Byorick, E. Michael

Mr. Busman has over a decade of experience defending complex litigation before state and federal trial and appellate courts nationwide.  He specializes in the representation of product manufacturers and other corporate clients in consolidated and serial litigation, with particular expertise in the defense of pharmaceutical and medical device cases.

Although Mr. Busman handles all aspects of litigation, he has extensive experience with expert discovery, having cross-examined expert witnesses at deposition and in Daubert hearings and, conversely, worked with a wide range of expert witnesses to prepare them for deposition, trial, or other pre-trial proceedings.  Mr. Busman is currently part of the defense team representing a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in federal multidistrict and consolidated state court litigation involving a class of drugs known as “bisphosphonates.”  In this role, he recently secured summary judgment in favor of the manufacturer after successfully arguing that the testimony of the plaintiff’s specific-causation experts failed to satisfy Daubert and Federal Rule of Evidence 702.  See Parmentier (Johnson) v. Novartis Pharm. Corp., No. 1:12-CV-00045 SNLJ, 2012 WL 2326047 (E.D. Mo. June 19, 2012).  Mr. Busman won summary judgment in a similar case after demonstrating that the plaintiff failed to show that any alleged deficiency in the warnings for the product proximately caused the plaintiff’s injury.  See Eberhart v. Novartis Pharm. Corp., __ F. Supp. 2d __, 2011 WL 5289372 (N.D. Ga. Oct. 31, 2011).

Mr. Busman has also defended personal injury and wrongful death claims brought against a major medical device manufacturer arising out of the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents used in conjunction with imaging devices.  Assisted by a number of the Firm’s attorneys, Mr. Busman worked to formulate and then implement a medical and scientific defense for the cases, which involved allegations that the gadolinium-based MRI contrast agent caused a rare disease known as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis.  A vigorous defense led to the favorable resolution of cases consolidated before the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.  (Read more here.)

In addition to his experience in pharmaceutical and medical device cases, Mr. Busman often defends personal injury and wrongful death litigation involving alleged environmental or occupational exposure to chemicals like benzene or asbestos-containing materials