eight-week jury trial, the trial team successfully reduced a punitive damages award by US$211 million, and the verdict was further reduced on appeal.
  • Has since served, and is now serving, as trial counsel defending Monsanto Company in additional Roundup product liability and failure-to-warn cases, including in the first case involving claims relating to pediatric leukemia.
• Served as one of the lead counsel representing Monsanto in the Judicial Council Coordinated Proceeding (“JCCP”) in Alameda Superior Court, defending against hundreds of product liability and failure-to-warn cases involving Roundup-related products, and as the JCCP disbanded, in other courts throughout California.
• Currently serving as trial counsel for a Fortune 50 company in connection with several high-stakes toxic tort litigation matters.
• Currently serving as trial counsel for a Fortune 50 company in several hundred wrongful-death, high-profile cases.
• Currently serving as trial counsel for a Fortune 50 company defending against claims of work place exposures to toxins.
• Served as trial counsel in the successful defense of a pharmaceutical company against claims of failure-to-warn and punitive damages. In a four-week jury trial in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California (Hon. J. Rakoff, S.D.N.Y.) following the court’s dismissal of punitive damages claim and entry of directed verdict for the client, the jury returned a unanimous defense verdict.
• Served as trial counsel in a jury trial in San Francisco Superior Court involving claims of fraud, negligence, and breach of contract in a complex real estate and construction action. Obtained a verdict with findings of statutory violations resulting in an award of attorneys’ fees to the client.
• Served as lead trial counsel for one of the world’s largest aviation authorities against construction-related claims in Los Angeles Superior Court. The matter resolved on favorable terms immediately prior to jury selection.
• Represented a pharmaceutical corporation in more than 50 pharmaceutical product liability lawsuits alleging personal injuries from the use of an FDA-approved cancer treatment. The representation included successful pre-trial strategies that greatly reduced or limited the ability of certain plaintiffs to recover damages and resulted in several summary judgment orders and voluntary dismissals.
• Served as trial counsel in two jury trials in San Diego Superior Court and the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, involving claims of product liability and punitive damages, earning defense verdicts for clients in both cases.
• Successfully represented an international pesticide manufacturer in numerous coordinated product liability lawsuits throughout the West Coast alleging crop damage resulting from use of an EPA-regulated plant-growth regulator.
• Represented a pesticide manufacturer in separate coordinated proceedings throughout California alleging groundwater contamination due to historical applications of soil fumigants. Successfully negotiated the resolution of seven of the eight original lawsuits.