Gage

Wiliam Gage is “a great trial lawyer who is very good at managing complex litigations in multiple districts. That is his specialty.” (Chambers USA Editorial, 2024, where William is ranked nationally for Product Liability & Mass Torts). He is “renowned for acting as lead counsel for major pharmaceutical companies in large MDLs, drawing particular praise for his achievements in pelvic mesh litigation.” (Chambers USA Editorial, 2023) William is “vastly experienced both at a trial level and in terms of his overarching strategic prowess . . . .” (The Legal 500 US Editorial, 2023). “‘He is a pleasure to work with, very smart and very capable.’ ‘A really smart guy, beloved by his clients and really dedicated to his work - he has immense likability and charm.’” (Chambers USA Editorial, 2021)

• Drug & Device Litigation
• Products, Catastrophic & Industrial Litigation
• Drug & Device Litigation - Trials
• Groundwater & Chemical Exposure Litigation

Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare

William is an attorney in Butler Snow LLP’s Pharmaceutical, Medical Device & Healthcare Litigation Group who previously served as Chair of the firm’s Litigation Department. He is a trial attorney with more than 30 years of experience defending mass torts involving products, drugs and medical devices.

William served as MDL lead counsel for Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon, Inc. in In re: Ethicon, Inc., Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2327, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, one of the ten largest mass torts in U.S. history. He also served as MDL lead counsel in In re: Ethicon Physiomesh Flexible Composite Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2782, United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He previously served as statewide coordinating counsel for the Wyeth diet drug litigation and trial counsel in the New Jersey Accutane litigation.  Most recently, William served as national wave discovery coordinating counsel for a multinational manufacturing company in the largest mass tort MDL in history concerning sale of allegedly defective earplugs to the military. 

Profiled as one of Law360’s 2016 Trial Pros, William has extensive trial experience. He was retained in 2019 as lead trial counsel in a Washington state attorney general action related to pelvic mesh that resolved shortly before trial. He was also retained in 2019 as co-lead trial counsel in a first-of-its-kind eight-week bench trial in an attorney general action in California involving pelvic mesh. Over the past eight years, he tried eight product liability cases to verdict, obtaining defense verdicts in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas (2017) and in state court in Dallas, Texas (2015). The Texas trial was one of Law360’s 2015 Product Liability Trials to Watch, and the verdict was named as one of CVN’s Top 10 Defense Verdicts of 2015.

William is recognized by many prestigious industry publications, including Chambers USA (nationwide Product Liability & Mass Torts), The Legal 500 US (recognized in the editorial for nationwide Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices – Defense), Who’s Who Legal: Product Liability Defence, Benchmark Litigation, The Best Lawyers in America, and Mid-South Super Lawyers. Additionally, Best Lawyers in America named William as the 2023 Lawyer of the Year for Product Liability Litigation – Defendants for the Jackson, MS area. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has presented on numerous occasions about litigation and trial-related topics, including speaking at the Defense Research Institute’s Product Liability Conference, the DRI Drug and Medical Device Seminar, the Contemporary Issues in Complex Litigation Conference at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and the American Conference Institute’s Drug & Medical Device Litigation Seminar.

He received his J.D. and B.Accty., both cum laude, from the University of Mississippi. He is admitted to practice in Mississippi.

