Melanie H. Muhlstock

EDUCATION

• University of Wisconsin at Madison (B.A., 1994)
• Loyola University – Chicago, School of Law (J.D., 1997)

BAR ADMISSION

• Bar of the State of New Jersey (1997)
• Bar of the State of New York (1998)
• United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1997)
• United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (1998)
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (1998)
• United States District Court for the Western District of New York (2001)
• United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (2006)
• United States Supreme Court (2019)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• The National Trial Lawyers
• American Association for Justice
• American Bar Association
• New York State Bar Association
• New York State Trial Lawyers Association
• New Jersey State Bar Association

Melanie H. Muhlstock joined Parker Waichman as an Associate in 2005 and is now Managing Partner, Mass Torts Department. Ms. Muhlstock graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a Bachelor of Arts degree in both English and Communication Arts/Rhetoric in 1994. She received her Juris Doctorate from Loyola University – Chicago School of Law in 1997, where she earned the Corpus Juris Secundum Award for Scholastic Excellence in Civil Procedure. She has been a member of the Bar of the State of New Jersey since 1997 and the Bar of the State of New York since 1998. She is also admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, Western and Northern Districts of New York, the District of New Jersey and the United States Supreme Court. Since 2014, Ms. Muhlstock has been named to The National Trial Lawyers, Top 100 Trial Lawyers List annually.

During her tenure at Parker Waichman, Ms. Muhlstock has specifically focused her personal injury practice on the representation of plaintiffs in complex and serious litigation including multidistrict litigation and class action matters that involve pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other consumer products and complex matters. In that capacity, she has facilitated the resolution of numerous serious injury and other claims.

Over the last eighteen years, Ms. Muhlstock has often been selected to serve on discovery and expert sub-committees for Plaintiffs’ Steering Committees nationwide. Most recently Ms. Muhlstock was appointed to serve as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Leadership Committee in In Re: Hair Relaxer Marketing Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 3060) where she is also Co-Lead of the Leadership Development Committee (“LDC”). Ms. Muhlstock is also currently serving as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In Re: Elmiron (Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium) Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2973) and as Lead/Liaison Counsel in In Re: Tasigna Products Liability Litigation (Superior Court of New Jersey MCL No. 6345). Notably, Ms. Muhlstock was previously appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and serving as Co-Chair of the LDC in In Re: Zantac (Ranitidine) Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2924).

The Court’s directive for this novel committee, was that it “shall actively mentor and work closely with the attorneys appointed to the LDC so they have the opportunity to play a meaningful role in various aspects of this MDL, including subcommittee assignments, and thereby gain further experience in preparation for future service on steering committees.” Ms. Muhlstock has also served as Chair of the Non-Party Discovery Committee of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for In re Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2299) and Co-Chair of the Non-Party Discovery Sub-Committee of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for In Re: Yasmin and Yaz (Drospirenone) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2100). She was also trial counsel in the matter of Maria Stone, et al. v. Ethicon Incorporated, et al., Docket Number: 2:12-cv-00274-ROS, U.S. District Court, District of Arizona, a product liability case involving transvaginal mesh, which was tried before the Honorable Roslyn O. Silver in the Summer of 2017.

Her experience also includes membership on various discovery, science and law and briefing sub-committees of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committees in In Re: Denture Cream Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2051); In re: Bayer Corp. Combination Aspirin Products Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation (MDL No. 2023); In Re: Ortho Evra Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 1742); In Re: Guidant Corp. Implantable Defibrillators Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 1708); as well as the New York Coordinated Proceeding involving the contact lens solution, ReNu with MoistureLoc. Ms. Muhlstock has further worked with her colleagues at Parker Waichman as well as the other members of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In re Mirena IUD Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2434), the New Jersey Mirena IUD Multicounty Litigation, and In re: Davol/C.R. Bard Hernia Mesh Multi-Case Management (Master Docket No. PC-2018-999, Superior Court, State of Rhode Island) to further the litigation for the common benefit of all plaintiffs.

Moreover, with more than twenty-five (25) years’ experience in this field, Ms. Muhlstock is a frequently invited to speak on mass tort litigation at national seminars attended by members of the Bar and Bench. These seminars include Harris Martin, Masters of Mass Torts, Mass Torts Made Perfect, Mass Tort Nexus, and the Louisiana State Bar Association Conference.

Prior to joining Parker Waichman, Ms. Muhlstock represented pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers of medical devices and consumer products. During that time, she co-authored “Liability for Off-Label Uses: Coordinating a Response with the Prescribing Physician”, which was presented at the American Conference Institute’s Drug and Medical Device Litigation
Conference in December, 1998. She was also presented with an award commemorating her work on a landmark pro bono victory on behalf of The National Center on Homelessness and Poverty and the homeless children of Suffolk County and the State of New York in October, 2004. While in law school, she was also an extern for the United States Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois where she tried petty offense cases and assisted in the prosecution of organized crime and narcotics felony cases.