Steve Brody

Before joining O’Melveny, Steve was the Acting Director of the Tobacco Litigation Team at the US 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 federal government. 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’s work on the tobacco case has been described in several journal articles and books, including Harvard medical historian Allan Brandt’s “The Cigarette Century” (Basic Books 2007) and “Bad Acts: The Racketeering Case Against the Tobacco Industry” (American Public Health Assn. 2012).

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 state Attorney General investigations and litigation and product liability issues.

Steve serves on the Board of Trustees of the Legal Aid Society of Washington, DC, and previously served on the Board of Directors for the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

• Represented major pharmaceutical manufacturers against Medicaid reimbursement, fraud and unfair trade practices claims brought by numerous State Attorneys General 
• Coordinated 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
• Represented medical device manufacturers in multi-state Attorney General investigations 
• Obtained dismissal of nationwide Average Wholesale Price class action against pharmaceutical manufacturer 
• Won reversal of a federal district court remand order on behalf of an over-the-counter manufacturer in an important decision from the 8th Circuit on the scope of CAFA jurisdiction 
• Obtained order striking class claims before any discovery in case alleging violations of Missouri Merchandising Practices Act by over-the-counter manufacturer 
• Secured dismissal of class actions against retirement services providers in ERISA fiduciary litigation challenging the reasonableness of 401(k) plan fee structures 
• Defeated 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 
• Obtained dismissal of nationwide class action against a large Medicare Advantage contractor over alleged misclassification of Medicare Part B and Part D drugs 
• Secured dismissal of class action against governing body for college athletics alleging failure to secure integrity of academic instruction offered to intercollegiate athletes 
• Obtained an order setting aside a death sentence in favor of life in prison based on findings of Brady violations by prosecutors after a two-day evidentiary hearing in pro bono representation of capital defendant
• Following a nine-day bench trial, secured judgment invalidating State of Alabama absentee ballot voting requirements as discriminatory against persons with disabilities during COVID-19 pandemic