By Emily Field

Law360 (May 1, 2020, 3:29 PM EDT ) Sheila Birnbaum, the co-chair of Dechert LLP's product liability practice who is known as the "Queen of Torts," recently spoke with Law360 about the changes that working remotely during the global coronavirus pandemic has brought to her busy practice and her new routines at home.

Birnbaum talked to Law360 from her home on Long Island on April 24, where she has been keeping in touch with clients and colleagues via video conferencing, as well as cooking for herself, a change from her usual pattern of eating in restaurants and take-out.

Birnbaum was the special master of a $4.3 billion compensation fund for victims of 9/11 and is currently representing Purdue Pharma LP in multidistrict litigation over the opioid crisis, in which states and local governments claim that drug companies oversold the benefits of opioids while minimizing their risks.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How have you and your firm adapted to working remotely?

I think we have done very well actually. It was a little rough getting used to Zoom; I didn't even have Zoom, but now that people have adjusted and we have been doing conference calls and calls with mediators and all kinds of meetings that you would have done in-person ... it is working better than I thought.

We've been very connected with our associates and partners, having partner meetings twice a week [and] having team meetings in smaller numbers with our whole group on a weekly basis. We've had virtual cocktail parties, and it has been terrific. We are learning much more about each other than I ever thought we would under these circumstances.

People have been remarkable in setting up new relationships and finding new ways to communicate with each other. I have been pleasantly surprised by that part, especially for someone like myself because I really like being with people and having people get together and talk about ideas and working together. It is amazing to me that we can do so much through video and audio.

Right, I know for a lot of people the social isolation has been taking a hard toll.

What I do miss the most I think is eating out. I'm someone that ate out all the time, and having three meals a day at home is a whole new experience.

During the week, I never would cook — you either ate take-out or ate out.

I actually like cooking a lot. It's sort of diverting in a way, thinking about what you're going to plan on eating. It's another thing I would never give any thought to because you have to make sure you get food into the house that you want to eat.

Any new recipes you want to recommend?

I found a great shrimp and pasta dish that is made with white wine and tomatoes, and actually I'm going to make it tonight. It's so good I try to make it now once every week or two.

Have you been getting any COVID-related questions from clients?

Oh yes, we've had a COVID-19 webinar for our clients that was very well attended as to what we see from a product liability mass tort situation, the kind of litigation that we're going to see and that we're already seeing, and what impact that's going to have on our clients and others. So I think we're getting a lot of issues, questions, people wanting advice.

Who would have thought that the makers of Lysol would have to come out and tell the public not to drink Lysol? That to me is a product liability question, right up our alley. I would have probably advised them to do exactly what they did. 

I'll have to take a look at my Lysol bottle and find out if they have something on their warnings, but I'm sure they never thought people might be ingesting it as a way of beating the virus.

There's just a lot of litigation that's starting up, and I think it's going to continue full pace.

I think with the courts closed, initially nothing being filed, there's been a quiet period. But I think that period is ending as the courts are getting used to how to respond and how to open up. We're starting to see status conferences, hearings being done, and I think we're starting to see new cases being filed.

Just today there was a suit brought by workers at the Smithfields foods company [alleging] they didn't provide a safe environment for them to work in. So I think we're going to see a lot of those kinds of cases, a lot more class actions.

There's a lot that is happening with regard to insurance coverage cases, business interruption insurance that we're already involved in.

What other product liability-related litigation do you expect to see over the pandemic?

We've already started seeing some of them — for example, the complaints against the cruise ships. There's a class action that has already been filed, and we can see many more against various cruise ship companies. We're seeing matters coming up with regard to nursing homes. I think we're going to see a lot of litigation over nursing homes not providing a safe enough workplaces, so many deaths arising out of exposure in the nursing homes,

There's been some litigation that's been brought [over] hand sanitizers. The federal government told everybody to use them, but there have been some class actions that have been brought on grounds that people wanted full or partial refunds because they don't work the way they say they work. I think these are very challenging lawsuits for plaintiffs to be bringing, but that's what plaintiffs do — they bring challenging lawsuits.

