Hueston Hennigan secured a victory in Los Angeles Superior Court for AbbVie, a defendant in the Allergan textured breast implant litigation, when a judge granted in full the firm’s motions for summary judgment in two of the bellwether cases, Rodriguez v. Allergan and Donovan v. Allergan, on grounds that apply across the docket.
Judge Lawrence Riff held that a plaintiff who elects explant surgery—with no diagnosis, no defect ever manifesting, and no physician recommending removal—has no legally cognizable injury under California law.
These are the first bellwether summary judgment orders in any court in these cases. The latest win vacates the first bellwether trial, scheduled for September 2026. It is expected that all similar cases pending in the judicial council coordination proceedings (JCCP) will be stayed pending appeal of this decision.
Hueston Hennigan is lead U.S. trial counsel for AbbVie in the Allergan textured breast implant litigation. Allergan, an AbbVie subsidiary, recalled BIOCELL breast implants in 2019 due to a potential association with a rare cancer, BIA-ALCL, and litigation soon followed. This multibillion-dollar litigation involves approximately 1,700 individual lawsuits and a nationwide class action pending in three venues, including a coordinated proceeding in LA Superior Court and a multidistrict litigation in the District of New Jersey. The plaintiffs argue AbbVie is liable under manufacturing defect, failure to warn, and misrepresentation theories.
The rulings have implications beyond these plaintiffs, as the orders’ logic applies broadly across the filed cases. The matters were argued by John Hueston. The team also includes Moez Kaba, Christine Woodin, Vicki Chou, Craig Fligor, Karen Ding, Mariah Rivera, Bram Alden, Cassidy O’Sullivan, Youzhihang Deng, Samuel Givertz, Katharine Ross, Marcelo Bonassa, Erik Savitt, Kristen Schnell and Yona Kornsgold.
A Daily Journal article is here.