• MDL and Mass Tort Management
  • MDL Wave Discovery Coordinating Counsel for multinational manufacturer of military ear plugs
  • MDL Lead Counsel, In re: Ethicon, Inc., Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2327, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia
  • MDL Lead Counsel, In re: Ethicon Physiomesh Flexible Composite Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2782, United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
  • Statewide Counsel, diet drug litigation for Wyeth.
  • Regional Counsel, Gammagard® litigation for Baxter Healthcare Corporation.
• Trials
  • The People of the State of California v. Johnson & Johnson – California State Attorney General Pelvic Mesh Litigation (Trial Counsel, 2019); “4 Key Moments From J&J’s Mesh Marketing Battle With Calif.,” Law360, October 2, 2019; “Breaking Down J&J and California’s $1B Pelvic Mesh Trial,” Law360, July 12, 2019.
  • Hrymoc v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. – New Jersey Pelvic Mesh Litigation (Trial Counsel, 2017).
  • Adkins v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. – Pennsylvania State Court Pelvic Mesh Litigation (Trial Counsel, 2017); “Philly Jury Clears J&J in Latest Pelvic Mesh Case,” Law360, June 9, 2017.
  • Carlino v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. – Pennsylvania State Court Pelvic Mesh Litigation (Trial Counsel, 2016).
  • Cavness v. Johnson & Johnson, et al – Texas State Court Pelvic Mesh Litigation (Trial Counsel, 2015); “J&J Wins 1st Trial Over Prosima Pelvic Mesh,” Law360, October 5, 2015.
  • Perry v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. – California State Court Pelvic Mesh Litigation (Trial Counsel, 2015).
  • Batiste v. Johnson & Johnson, et al – Texas State Court Pelvic Mesh Litigation (Trial Counsel, 2014).
  • Kendall v. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., – New Jersey Accutane litigation (Trial Counsel, 2014).
  • Gross v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. – New Jersey Pelvic Mesh Litigation (Trial Counsel, 2013).
  • Reynolds, et al. v. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. – New Jersey Accutane Litigation (Trial Counsel, 2012).
  • McCarrell v. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. – New Jersey Accutane Litigation (Trial Counsel, 2010).
  • Speisman, et al. v. Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., – New Jersey Accutane Litigation (Trial Counsel, 2008).
  • Budzinski v. City of Clinton, et al., (Trial Counsel).
  • Weed v. Dickerson, (Trial Counsel).
  • Delaughter v. Lucious Cannon, Jr., et al., (Trial Counsel).
  • Powell v Mississippi Farm Bureau, (Trial Counsel).
• Reported Decisions
  • Akins v. Golden Triangle Planning & Development District, Inc., 34 So. 3d 575 (Miss. 2010).
  • American Home Products Corp. v. Sumlin; 942 So. 2d 766 (Miss. 2006).
  • Wyeth Laboratories v. James, 918 So. 2d 1243 (Miss. 2005).
  • Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories v. Caldwell, 905 So. 2d 1205 (Miss. 2005).
  • American Guarantee and Liability Ins. Co. v. The 1906 Co., 273 F. 3d 605 (5th Cir. 2001).
  • American Guarantee and Liability Ins. Co. v. The 1906 Co., 129 F. 3d 802 (5th Cir. 1997).
  • Ezell v. BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., 961 F.Supp. 149 (S.D. Miss. 1997).
  • McCoy v. South Cent. Bell Telephone Co., 688 So. 2d 214 (Miss. 1996).
  • Allstate Ins. Co. v. Chicago Ins. Co., 676 So. 2d 271 (Miss. 1996).
  • Radmann v. Truck Ins. Exchange, 660 So. 2d 975 (Miss. 1995).

• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
• Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers
• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business
  • Product Liability & Mass Torts – Nationwide, 2017-2024
  • Litigation: General Commercial – Mississippi, 2022-2024
• The Legal 500 US
  • Recognized in the editorial for nationwide Dispute Resolution: Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices – Defense, 2018-2023
• Who's Who Legal
  • Thought Leaders - USA - Product Liability Defence, 2023
  • Product Liability Defence, 2017-2022
• Benchmark Litigation
  • Litigation Star, 2017, 2021, 2023
• Best Lawyers in America®
  • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, 2011-2025
  • Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, 2018-2025
  • Lawyer of the Year, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants (Jackson, MS), 2023
• Super Lawyers®
  • Mid-South Super Lawyers, Personal Injury – General: Defense, 2006-2023
• Martindale-Hubbell®
  • AV®– Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated
• International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Trial Academy, Graduate
• LMG Life Sciences, Life Sciences Star

• Mississippi, 1990
• U.S. District Courts
• Mississippi: Northern, Southern
• U.S. Court of Appeals
• 5th Circuit

