Robyn Maguire

Partner with Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Robyn is a passionate courtroom advocate, who is relied on by pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to represent them in mass tort and “one-off” products liability lawsuits alleging negligence, failure-to-warn, strict liability design and manufacturing defect, and wrongful death claims. She has represented defendants in cases concerning orthopaedic implants, talcum powder, heartburn medication, contraceptive patches, pediatric painkillers, tissue morcellators, surgical drills, aerosol sunscreens, and other drugs, devices, and consumer products.

Robyn is an effective oral advocate and has significant trial experience as a first- and second-chair litigator in federal and Massachusetts state court. She has deep knowledge of the development, sale and distribution of prescription and over-the-counter drugs and medical devices, supply chain logistics, operating room protocols, biomaterials applications, medical device testing standards, and healthcare compliance issues. Robyn is often called upon to develop the scientific defense of a case—both to challenge and exclude opposing experts (often resulting in summary judgment granted in favor of her clients)—and to affirmatively prepare engineering and medical experts to explain complicated technical principles at trial.

Robyn currently represents 13 retailers in In re: Zantac (Ranitidine) Prods. Liab. Litig. (MDL 2924), pending in federal court in the Southern District of Florida and is retailer liaison counsel in In Re: Zantac Litig., pending in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. For the past ten years, Robyn has led a team of engineering and defense experts in In Re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. Pinnacle Hip Implant Prods. Liab. Litig. (MDL 2244).

Beyond her products liability practice, Robyn also has considerable experience in real estate and land use litigation matters, including title disputes, zoning appeals, and affordable housing matters. She represents real estate developers, property owners, and landlords and tenants concerning a variety of commercial property matters, including commercial eviction claims, easement disputes, administrative appeals, and other real estate matters. Robyn has tried several eminent domain and land use cases to verdict, many of which related to land takings at the former Sagamore Rotary in Cape Cod, and resulted in the Top Ten Verdicts in Massachusetts in 2010, 2011, and 2015.

Robyn is actively involved in pro bono, civic and charitable initiatives. She has submitted amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on matters involving immigration and employment discrimination, respectively. She is an Executive Committee and Board Member of Lawyers For Civil Rights in Boston and the Chair of the Town of Hingham Zoning Board of Appeals. Robyn was named a Top Woman of Law by Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly in 2022.

During law school, Robyn was a judicial intern for the late Honorable Reginald C. Lindsay of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

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