Biography: Commercial Litigation

View listing at Who's Who Legal

Harvey Kaplan is a partner of Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP in Kansas City, Missouri. He chairs the firm's pharmaceutical and medical device litigation division and has served as a member of its executive committee. Mr Kaplan is well known nationally and internationally for defending pharmaceutical companies. He has tried and won high-profile pharma cases involving such drugs and devices as DES, the Cu-7 IUD, the Dalkon Shield IUD and diet drugs in many jurisdictions, including Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. In addition, he has argued cases in the appellate courts of Missouri, Michigan and in the Fifth, Eighth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal.

Mr Kaplan is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the International Society of Barristers, the American Bar Foundation, and Litigation Counsel of America. He has served on the board of directors of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) and the Defense Research Institute (DRI). He was also director of the IADC's Defense Counsel Trial Academy, co-chair of the DRI Corporate Counsel Roundtable, and he has been at the forefront of launching DRI Europe.

In 2008 and 2009, Mr Kaplan was named by Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers as Global Product Liability Lawyer of the Year; and he was selected as the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyer for 2009 by The Legal Media Group Guide to the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyers. He was also featured in The American Lawyer, where SHB was selected as the 2008 Product Liability Litigation Department of the Year and in a profile of SHB in the October 2008 ABA Journal.

He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business (nominated for 2007 Chambers Award for Excellence in Product Liability Litigation), The Legal 500 United States, Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers (recognised as the most highly regarded product liability lawyer globally), Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Product Liability Defence Lawyers (most highly nominated lawyer; described as "incredibly skilled" and an "industry leader"), Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Commercial Litigators, Lawdragon: The 500 Leading Lawyers in America, Lawdragon: The 500 Leading Litigators in America, Benchmark: America's Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys (named as a National Star), The Legal Media Group Guide to the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyers, Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers (named to the Top Ten for four consecutive years), PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook, PLC Life Sciences Handbook, PLC Dispute Resolution Handbook and The Kansas City Business Journal "Best of the Bar".

Mr Kaplan is admitted to practise before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits, the United States Tax Court, the Missouri Supreme Court and the federal courts of Missouri, Kansas, Arizona and Nebraska.

Biography: Product Liability Defence

View listing at Who's Who Legal

Harvey L Kaplan is the senior partner of Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP. Headquarted in Kansas City, Missouri, he is chair of the firm's pharmaceutical and medical device litigation division and has served as a member of its executive committee. Mr Kaplan is well known nationally and internationally for defending pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

He has overseen the firm's role as National Counsel in many litigations, and he has tried high-profile pharma cases in jurisdictions throughout the US, including Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. He has won defence verdicts in cases involving serious personal injuries alleged to have been caused by drugs and devices such as DES, the Cu-7 IUD, the Dalkon Shield IUD, and the FenPhen diet drug combination. In addition, he has argued cases in the Appellate Courts of Missouri and Michigan, as well as in the Fifth, Eighth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal.

The ABA Journal referred to him as 'the godfather of product liability law' in an article featuring SHB as 'the firm many of the world's biggest companies turn to at the first hint of trouble with one of their products.' (ABA Journal, October 2008). This honourary title was also bestowed upon him in The American Lawyer's story about SHB's selection as Product Liability Litigation Department of the Year in 2008. Mr Kaplan, a pioneer in product liability litigation, has been named as Who's Who Legal's Global Product Liability Lawyer of the Year for three consecutive years, 2008-10.

The 2009 edition of The Legal 500 United States said Mr Kaplan was 'widely esteemed as a leading figure in the field, clients describing him as a 'seasoned litigator with a wealth of experience and insight.'' Lawdragon 500, which recognises the nation's leading 500 lawyers, called Mr Kaplan 'the world's leading product liability defender.' The Legal Media Group named him the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyer in the 2009 edition of its Guide to the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyers and also selected him for inclusion among its 2010 'Best of the Best.' Chambers USA recognised Mr Kaplan as one of the top six pharmaceutical products liability lawyers in the nation and touted his team as offering 'an enviable breadth of expertise.' Chambers added that Mr Kaplan is 'praised by sources for his leadership skills.

He is listed in: The Best Lawyers in America; Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business (nominated for 2007 Chambers Award for Excellence in Product Liability Litigation); The Legal 500 United States; The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers (recognised as one of the most highly regarded product liability lawyers globally); The International Who's Who of Product Liability Defence Lawyers (most highly nominated lawyer; described as 'incredibly skilled' and an 'industry leader'); Lawdragon: The 500 Leading Lawyers in America; Lawdragon: The 500 Leading Litigators in America; Benchmark Litigation (named as a National Star for Products Liability), The Legal Media Group Guide to the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyers; The International Who's Who of Commercial Litigators; The International Who's Who of Life Sciences Lawyers; Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers (named to the Top Ten for four consecutive years); PLC Which lawyer? Yearbook; PLC Life Sciences Handbook; PLC Dispute Resolution Handbook; and The Kansas City Business Journal "Best of the Bar."

Mr Kaplan is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers; the International Society of Barristers; the American Bar Foundation; and Litigation Counsel of America. He has been a long-time leader of the defence bar, having served on the board of directors of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) and as director of its Defense Counsel Trial Academy. Mr Kaplan also served on the Defense Research Institute (DRI) board of directors, as chair of its drug and medical device litigation committee, and was instrumental in launching DRI Europe.

He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits, the United States Tax Court, the Missouri Supreme Court and the federal courts of Missouri, Kansas, Arizona and Nebraska.