Nicole E. Narotzky
Partner
Co-Chair of Tort & Product Liability Group
Overview
Nicole Narotzky is co-chair of Maslon's Litigation Group and is also co-chair of Maslon's Tort & Product Liability Group. Her practice is focused on product liability litigation, and she has successfully defended major medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers in federal and state courts throughout the country. Nicole has significant experience with the issues of federal preemption and regulatory control over claims involving FDA-approved medical devices. She also has extensive experience representing clients in a variety of commercial disputes, including construction law and intellectual property disputes.
Nicole is a 2003 graduate from the University of Minnesota Law School where she graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif. Nicole also served as the note and comment editor for the Journal of Law and Inequality. Nicole earned her bachelor's degree with honors in political science from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Experience
- Manage and defend claims and litigation for world-leading medical device company: formulate and execute nationwide strategy to respond to and litigate voluntary recall of signature product; implemented early resolution program and when resolution not possible, aggressively defend each individual action (2009-present).
- Defend litigation related to implanted medical devices: aggressively develop alternative causation, strategically approach discovery issues, and negotiate early, reasonable settlements and dismissals (2006-2013).
- In re Individual 35W Bridge Litigation, 806 N.W.2d 811, 806 N.W.2d 820 (2011). Represented engineering company that provided the original design for the I-35W bridge that collapsed over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis on August 1, 2007.
- Hammitt v. Medtronic, Inc. (Anoka Co. D. Ct., Minnesota, (2004)). Counsel in a lawsuit involving the recall of a medical device. Case was never certified for class action and settled.
Reported Cases
- Duggan v. Medtronic, Inc., No. 09-CV-12046-PBS, 2012 WL 45503 (D. Mass. Jan. 10, 2012).
- Walker v. Medtronic, Inc., No. 2:07-00317, 2010 WL 4822135 (S.D. W. Va. Nov. 24, 2010).
- Clark v. Medtronic, Inc., 572 F. Supp. 2d 1090 (D. Minn. 2008).
- Smith v. Gorback, et al., Cause No. 2005-58539 (Harris County, Tex. 2007).
Pro Bono
- Ex parte Armstrong (Tex. Crim. App. 2017). Member of team of Maslon lawyers serving as pro bono counsel for Douglas Tyrone Armstrong, a Texas death row inmate convicted of capital murder in 2006. The team successfully secured the vacation of Armstrong's death sentence by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Honors
Attorney of the Year, Minnesota Lawyer, 2018
Light of Justice Award, Texas Defender Service, 2018