Then seeing [claims from students] against universities and the schools on grounds that learning from home or video is not the same, and they want refunds. These also may lend themselves to class actions.

We're going to see a lot of consumer fraud cases brought by attorneys general, cities and individuals because of testing kits that don't work, misrepresenting what they do, [as well as] products that are supposed to prevent COVID-19, and those, of course, don't deliver at all.

So I think there is going to be a huge amount of litigation that goes out of COVID-19 being here and causing all kinds of class actions and other individual cases.

What were you focused on when the pandemic hit?

We've been representing Purdue in the nationwide opioid issues and the bankruptcy and the continuing issues that have occurred, so that took up a lot of time last year and this year.

We are representing a bunch of pharmaceutical companies. That's our sweet spot on all kinds of different products and different MDLs. We also are representing a bunch of companies that have been sued for PFOA that has gotten into water systems and wells.

So we have a very intense practice along many, many issues and companies, which came to a screeching halt when courts closed. But now it's starting to really come back as people are doing video depositions and doing video status conferences and hearings. So I think we're getting back into the flow of things.

It's an interesting change, and I think the courts are not really opened up — they're certainly going to have to figure out ways to have trials in the immediate future, but no one has figured out how you can bring in juries or do that in a way that's safe. I'm not sure that's not going to be in the immediate future, but people are pretty clever, and I think they're beginning to figure out how to make things continue to work under these circumstances.

Do you think litigation will be permanently changed as a result of the pandemic, or will there eventually be a return to normal?

I think at least until there is a vaccine and until that vaccine is working, I think there will be some changes that are likely to stick with us.

When we were at our desks, I never used Zoom or video conferencing. I had telephone conferences; that was it or you did it in-person. I think that people are getting used to this technology, video conferencing, and there is going to be a lot more of it.

Sometimes there's no substitute for being in-person, but when you can see people and hear them and not just hear them ... it's a very different feeling and I think gestalt.

I don't know if we're going to get back to the old normal — I think there is going to be a new normal for a long time.

Other than work, how have you been keeping busy? 

I talk walks, I actually have been exercising more than I was doing otherwise, which I think is an improvement. I think I am actually eating better than when I was eating out. So I think there have been lots of improvements in a way, but it is very isolating.

I like people, I like being with people, I like conversing. We have very different Zoom groups — I have a Zoom book club group, I have my new cocktail hour group. But it's not the same. It's a substitute and poor substitute, but it keeps you from losing all the social interaction, which is really very important.

All in all, we're coping and we're resilient. I'd like this to be over sooner than later, but I'm not so sure that's going to happen.

Once the stay-at-home order lifts, what are you looking forward to doing?

I think that's a very good question because on age, I'm in a vulnerable population and I have to be a little more careful. So I'm going to be careful. I'm not so sure how immediately I would go back to the office as long as we can continue to operate remotely and be effective, and I think that has happened.

I feel like I'm working full-time, which I am, but I've learned you can do it without being physically present in the office. I miss being physically present in the office, but until it's safe, I don't think I am going to take a lot of risks as long as I can continue to operate and operate most of the same way.

It's been an adjustment, and it continues to be an adjustment. Sometimes it feels like "Groundhog Day," but otherwise, it's having flexibility and being able to roll with the punches, and I've been fortunate to be able to do that all my life, and this is another one of those experiences. The main thing is that everyone stays safe and healthy. And that includes you — don't do anything dangerous now!

Do you have advice for other lawyers working through these trying times, particularly since kids are now also at home?

Those are the people I really feel the hardest for — so many of our partners and associates have young children, and they don't have their nannies or daycare ... and I think they have the hardest job trying to work and get on calls.

On our virtual cocktail hour, a lot of folks brought their children — it was really fun seeing them waving. I feel bad because they're in a really tough situation trying to juggle it; they're always trying to juggle it, but without sufficient help, it makes it much harder.

My advice is we'll get through this, we'll get back to some sort of normality. Keep doing what you can to stay safe and keep your family safe.

--Editing by Philip Shea.

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