The best lawyers for a hernia mesh lawsuit are the firms holding court-appointed leadership roles in the active multidistrict litigations, along with practices that have tried mesh cases to verdict and carry the resources to sustain years of litigation against manufacturers like C.R. Bard, Covidien, Atrium, and Ethicon. Which of those firms is right for you depends almost entirely on which manufacturer made your mesh, because each product sits in a different MDL on a different timeline.1Hernia mesh lawsuits are among the largest ongoing mass tort litigations in the United States, with more than 26,000 claims pending across several federal multidistrict litigations as of early 2026.
Match the Firm to Your MDL
Hernia mesh claims are individual lawsuits consolidated for pretrial work. Each plaintiff keeps their own lawyer, but a Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee appointed by the federal judge drives strategy for everyone in the MDL. The firms with the most influence over your outcome are the ones already working inside the specific MDL that covers your device.
- C.R. Bard/Davol (MDL 2846): Southern District of Ohio, Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr., roughly 23,700 cases. A global settlement exceeding $1 billion was announced in October 2024 and is in administration.
- Covidien/Medtronic (MDL 3029): District of Massachusetts, Judge Patti B. Saris, about 2,400 federal cases plus over 6,000 in Massachusetts state court. No global settlement; bellwether trials are being scheduled for 2026.
- Atrium/Getinge (MDL 2753): District of New Hampshire, roughly 200 remaining cases. A $66 million settlement resolved most C-QUR claims in December 2021.
- Ethicon/Johnson & Johnson (MDL 2782): Northern District of Georgia. Ethicon settled most Physiomesh cases confidentially in late 2023, leaving only a handful of active claims.
Firms With Court-Appointed Leadership Roles
Judges select leadership attorneys based on experience, resources, and demonstrated ability to represent all plaintiffs. In the Bard MDL, the court appointed co-lead counsel, liaison counsel, an executive committee, and a steering committee in September 2018.
Levin Papantonio Rafferty
Tim O’Brien, a shareholder at the Pensacola-based Levin Papantonio Rafferty, was appointed Co-Lead Counsel for the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in MDL 2846 and served as Lead Trial Counsel for all three federal bellwether trials. That put him at the center of the cases that shaped the global settlement.
Motley Rice
Motley Rice attorneys Don Migliori and Jonathan Orent served as Rhode Island co-lead and co-liaison counsel, negotiating a global resolution process covering approximately 25,000 MDL plaintiffs and over 30 Bard hernia mesh products. Orent was lead trial counsel in the 2022 Rhode Island state court case Trevino v. Davol Inc., which produced a $4.8 million compensatory damages award. Motley Rice attorneys also sit on the federal MDL co-lead counsel team and the Executive Committee.
Bard MDL Steering Committee
The Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee appointed in May 2018 handled depositions of manufacturer executives, expert challenges, and pretrial work benefiting every plaintiff in the MDL. Members included:
- Robert J. Binstock, Reich & Binstock LLP (Houston)
- Riley L. Burnett Jr., Burnett Law Firm (Houston)
- Mike Daly, Pogust Braslow & Millrood LLC (Conshohocken, PA)
- Kimberly A. Dougherty, Andrus Wagstaff (South Easton, MA)
- W. Lewis Garrison, Heninger Garrison Davis LLC (Birmingham, AL)
- Lisa Ann Gorche, Johnson Becker PLLC (Saint Paul, MN)
- D. Todd Mathews, Gori Julian & Associates P.C. (St. Louis)
- Melissa H. Nafash, The Lanier Law Firm PLLC (New York)
- David L. Selby II, Bailey & Glasser LLP (Birmingham, AL)
- Raymond C. Silverman, Parker Waichman LLP (New York)
Covidien, Atrium, and Ethicon Leadership
Attorney Richard W. Schulte was appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the Massachusetts state court Covidien litigation and sits on the steering committees for both the Ethicon Physiomesh MDL and the Atrium C-QUR MDL. For plaintiffs with Covidien devices, leadership appointments in the federal MDL under Judge Saris are guiding the litigation toward its first bellwether trials in 2026.
