Position: Partner

TEL: (310) 788-1278

FAX: 310-788-1200

Email: Click Here

Website: www.kayescholer.com

Admitted: 1988, California; U.S.D.C., Central District of California; U.S.D.C., Southern District of California; U.S.D.C., Eastern District of California; U.S.D.C., Northern District of California

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Practice Areas: Trial Practice; Products Liability Defense; Civil Litigation

Additional Information: Pamela Yates is a Partner in the Litigation Group in Kaye Scholer's Los Angeles office, where she has represented numerous large corporate clients. Her primary area of expertise is in the area of product liability, where her work has included the defense of thousands of mass tort claims involving pharmaceuticals, medical devices, consumer product recalls, and toxic torts.

Early in her career, Ms. Yates was responsible for the Daubert case on behalf of Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. She drafted the summary judgment motion which lead to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision (see below). Throughout her career, Ms. Yates has worked extensively with medical experts in several disciplines, including hearings to exclude plaintiff experts based on the Daubert standard.

Ms. Yates has tried cases in multiple state and federal court venues. She has obtained defense verdicts in multiple product liability lawsuits in different states, including California and Texas. She has extensive experience in MDL and class action work, and for many years has acted as national coordinating counsel in mass tort cases. In that role she has been responsible for all aspects of litigation including trial preparation and trial, settlement, including hundreds of arbitrations and mediations, and management and coordination of regional and local counsel.

In 2009, Ms. Yates was recognized as one of California's top women litigators in Daily Journal's May 13 supplement feature, "Top 100 Women Litigators 2009." In addition, Chambers USA (2008) named Kaye Scholer the best product liability firm in the U.S. at it's 2008 "USA Awards for Excellence" ceremony. In presenting Kaye Scholer the award, Chambers noted that clients praise the firm for its "impressive depth of quality attorneys."

In the 2007 edition of the Legal 500 United States, Kaye Scholer is ranked in the first tier in the area of Product Liability and Mass Tort Defense. Ms. Yates received individual acknowledgment in this area of practice, described as "superb in court." She was also featured in Who's Who Legal, California 2007, 2008 and 2009 in the area of product liability.

In January 2006, Kaye Scholer's product liability lawyers were awarded The American Lawyer Litigation Product Liability Department of the Year. The award specifically references several successes in the Rezulin litigation which involved Ms. Yates.

In August 2005, The National Law Journal's "The Defense Hot List, sizing up Defense Firms With Big Wins" featured Ms. Yates' defense verdict, discussed below, in a multiple plaintiff products case, In Re Rezulin Litigation, JCCP No. 4122 (Los Angeles County, California, Superior court, 2004).

Pro Bono Activities

Ms. Yates is the Los Angeles partner in charge of pro bono activities, ranging from tenant disputes with landlords, asylum cases, death penalty cases, victims of home equity fraud and guardian ad litem cases.

Ms. Yates was a finalist in the philanthropy category for her pro bono leadership at the Los Angeles Business Journal's 2009 "Women Making A Difference" program and ceremony on May 5, 2009.

Ms. Yates was a recipient of the 2007 Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono legal services awarded by the State Bar of California's Board of Governors in recognition of her "voluntary provision of legal services to the poor."

Firm Members: Aton Arbisser