Julia Reed Zaic, Esq. focuses her practice on pharmaceutical mass torts and complex civil litigation involving personal, financial, and environmental injuries. She currently litigates pharmaceutical, medical device and environmental cases including Liptor®, incretin mimetics, IVC Filters, Pradaxa®, Chantix® and formerly acted as National Counsel for the National Wildlife Federation on matters relating to the Deepwater Horizon Disaster /Gulf Oil Spill.
Julia received her Juris Doctorate degree from Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey in 2001 and immediately took a position with the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mass Torts Section. While clerking for the Honorable Marina Corodemus (Ret.), she assisted the Judge with the management of complex civil litigation assigned to the court for pre-trial coordination and performed complex research for several actions assigned to the court including the Tom’s River toxic tort environmental contamination litigation. She also assisted with the management of the following pharmaceutical litigation related to individuals suffering injuries related to the use of: Fen-Phen®, latex gloves, Rezulin®, Propulsid®, lead paint, other products. Julia further assisted with coordination of individual personal injury tobacco cases, “Light” cigarette tobacco consumer fraud cases, and medical device litigation.
After leaving the Superior Court of New Jersey, Julia relocated to California focusing on litigation involving Lead Paint exposure, Baycol®, Zyvox®, Zyprexa®, phenylpropanolamine (PPA), Ketek®, Ortho-Evra®, Yaz®/Yasmin® and drug-eluting cardiac stents. She currently serves as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering committee in the incretin mimetics product liability litigation and is a member of the science committee for the Pinnacle® Metal-on-Metal hip litigation.
During her work on the PPA litigation, she served as a member of the Dexatrim® settlement negotiation subcommittee for the class resolution of cases against the manufacturers of PPA-containing Dexatrim® products. As part of the resolution of the Dexatrim® claims, Julia also served in a leadership and advisory role to the Dexatrim® Settlement Trust, a settlement fund resulting from negotiations effectuated by the Dexatrim® settlement negotiation subcommittee of which she was a member. Her work before establishing the law firm of ‘Reed Zaic’ also allowed her the incredible opportunity to assist with discovery and pleadings in litigation involving a case against KBR/Halliburton filed by civilian convoy drivers and surviving family members of the drivers who were viciously attacked by Iraqi insurgents on April 9th, 2004 – the “Good Friday Massacre”.
Ms. Reed Zaic served as co-lead counsel in the Ketek® litigation consolidated in the Superior Court of New Jersey representing a former Army Sergeant “gunner” who served two tours in Iraq before returning to the United States and being given Last Rites after ingesting Ketek®. Ms. Reed Zaic led an effort in litigating against the manufacturers of Ketek® and successfully defeated a summary adjudication motions by non-manufacturer defendants.
In 2011, Ms. Reed Zaic partnered with Michael Heaviside and opened an office in the District of Columbia. She combined her experience with Mr. Heaviside who brought his experience of leadership positions in at least six different mass torts litigation as well as his distinguished career as a champion for individuals’ rights. He currently serves as a member of the Plaintiffs Steering Committee in the Lipitor® products liability litigation MDL in Charleston, South Carolina.
Ms. Reed Zaic has also recently litigated pharmacovigilance issues in the Pradaxa®, Chantix®, IVC Filters and Drug-Eluting Cardiac Stents litigation focusing on post-marketing surveillance and is often hired by law firms to address pharmacovigilance matters, specifically adverse event reporting by pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers.
Prior to attending law school, Julia was an environmental consultant in her hometown of Tampa, Florida. She received her undergraduate and graduate education at the University of South Florida. She received a Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) specializing in toxicology from the College of Public Health at USF where she worked in the toxicology laboratories. Her research focused on the bioavailability of heavy metals and is published in the area. During that time she was a contributor to abstracts at scientific conferences related to risk analysis of materials including vitrified material produced in situ as a means of addressing hazardous waste.
