Attorney Profiles
Timothy M. O'Brien
Timothy O'Brien is a board-certified civil trial attorney who concentrates his practice in the areas of product liability, personal injury, wrongful death, business torts and mass tort litigation. He is currently serving as National Lead Counsel for MDL No. 1789, In re Fosamax Products Liability Litigation. He also is currently serving as Co-Chair of the Discovery Committee in In re Yasmin and Yaz (Drospirenone) Products Liability Litigation, MDL NO. 2100. Previously, Mr. O’Brien served as national co-lead counsel in In re Cisco Systems Securities Litig., MDL No. 1527, as discovery co-chair in In re Accutane Products Liab. Litig., MDL No. 1626, as discovery co-chair in In re Medtronic, Inc., Implantable Defibrillators Product Liab. Litig., MDL No. 1726, as a member of the Plaintiffs Steering Committee in In re Guidant Corp. Implantable Defibrillators Product Liab. Litig., MDL No. 1708, and served on the discovery committee of In re Phenylpropanolamine ("PPA") Products Liab. Litig. , MDL No. 1407.
In addition to serving as National Lead Counsel in the Fosamax litigation, Mr. O’Brien has taken the national lead in trying Fosamax (alendronate sodium) osteonecrosis of the jaw cases. Mr. O’Brien is also actively litigating for Fosamax patients who have suffered low-energy subtrochanteric femur fracture as a result of long-term Fosamax use. He has been interviewed and extensively quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Pink Sheet, The Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg News, and by National Public Radio, CBS Radio, and Air America Radio, as well as by several European national news organizations.
As a trial lawyer, Mr. O'Brien tries several cases per year and has received numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and judgments. The most recent of these include: a 2010 verdict in the amount of $8 million for an 72 year old woman who suffered osteonecrosis of the jaw as a result of taking the osteoporosis medication, Fosamax (New York, New York) (product liability); 2008 $1.25 million wrongful death verdict for the death of a truck driver in a middle of the road collision (Dooly County, GA) (motor vehicle personal injury and wrongful death); a 2007 $7 million verdict against pharmaceutical company Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc., on behalf of a young man who developed inflammatory bowel disease as a result of taking the popular acne medication, Accutane (Escambia County, FL) (product liability); a 2007 automobile wreck verdict in the amount of $1.2 million for the non-paralyzing fracture of a woman's cervical vertebra (Santa Rosa County, FL) (motor vehicle personal injury); a 2006 judgment in the amount of $12 million for a brain-damaged child (Mobile County, AL) (personal injury); and a 2006 wrongful death verdict in the amount of $2.4 million for the death of a construction superintendent (Escambia County, FL) (trucking personal injury and wrongful death).
In recognition of his accomplishments representing the injured, Mr. O'Brien was recently chosen as one of the 2007 Super Lawyers by the annual publication of the same name. He received the same recognition in 2008 and again in 2009.
Mr. O'Brien earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia in 1992 (with distinction) and earned his Juris Doctorate degree at the University of Florida College of Law in 1995 (with honors). During law school, Mr. O'Brien served as Vice Chairman of the Moot Court Board and also received the University of Florida College of Law Award for Appellate Advocacy.
After graduating from law school, Mr. O'Brien worked for two years as a law clerk for the Honorable William T. Moore, Jr., United States District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia. Mr. O'Brien then entered private practice in Georgia where he concentrated his practice in the area of federal litigation. During his period of private practice in Georgia, Mr. O'Brien, together with Judge Moore, coauthored Of Clients and Fees: Ethical Issues for Criminal Defense Attorneys, Vol 4:4 Georgia Bar Journal 10 (1999). In the Summer of 2000, Mr. O'Brien returned to his hometown of Pensacola and began working with Levin, Papantonio.
Mr. O'Brien, a member of the Florida Bar, the Georgia Bar, and the Mississippi Bar, is presently licensed to practice in the following courts: all State Courts in Florida; all State Courts in Georgia; all State Court in Mississippi; the United States Supreme Court; the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; and the United States District Courts for Northern District and Middle District of Florida, the Southern District, Middle District, Northern District of Georgia, the Southern and Northern Districts of Mississippi, and the United States Court of Federal Claims.
Accutane
Fosamax
Yaz Birth Control
Business Torts
- Year Joined Organization:
- 2000
- Areas of Practice:
- Personal Injury & Wrongful Death
- Trucking & Motor Carrier Liability Litigation
- Product Liability
- Mass Tort Litigation
- Bar Admissions:
- Florida
- Georgia
- Mississippi
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida
- U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court Middle District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Mississippi
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Mississippi
- U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Education:
- University of Florida College of Law, Gainesville, Florida, 1995
Juris Doctorate
Honors: With Honors
Honors: Vice Chairman, Moot Court Board
Honors: University of Florida College of Law Award for Appellate Advocacy - University of Virginia, 1992
Bachelor of Arts
Honors: With Distinction
- Published Works:
- Clients and Fees: Ethical Issues for Criminal Defense Attorneys (Co-Author), Vol. 4:4 Georgia Bar Journal 10, 1999
- Fosamax: The Powers of Equity, HarrisMartin Publishing, Vol. 5:5 Drugs and Supplements, 2006
- Fosamax and the Public Hazards Discovery Doctrine, Product Liability Law & Strategy, Vol. 25: 1 & 2, 2006
- Fosamax and the Risk of Osteonecrosis of the Jaw: Flying Under the Radar, Mealey's Emerging Drugs & Devices, Vol. 11:17, 1-5, 2006
- Drug Companies and Failure to Warn: The Case Against Fosamax, ALM Medical Malpractice Law & Strategy, Vol. 24: Nos. 5:1 & 6:1, 2007
- Professional Associations and Memberships:
- Florida Bar
- Member
- Georgia Bar
- Member
- Mississippi Bar
- Member
- American Association for Justice
- Member
- Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers
- Member
- American Bar Association
- Member
- Past Employment Positions:
- Oliver Maner & Gray LLP, Savannah, Georgia (1997-2000)
- Hon. William T. Moore, Jr., United States District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia, Law Clerk (1995-1997)