King & Spalding Boosts FDA & Life Sciences Practice With Addition of Three-Lawyer Team in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - April 01, 2016) - King & Spalding announced today that leading FDA and life sciences lawyers Gary Messplay, Sheldon Bradshaw and Kyle Sampson have joined the firm's FDA & Life Sciences practice as partners in the Washington, D.C., office. Messplay, Bradshaw and Sampson are all former partners of Hunton & Williams, where Messplay served as chair of the Life Sciences practice, and both he and Bradshaw co-chaired the firm's Food & Drug practice.

"It is a testament to the strength of the D.C. office and the firm's focus on serving the FDA & Life Sciences industry that a team of Gary, Sheldon and Kyle's caliber would choose to join King & Spalding," said Robert D. Hays, Jr., chairman of King & Spalding.

Mark Brown, chair of the firm's FDA & Life Sciences practice, added: "While the credentials of each of the partners joining us would turn anyone's head, their combined experience as practice and industry group leaders, former high-ranking government officials at FDA, DOJ and the White House, and in-house experience at a major pharmaceutical company are unquestionably impressive. We are delighted to welcome them to the firm." Seth Lundy, deputy chair of the FDA & Life Sciences practice explained: "The addition of these outstanding lawyers further increases King & Spalding's position as a market leader in providing services to the life sciences industry."

"King & Spalding's deep bench of Life Sciences, FDA and regulatory talent is quite rare in this area," said Messplay. "The level of talent and commitment to serving the life sciences industry, combined with an amazing sense of collaboration and energy make the firm a great fit for our group and for enhancing our client services."

Gary Messplay
Messplay has been representing pharmaceutical and medical device companies for over 20 years and is widely recognized as one of the leading regulatory and healthcare compliance lawyers in the country. His practice focuses on the regulation of drugs, biologics, medical devices, food, and tobacco by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Health & Human Services Department, Department of Agriculture, Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal and state agencies. Prior to joining Hunton & Williams, Messplay was in-house counsel at Eli Lilly & Company, where he had global legal, regulatory, and compliance responsibility for the top selling pharmaceutical product at the time. Messplay received a B.A. from Indiana University, and his J.D. from Indiana University School of Law.

Sheldon Bradshaw
Bradshaw's practice focuses on providing legal and regulatory assistance to both large multinational corporations and small growth companies regarding products regulated by the FDA. Prior to joining Hunton & Williams in 2007, Bradshaw served as FDA's Chief Counsel from 2005 to 2007. Before that, Bradshaw was at the Department of Justice with a number of current King & Spalding partners. He received his B.A. from Brigham Young University and his J.D. from George Washington University Law School.

Kyle Sampson
Sampson's practice focuses on FDA regulatory, compliance and enforcement issues. He represents food, drug, biologics, medical device, cosmetics and dietary supplement companies on the full range of regulatory and enforcement issues confronting FDA-regulated firms. His practice also includes strategic advice and compliance counseling, enforcement, litigation and transactional matters. Before joining Hunton & Williams, Sampson held positions in every branch of the federal government, serving in the White House from 2001 to 2003 as associate counsel to the President, and at the DOJ from 2003 to 2007 as a special assistant U.S. attorney, and as counselor and chief of staff to two attorneys general. He received his B.A. from Brigham Young University and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

About King & Spalding
Celebrating more than 130 years of service, King & Spalding is an international law firm that represents a broad array of clients, including half of the Fortune Global 100, with 900 lawyers in 18 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm has handled matters in over 160 countries on six continents and is consistently recognized for the results it obtains, uncompromising commitment to quality, and dedication to understanding the business and culture of its clients. More information is available at www.kslaw.com.