Steve Brody

Partner

Stephen D. Brody is a partner in O'Melveny's Washington, DC office and a member of the Class Actions, Mass Torts and Insurance Litigation Practice, where he serves as co-leader of the practice’s Drug and Medical Device subgroup. Steve is a trial lawyer and works on a wide variety of complex, aggregated litigation, with a primary focus on pharmaceutical, health care, and products liability actions, including State Attorney General actions. He has defended class actions and State AG cases involving pharmaceutical marketing, state Medicaid reimbursement, health insurance plan benefits, preferred provider agreements, and 401(k) fees and retirement plan investment selection.

Illustrative Professional Experience

• Defending a US$74 million constructive fraudulent conveyance action for a hospital and health systems operator in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia in a seven-week bench trial, securing a full defense judgment on all claims.
• Obtaining reversal of US$4.5 million consumer fraud judgment against a pharmaceutical manufacturer in a state court action brought by the West Virginia Attorney General.
• Representing major pharmaceutical manufacturers against Medicaid reimbursement, fraud and unfair trade practices claims brought by numerous State Attorneys General.
• Coordinating a multi-firm defense effort for a major pharmaceutical manufacturer against claims for reimbursement of prescription drug payments brought by almost 200 third-party payers in state and federal court.
• Obtaining dismissal of class actions against retirement services providers in ERISA fiduciary litigation challenging the reasonableness of 401(k) plan fee structures.
• Defeating certification of a purported nationwide class action brought by provider alleging illegitimate appropriation of discounted reimbursement by a major health insurance carrier through preferred provider network.
• Obtaining dismissal of nationwide class action against a large Medicare Advantage contractor over alleged misclassification of Medicare Part B and Part D drugs.
• Obtaining an order setting aside a death sentence in favor of life in prison based on findings of violations of Brady v. Maryland by prosecutors after a two day evidentiary hearing in pro bono representation of capital defendant.

Before joining O'Melveny, Steve was the Acting Director of the Tobacco Litigation Team at the U.S. Department of Justice. In that role, and in his prior role as the team's Deputy Director, Steve led a team of 35 Justice Department lawyers through four years of discovery on three continents and a nine-month civil RICO trial against major cigarette manufacturers in one of the largest civil cases ever brought by the Department of Justice. During the course of the litigation, Steve not only led the government's prosecution, but also represented the interests of almost 20 executive branch agencies. The case resulted in a 1,653-page opinion from the district court awarding judgment for the United States against all defendants. The judgment was upheld on appeal.

Steve is a member of the faculty for the National Trial Advocacy College at the University of Virginia School of Law, one of the nation's premier trial advocacy programs for practicing lawyers. He is also a frequent speaker on electronic discovery and pharmaceutical and managed care litigation issues.

Steve serves on the Board of Trustees of the Legal Aid Society of Washington, DC.

Professional Activities

Admitted to Practice, U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. District Court for District of Columbia; U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 
Speaking Engagements, “Ethics & E-Discovery,” Practising Law Institute (2007, 2009, 2010 (Chair)); "7th National Forum on Off-Label Communications," American Conference Institute (2010); “Defense Perspectives on Attorney General Pharmaceutical Claims,” LexisNexis/HB Litigation Conferences (2008, 2009); "Advanced Forum on Document Management and E-Discovery," American Conference Institute (2006, 2007 and 2009); "4th Annual In-House Counsel Guide to Document Management, E-Discovery, and Litigation Readiness for the Life Sciences," American Conference Institute (2008); "Managed Care: Enforceability of Arbitration Agreements," Practising Law Institute (2007); "Electronic Records Management and Digital Discovery: Practical Considerations for Legal, Technical and Operational Success," ALI-ABA (2006); "Electronic Discovery and Document Retention," U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division Continuing Legal Education Program (2006).