Carter Thompson, a shareholder in the Jackson office, leads the Firm's Product Liability & Mass Tort Group and is co-chair of the Drug, Device & Life Sciences Industry Group. He concentrates his practice in the national, regional and local defense of products liability, drug and medical device, commercial, and professional liability cases. Mr. Thompson has more than 25 years experience defending product liability and other claims and lawsuits across the United States and abroad. He has been lead counsel representing product manufacturers in more than 25 states from Hawaii to Massachusetts.
- National product liability counsel for major healthcare manufacturer.
- National counsel for defendants in Phenergan®/promethazine HCI injection litigation; obtained numerous summary judgments and dismissals.
- National counsel for defendants in asbestos litigation.
- Relationship partner and regional counsel for Fortune 100 manufacturer and distributor of medical products.
- National counsel for defendant in phenytoin litigation.
- Lead counsel for distributor of anesthesia medication in more than 250 cases in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Lead counsel for manufacturer of dialysis product withdrawn from market; successfully resolved over 125 suits/claims worldwide.
- Counsel for pharmaceutical manufacturers in the average wholesale price litigation.
- Counsel for pharmaceutical company in commercial case against a clinical research organization (CRO).
- Counsel for defendants in metoclopramide litigation.
- Counsel for pharmaceutical company in isotretinoin litigation.
- Deputy national counsel in defense of cases relating to mechanical heart valve withdrawn from worldwide market.
- Deputy regional defense counsel in California-based multi-district litigation involving hepatitis C infection from blood derivative withdrawn from worldwide market.
- Lead counsel in successful defense of manufacturer of anti-malaria drug.
- Lead counsel in successful defense of legal malpractice cases.
- Lead counsel in successful defense of nurse and pharmacy malpractice cases.
- Obtained jury verdict in favor of manufacturer of industrial forklift in catastrophic injury case.
- AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in Product Liability and Mass Tort Litigation (since 2007) and Personal Injury Litigation (2011)
- Listed since 2007 in Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers as a leading litigation lawyer in Mississippi
- Listed since 2006 in Mid-South Super Lawyers, Personal Injury Defense: Products
- Listed in The International Who's Who of Product Liability Defence Lawyers, 2011 and 2012
- Listed in The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers, 2013
- Named a 2011 Top Ten Leader in Law by the Mississippi Business Journal
- Named to the Lawdragon 3000 Leading Lawyers in America (2007)
- Fellow – Litigation Counsel of America
- Member – Product Liability Advisory Council (PLAC)
- Member – Lawyers for Civil Justice
- Member – Defense Research Institute (Program Chair, Drug & Device Committee, 2011 – 2013)
- Member – Product Liability Editorial Advisory Board, Law360 (2011 – 2012)
- Member – American Health Lawyers Association
- Member – Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (Drug, Device and Biotechnology Section; Product Liability Section)
- Graduate – International Association of Defense Counsel Trial Academy
- Member – American Bar Association (Litigation Section; Torts and Insurance Practice Section)
- Member – Mississippi Bar (General Litigation Section; Health Law Section; Chair, Minority Involvement Committee, 1994 – 1995)
- Chair – Mississippi Law Institute (1991)
- Member – Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association (Director, Trial Practice Academy, 1989)
- Member – Mississippi Claims Association
- Member – Capital Area Bar Association
- Quoted – TechNewsWorld, May 5th edition, "Mobile Health Apps, Part 4: Life, Death and Lawsuits" (May 5, 2011)
- Speaker – "How to Defend a Punitive Damages Case," DRI's Annual Young Lawyers Seminar, Miami Beach, Florida (June 2010)
- Lead author – "How to Defend a Punitive Damages Case," co-authored with Ceejaye Peters
- Featured – "Q&A with Baker Donelson's J. Carter Thompson Jr.," Product Liability Law360 (February 3, 2010)
- Presenter – "Human Factors Experts in Medical Device Cases: A Trial Demonstration," Defense Research Institute Drug & Device Conference, New York, New York (May 15, 2009)
- Lead Author – "The FDA's Role in Incorporating Human Factors Engineering in Medical Device Design," published by Defense Research Institute in connection with its Drug & Device Conference in New York, NY (May 15, 2009)
- Co-author – "Federal Preemption: The Drug and Device Trilogy," American Health Lawyers Weekly (March 21, 2008)
- Speaker – "Punitive Damage Defense in a Drug & Medical Device Case," Defense Research Institute Drug & Device Seminar, San Francisco, California (May 11, 2007)
- Lead author – "The Use of Bellwether Plaintiffs – Overview, Practice, Strategy and Implications," Mass Torts Journal, Mass Torts Committee, Section of Litigation, American Bar Association (Spring 2007)
- Speaker – "Lessons Learned from Recent Mass Tort Litigation," American Conference Institute Annual Drug and Medical Device Litigation Seminar, New York, New York (December 2006)
- Lead author – "Preclusive Effect of Prior Judgments in Mass Product Liability Actions," American Conference Institute Annual Drug and Medical Device Litigation Seminar, New York, New York (December 2006)
- Lead author – "Discovery and Use of Scientific Studies Ongoing During Trial," American Conference Institute Annual Drug and Medical Device Litigation Seminar, New York, New York (December 2006)
- Speaker – "No Longer Chasing the Paper Tiger: The Paperless Law Practice," Defense Research Institute Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California (October 2006)
- Lead author – "Structuring Defense Counsel for MDL," published by the American Conference Institute in connection with its Drug and Medical Device Conference, Chicago, Illinois (June 2006)
- Lead author – "Defending a Punitive Damages Claim: A Proactive Approach Before, During and After Trial," published by Defense Research Institute (February 2006)
- Speaker – "Defending Punitive Damages at Trial," Mealey's™ Defense Strategies in Pharmaceutical Litigation, Laguna Beach, California (January 2006)
- Speaker – "The Role of Outside Counsel," Food & Drug Law Institute, Washington, D.C. (January 2005)
- Co-author – "Mediation in Multi-District Litigation," Defense Research Institute publication, For the Defense (September 2003)
- Speaker – "Defending a Punitive Damages Claim: A Proactive Approach," Defense Research Institute Drug & Device Seminar, New Orleans, Louisiana (May 2003)
- Speaker – "Innovative Mediation Techniques," Mississippi College School of Law, Jackson, Mississippi (Spring 1997)
- Speaker – "Taking Effective Depositions," Jackson, Mississippi (January 1994)
- Speaker – "Federal and State Trial Practice," Bridge-the-Gap Seminar, sponsored by Young Lawyers Division of Mississippi State Bar, Jackson, Mississippi (November 1992 and October 1991)
- Author – Note, Admiralty – Tort Jurisdiction – Jurisdiction Sustained on Claim Resulting from Collision of Pleasure Boats on Navigable Waters, 52 Miss. L. J. 941 (1982)
- Mississippi, 1984
- U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Admitted pro hac vice in 25 states
- University of Mississippi, J.D., 1984, cum laude
- James O. Eastland Scholar in Law
- Associate Editor, Research Editor and Articles Editor – Mississippi Law Journal
- Mississippi College, B.A., 1981, with high honors and special distinction