Practice Expertise

  • Product and Mass Tort Litigation
  • Litigation
  • Asbestos Litigation
  • Benzene Litigation

Areas of Practice

  • Asbestos Litigation
  • Benzene Litigation
  • Litigation
  • Product and Mass Tort Litigation
  • COVID-19 Litigation
  • PFAS Interdisciplinary Team
  • Product Liability and Mass Tort Litigation
  • Retail
  • Retail and Consumer Products Litigation
  • Silica Litigation
  • View More

Profile

Merideth’s practice focuses on all aspects of litigation and risk management, with particular focus on product liability, toxic tort, and environmental litigation, wrongful death and personal injury claims, and general commercial disputes.

Merideth represents clients in product and premises liability litigation involving allegations of toxic exposure (including asbestos, talc, silica, formaldehyde, benzene, coal combustion residuals, and wood dust), environmental litigation (including claims involving PFAS, hexavalent chromium, and petroleum), catastrophic injury and death claims, bacterial food contamination claims, and general product liability matters. Merideth’s experience also includes plaintiff- and defense-side representation in general commercial disputes, including those involving product performance, breach of contract, and post-corporate transaction indemnification claims. Merideth represents clients in jurisdictions throughout the United States and international forums.

Merideth also maintains an active pro bono practice, representing clients in child custody and visitation matters arising in the context of domestic violence, as well as guardianship proceedings.

Relevant Experience

  • National coordinating counsel for Fortune 100 and 500 companies in mass tort and toxic exposure litigation in jurisdictions throughout the United States.
  • Provides strategic pre-market litigation risk analysis for manufacturers, including guidance on potential risks of product or process changes, and litigation avoidance.
  • Consults on mergers and acquisitions involving potential and actual tort liabilities.
  • Represents international companies in US-based litigation, including forum and jurisdictional-based defense strategies and international discovery.
  • Led briefing strategy in successful constitutional challenge to Pennsylvania jurisdictional statute.
  • Member of defense team that won dismissal of a high-profile federal lawsuit involving allegations of unsafe COVID-19 working conditions brought against one of the largest meat processing companies in the United States.
  • Completed long-term in-house secondment with industrial equipment manufacturer, managing contract review and negotiation (non-disclosure agreements, sales terms and conditions, licensing agreements), consulting on labor and employment issues and intellectual property matters, and supporting corporate transaction diligence and negotiation.
  • Represented multinational client in a breach of contract matter before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration.
  • Obtained client’s dismissal from a personal injury matter in Richmond Circuit Court after successfully briefing and arguing a plea in bar involving a novel issue of Virginia tort law.

Bar Admissions

  • Virginia

Education
BS, Texas A&M University, Nutritional Sciences, summa cum laude, 2010

Areas of Practice

  • Asbestos Litigation
  • Benzene Litigation
  • Litigation
  • Product and Mass Tort Litigation
  • COVID-19 Litigation
  • PFAS Interdisciplinary Team
  • Product Liability and Mass Tort Litigation
  • Retail
  • Retail and Consumer Products Litigation
  • Silica Litigation

Professional Career

Professional Associations
  • Member, Virginia Bar Association
  • Board of Directors, Connor’s Heroes
  • Member, YMCA of Greater Richmond, Millennial Initiative Committee

Professional Activities and Experience
  • E. Randolph Williams Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service, 2016-2017


Articles

  • Litigation forecast for PFAS-containing consumer products, Thomson Reuters Westlaw
  • Mitigating Risks of Consent-by-Registration Personal Jurisdiction, Bloomberg Law
  • COVID-19 Pushes Demand for Surface Disinfectants to Fever Pitch, Raising Regulatory and Litigation Risk, Thomson Reuters Westlaw
  • TSCA Regulatory Action Raises Retailers’ Litigation Risk, Law360
  • 2022 Litigation Trends for PFAS-Containing Consumer Products and 2023 Preview, Retail Industry 2022 Year in Review
  • Current litigation trends for PFAS-containing consumer products, Westlaw Today
  • 2020 Retail Industry Year in Review
  • 2023 Retail Industry Year in Review

Blogs

Privacy and Information Security Law Blog

Global privacy and cybersecurity law updates and analysis. Computerworld magazine has named Hunton & Williams the top firm for privacy for the fourth consecutive year based on a survey of more than 4,000 corporate privacy professionals. In addition, Chambers and Partners rated Hunton & Williams the top Privacy and Data Security practice in its Chambers Global, Chambers USA and Chambers UK guides, noting that the firm “is highly regarded for the strength of its excellent team.”

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