King & Spalding's Austin Office Adds Three Tort Litigation Partners

AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwired - April 24, 2017) - King & Spalding today announced that Lana Varney, Lisa Horvath Shub and Stephen Huffaker have joined as partners in the Life Sciences practice in the firm's Austin office.

"We are pleased to expand the depth of our product liability trial bench with the addition of Lana, Lisa and Steve," said Andy Bayman, head of the firm's Life Sciences area of focus. "The firm's concentration in life science and healthcare is the reason pharmaceutical and medical device companies know that King & Spalding has the industry expertise and bench strength with lawyers like our new Austin team to manage multiple complex mass tort matters at the same time."

"Given Lana's stature in the industry and Austin, we expect that Austin will become another hub of the firm's thriving tort practice," said Mike Stenglein, managing partner of the Austin office. "Lana's help continuing to grow the Austin office will be also invaluable. We are excited to integrate them into the firm's larger tort, Life Sciences and FDA practices."

Varney, Shub and Huffaker were previously partners at Norton Rose Fulbright where all three had spent their entire legal careers.

"King & Spalding's focus on the Life Sciences industry and its trial bench strength means we can partner with many more experienced pharma attorneys on our growing docket of cases," said Varney. "Having worked with King & Spalding lawyers like Chilton Varner and Andy Bayman over the years, we knew the firm was the right next step, given its culture of collegiality and its appreciation and investment in tort work. We are thrilled to join the firm."

Lana Varney

Varney specializes in civil litigation with an emphasis on drug and medical device litigation. Her practice also includes counseling clients to develop best practices and procedures to avoid litigation. She currently serves as national counsel for several international companies defending claims against an osteoporosis medication, an afib drug, an anti-epilepsy drug, and female pelvic mesh medical devices. She has defended human blood products and plasma derived biologics, over the counter cough/cold products containing PPA, penile implants, seizure medications, bipolar treatments and antidiuretic hormones. She served as a briefing attorney for the Supreme Court of Texas from 1989 to 1990. Varney received her undergraduate degree, cum laude, from the University of Texas at Austin and her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.

Prior to obtaining her law degree, Varney was a television news reporter, legislative aide to a Texas state senator, and coordinator of continuing legal education programs for Texas state judges. Since 1998, Varney has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law teaching "Texas Civil Litigation: Pretrial and Trial Strategy."

Lisa Horvath Shub

Shub represents clients in mass torts, with an emphasis on pharmaceutical, medical device, and toxic exposure claims. She also has experience in complex commercial litigation matters, representing financial institutions, energy companies and engineering entities. Shub leads teams in the identification, development, and presentation of expert witnesses in national dockets. She received her undergraduate degree, cum laude, from the University of Texas at Austin and her law degree, magna cum laude, from St. Mary's University School of Law.

Stephen Huffaker

Huffaker's practice focuses mainly on pharmaceutical and medical device product liability litigation, with an emphasis on fact and expert witness development and discovery, mass tort coordination and strategy, early assessment and resolution of cases, group settlement administration and litigation risk strategy. He also advises pharmaceutical and medical device companies in assessing the product liability litigation risks pertaining to their current, developing, or targeted products. Huffaker received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law.

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 1,000 lawyers in 19 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.