Jessica H. Meeder has been litigating complex class action, multi-district, and multi-plaintiff cases in state and federal courts for nearly 20 years. She has developed a unique breadth of substantive experience that includes mass torts, civil rights, products liability, catastrophic personal injury, toxics and environmental litigation, medical monitoring, and medical malpractice. Her clients have included people injured by egregious civil rights violations; defective, cancer-causing drugs and medical devices; contaminated water; toxic vapors; hazardous chemicals; physician sexual abuse; catastrophic bus crashes; and severe birth injuries.
In every instance, Jessica's goal is simple: to secure the best possible outcome she can for her clients and their underserved communities. Most of Jessica's cases lie at the intersection of multiple practice areas and are steeped in social justice issues. As a result, she is particularly adept at thoughtfully selecting the legal tools that are most likely to serve her clients and skillfully navigating any nuances that may result.
Jessica is a passionate, thorough, and dedicated advocate. She has obtained numerous favorable judicial opinions at both the trial and appellate court levels and secured millions of dollars for her clients. And in multiple instances, Jessica's work has meaningfully clarified the law for future plaintiffs. For example, in Stepp v. Hamilton Cty. Dept. of Educ., 756 Fed.Appx. 510 (6th Cir. 2018), the Sixth Circuit agreed that plaintiffs did not have to identify a specific number of warnings in order to plausibly allege conscience-shocking behavior under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In Martin v. Behr Dayton Thermal Products, LLC, Dkt. 274, Case No. 3:08″“cv”“326 (S.D. Ohio March 20, 2017), aff'd 896 F.3d 405 (6th Cir. 2018), cert. denied, 139 S.Ct. 1319 (2019), the district court's decision to certify a Rule 23(c)(4) issues class without requiring case-wide predominance was affirmed by the Sixth Circuit as a matter of first impression. And in Boler, et al. v. Earley, et al., 865 F.3d 391 (6th Cir. 2017), cert. denied. 138 S.Ct. 1294 (2018), the second class action case filed on behalf of Flint, Michigan residents for their toxic and valueless water, plaintiffs were allowed to proceed with their Section 1983 and novel impairment of contract claims, paving a path to justice for Flint residents. Jessica also played a lead role in defeating defendants' motions to dismiss the medical monitoring and consumer putative class claims in In re: Allergan BIOCELL Textured Breast Implant Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2921) and In re: Zantac (Ranitidine) Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2924) and, in both matters, lead and/or participated in multiple plaintiffs' leadership committees.
Jessica began her legal career clerking for the Honorable Robert M. Bell, Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals (now the Supreme Court of Maryland). Prior to joining May Jung, she was a lead toxics and environmental attorney at the nation's largest plaintiffs' personal injury firm; a partner at Baltimore-based Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, where she spearheaded its national class action and mass torts practice; and for a few initial years practiced environmental law and litigation defense at several nationally prominent defense firms.
Jessica is an avid mountain biker and skier and enjoys spending time with her family and traveling. After decades of living in Maryland, she and her family now reside in Colorado.