• University of Mississippi, J.D., cum laude, 1990
  • Casenote Editor, Mississippi Law Journal
• University of Mississippi, B.A., Accountancy, cum laude, 1987

• American Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute (DRI)
• Lawyers for Civil Justice
• Mississippi Bar Association
• Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association

• Panelist, “Getting to the Finish Line – How and When do Settlements Happen,” Trial Lawyers of Mass Torts, February 28, 2024.
• Panelist, "Ethics of Complex Litigation" and "Discovery Issues in Mass Torts and Class Actions," Trial Lawyers of Mass Torts, December 6, 2022.
• Speaker, "Collaboration in the Real World," ACC Tennessee, Corporate Counsel CLE: MBA in a Day, December 2, 2022.
• Panelist, "Trial Lawyer Roundtable," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 15, No. 1, March 2022.
• Speaker, "Bellwether Selections," GW Law First Annual Mass-Tort MDL Flash Points, Challenges for the Next Generation of Transferee MDL Judges Conference, October 7, 2021.
• Speaker, "Practical Tips for the Products Lawyer,” DRI 2021 Product Liability Conference, August 20, 2021.
• Speaker, “An Analysis of the Role of Daubert in Modern, Complex Litigation," Contemporary Issues in Complex Litigation Conference, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Chicago, Ill., October 17, 2019.
• Speaker, “Current Issues in Multidistrict Litigation,” Contemporary Issues in Complex Litigation Conference, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Chicago, Ill., November 29, 2018.
• Speaker, “Cutting Edge Use of Graphics During Closing,” DRI Product Liability Conference, San Diego, Calif., February 2018.
• Speaker, “Hot Topics and Trends in Medical Device Litigation,” AdvaMed Litigation Counsel Working Group, January 2018. 
• Author, “The Three C’s," Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 10 No. 3, October 2017.
• Speaker, “How Expert Witnesses Can Help Win or Lose Cases at Trial,” SEAK 26th Annual National Expert Witness Conference, May 2017.
• Speaker, “Fighting Back Against Overbroad or No Injury Class Actions: Strategies for Drug and Medical Device Defense Counsel to Effectively Defeat Certification,” 19th Annual Drug and Medical Litigation Conference, American Conference Institute (ACI), New York, N.Y., December 2014.
• Speaker, "The Litigation Exchange: Drug and Device Edition," Co-Chair and speaker, Momentum Event Group, New York, N.Y., October 2013.
• Speaker, "Taking the Social Media Plunge: Engaging Customers Online While Minimizing the Inherent Litigation Risks of Viral Communication," ACI 17th Annual Drug and Medical Device Litigation Conference, New York, N.Y., December 2012.
• Author, "Effect of Judicial Estoppel on Plaintiffs’ Personal Injury Claim – What Every Defense Lawyer Needs to Know," Southern Law Network, Chicago, Ill., October 2010.
• Speaker, "Preparation and Use of Expert Witnesses," ACI Expert Witness and Scientific Evidence Conference, Philadelphia, Pa., July 2008.
• Speaker, "E-Discovery," Thirteenth Triennial Mississippi Oil and Gas Law Seminar, May 2008.
• Speaker, "To Catch A Thief," Defense Research Institute Drug and Device Seminar, May 2008.
• Speaker, Electronic Discovery Preparedness Training, Mississippi Association of Petroleum Landmen, 2007.
• Speaker, "E-Discovery Era," Central Mississippi Chapter of Institute of Internal Auditors Summer Seminar, 2007.
• Speaker, Federal Practice & Procedure Seminar, June 2007.
• Speaker, Memphis Paralegal Association Electronic Discovery Seminar, 2007.
• Speaker, "Taking and Defending Effective Depositions in Mississippi," Lorman Education Services, 2006-09, 2011.
• Author, "Litigation in the Digital Age," 2007.
• Speaker, "Structuring Defense Counsel for MDL Litigation," ACI Drug & Medical Device Litigation Conference, Chicago, Illinois, June 2006.
• Author, "Mediation in Multi-District Litigation," For the Defense, Defense Research Institute, 2003.