Other Firms With Trial and Caseload Experience
Several firms outside the formal steering committee have carried significant hernia mesh work. Fleming Nolen & Jez LLP and Seeger Weiss LLP both put attorneys on the November 2023 bellwether trial that produced a $500,000 verdict for plaintiff Aaron Stinson against Bard; Kelsey L. Stokes of Fleming Nolen & Jez and Jeff Grand of Seeger Weiss worked that trial alongside O’Brien.
Simmons Hanly Conroy has handled over a thousand hernia mesh cases, though the firm is no longer accepting new ones. Sokolove Law, involved in medical device litigation since 1979, reports over $1.6 billion in recoveries across medical device and drug claims and lists individual hernia mesh settlements for its clients ranging from $475,000 to $800,000. Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, a Colorado-based firm recognized by Best Lawyers and The Legal 500, is investigating hernia mesh claims against multiple manufacturers.
What to Look For When Choosing an Attorney
Mass Tort and MDL Experience
Hernia mesh cases run on procedural rules that differ from ordinary personal injury work: short-form complaints, bellwether selection, Daubert hearings, settlement matrix negotiations. A firm already active in at least one hernia mesh MDL understands these mechanisms. Steering committee firms know the evidence and the defense playbook most intimately.
Resources to Sustain Long Litigation
These cases take years. The Bard MDL was formed in 2018, and some plaintiffs are still waiting for payment in 2026. The Covidien litigation is earlier in its timeline. Discovery, experts, and trial preparation cost money, and manufacturers like Becton Dickinson and Medtronic have deep defense budgets. The firm needs the financial capacity to front costs without pushing you into a premature settlement.
Contingency Fees and Costs
Virtually all hernia mesh attorneys work on contingency: no fee upfront, and the firm takes a percentage of the recovery only if you win. That percentage typically runs between 33% and 40%. Ask about the specific percentage and whether litigation costs like expert fees and filing fees come out of your share or the firm’s share. The answer meaningfully affects your net payout.
Plaintiff-Side Focus
Firms that primarily represent individual plaintiffs are better positioned to anticipate defense tactics. Hernia mesh cases sit at the intersection of product liability and medical records review, so firms that employ nurse-attorneys or lawyers with medical backgrounds can read operative reports and spot the facts that matter.
Communication
Mass tort cases can feel impersonal when thousands of plaintiffs share one litigation. Ask how often you’ll get updates and who your point of contact will be. A firm that can’t answer that clearly at the consultation won’t communicate better once you sign.
Questions to Ask at the Free Consultation
Most hernia mesh firms offer free case evaluations. Use the call to assess fit:
- How many hernia mesh cases has the firm handled, and in which MDLs? Match the firm to the MDL covering your device.
- What is the firm’s role in the litigation? Steering committee membership, trial counsel experience, or a substantial MDL caseload all signal real influence over outcomes.
- What is the contingency percentage, and how are costs handled? Get it in writing before signing a retainer.
- What records will you need? Expect to provide surgical records, hospital discharge summaries, documentation of complications, and the mesh brand implanted. A capable firm will help obtain operative reports and implant logs you don’t already have.
- What is the realistic timeline? For Bard claims in the global settlement, the Intensive Settlement Process is scheduled to begin in January 2027, with payouts stretching over several years. Covidien claim timing depends on bellwether results that haven’t happened yet. Opt-out plaintiffs in the Bard litigation may not see trial dates until 2029 or later. An honest attorney will tell you this rather than promise a quick check.
Can You Still File?
New claims are still being filed and transferred into the active MDLs as of 2026, but the window is tightening. Most states impose a statute of limitations of two to three years from the date a patient discovers mesh-related complications, though this varies and some states allow one to six years. Many jurisdictions apply a discovery rule that starts the clock when the injury is identified rather than at the date of surgery. Some states also impose an outer limit of 10 to 12 years regardless of when the problem is noticed.
Firms are now generally accepting only especially strong cases, and new plaintiffs face a procedural requirement to name an expert witness at the time of filing. Cases filed now may not resolve until after 2031. Individuals who believe they have a claim should generally have undergone hernia repair with mesh on or after January 1, 2013, and experienced serious complications such as infection, mesh migration, bowel obstruction, chronic pain, adhesion formation, or organ perforation that required revision surgery. Because filing deadlines are state-specific and increasingly pressing, speaking with an attorney sooner protects the right to pursue a claim.