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Derek J. Meyer (Rick) is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the Firm's Chicago office.
Rick has tried over 20 large matters to conclusion. He most recently successfully defended a leading pharmaceutical provider against an effort by a competitor to enjoin the provider from selling pharmaceutical products to Cook County pursuant to a $276 million contract.
Rick often takes the lead in multiple related actions and/or addresses nationwide issues on a global basis. In one professional liability matter, Rick successfully defended one of the United States' largest law firms in thirteen related arbitrations. After four years vigorously defending the claims of over 300 separate plaintiffs seeking over $200 million, the matters settled in 2004 for an amount roughly equal to future defense costs. Rick also led the prosecution of a $410 million interpleader action filed by the United States' leading tobacco companies against the hundreds of plaintiffs' attorneys who represented the States in the tobacco litigation of the late 1990s. The successful resolution of this action in 2005 involved the entry of two separate injunctions enjoining competing lawsuits, the certification of three defendant classes, and the dismissal with prejudice of $2.8 billion in counterclaims without payment by the plaintiff tobacco companies. Rick also currently serves as lead national defense counsel in over fifteen consolidated class actions relating to the sale of a well-known book and as one of the lead insurer lawyers challenging a collusive pre-packaged bankruptcy plan concocted by the asbestos plaintiffs' bar and a floor tile manufacturer.
Rick frequently participates in appellate proceedings. In 2003, he successfully argued a $625 million appeal before the Supreme Court of New York, First Department on behalf of three leading tobacco companies. In addition, Rick served as one of two lawyers who conducted a mock appellate argument before a panel of judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit at the ABA's annual convention in August 2005.
Rick has authored a number of articles, including "Express Federal Preemption: Where Is It After Cipollone?" 59 Defense Counsel Journal 491 (October 1992); "Preemption Succeeds With OTC Drug Labeling," 6 Leader's Product Liability Law and Strategy 1 (December 1991); and "Redefining the New Value Exception to the Absolute Priority Rule in Light of the Creditors' Bargain Model," 24 Indiana Law Review 417 (1991). He is also the principal author of the "Discovery" chapter for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education's treatise, Federal Civil Practice (2000 & Supp. 2006). Rick also speaks frequently on the use of technology in the courtroom.
Rick was listed in Law Bulletin Publishing Company's 2005 "40 Under 40" feature publication.
Rick is admitted to the Illinois Bar and the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois and the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
Education:
Indiana University School of Law, J.D. ( magna cum laude), 1991
Indiana University, B.S., 1988 | 