Charmaine Harris | Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP

Charmaine K. Harris’s practice focuses on medical device, products liability defense and other complex litigation. She is a lead associate for a Fortune 500 Company defending its product liability and premises liability claims arising in state and federal courts nationwide. In that role, Charmaine conducts discovery depositions, represents the client at mediations and negotiates settlements. Additionally, Charmaine is also experienced in defending asbestos and employment-related disputes. Prior to law school, Charmaine was a senior mechanical design engineer in Medtronic, Inc.’s Neuromodulation business unit. As a medical device engineer, she designed, tested and improved spinal cord stimulation devices. She is a named inventor on five patents for these devices. Her prior career as a medical device engineer gives her a sophisticated understanding of technologically complicated cases.

Mediator, Gene Hummel | Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP

Gene Hummel represents and counsels businesses nationwide in a variety of civil litigation matters including products liability, contract disputes, business torts and other complex litigation. He has previous experience in construction and employment litigation in which he represented clients in midsized and large matters including commercial disputes, contract disputes and construction defect liability defense. Additionally, Gene has an active pro bono practice, representing asylum seekers as well as tenants in housing disputes in both state and federal courts, including the 8th Circuit.

William Childs | Bowman and Brooke LLP

Bill Childs is a national attorney with nearly 25 years of experience defending clients in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. His practice focuses on pharmaceutical mass tort, patent, commercial and other litigation, bringing extensive experience in handling complex, high-stakes cases. His Fortune 500 in-house experience, including serving as litigation counsel for two major corporations, gives him a unique perspective on managing high-stakes litigation from both outside and in-house counsel roles. This dual insight allows him to effectively navigate complex legal and regulatory challenges while aligning legal strategy with business objectives. Bill has extensive experience defending large-volume mass torts and working closely with technical experts. He routinely works with company and expert witnesses, including sales representatives, FDA experts, epidemiologists and physicians of all specialties. His ability to dive deep into the company story, medicine and science behind claims allows him to form a complete view of complex medical and regulatory issues. Bill thrives on organizing complicated evidence into key themes supported by the facts developed from witness interviews, depositions and key document review.

His ability to quickly understand complex issues and cases translates into strategic and comprehensive case chronologies. Beyond mass tort litigation, Bill has handled a wide range of litigation matters across various industries. Bill also handles a range of other types of litigation. He has represented a medical device manufacturer in a trade secret matter, an educational tablet maker in warranty matters, an all-terrain vehicle manufacturer in warranty matters (including trying a case to verdict) and a highway safety equipment manufacturer in personal injury litigation.

I. Review of the substantive changes to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and their impact | 2:00pm – 2:20pm

II. Discuss the Eighth Circuit’s Sprafka ruling (expected fall 2025) | 2:20pm – 2:40pm

III. Discuss strategies for navigating heightened expert scrutiny | 2:40pm – 3:00pm