Attorneys > Search

Jessalyn  H.  Zeigler
Member
Nashville
P:(615) 742-6289
F:(615) 742-2789
E-mail Jessalyn H. Zeigler
vCard

Education
Vanderbilt University - J.D., 1993
Syracuse University - B.A., B.S., 1990  

Bar Admissions
Tennessee, 1993

Memberships
Nashville Bar Association
American Bar Association (Products Liability Committee, Women in Products Liability Subcommittee, Food & Supplements Subcommittee)
Defense Research Institute (Committees: Drug & Medical Device, Medical Liability and Health Care Law, Product Liability, Toxic Torts and Environmental Law)
International Association of Defense Counsel (Products Liability and Environmental Subcommittees)

Honors & Distinctions
Listed in: The Best Lawyers in America®; Mid-South Super Lawyers (2009)
2010 Co-chair, ABA's Women in Products Liability Subcommittee
2011 Co-chair, ABA’s Food and Supplements Conference
Order of the Coif
Phi Beta Kappa

Publications
“The Higher Cost of Drinking Water,” Envtl. Litigator 9 (Winter 2009)
"State Restrictions on Violent Expression," Vanderbilt Law Review (Vol. 46, No. 2, 1993)



Jessie is the assistant practice leader for the firm’s Products Liability, Environmental and Mass Torts Group, focusing on products liability, environmental and healthcare litigation. Her products liability practice includes pharmaceutical, food, supplements and automotive products defense. Jessie also has substantial experience with environmental litigation and healthcare liability defense.

Products Liability and Mass Torts: Jessie works on class actions and MDLs for various types of product cases and has experience with recalls under the FDA's watch. She is national co-counsel for an automotive manufacturing company in an MDL involving multiple class actions. She serves on the expert team in a pharmaceutical company's litigation. She served on the national expert team for diet drug litigation and retained and worked with experts for trials nationwide. She also was retained to conduct quality assurance audits of trial team preparations nationwide for MDL cases set for trial. She speaks at national conferences on products liability issues and serves among the leadership of a national food/supplements products liability committee.

Environmental and Mass Torts: Jessie has vast experience in environmental litigation, including water rights, mass torts and contamination cases. She is defending a large manufacturer against claims that its products contained asbestos that harmed the plaintiff in a suit involving more than 30 defendants. She recently served as lead counsel in a water storage fee case against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a case of first impression nationwide. She successfully obtained summary judgment on the key issue in the case. She defended a communications company in contamination litigation that involved third party complaints against nearly a dozen defendants. She has also handled a number of other mass tort actions, including toxic torts. Her experience encompasses actions involving the U.S. EPA and TDEC.

Healthcare: Jessie serves as litigation counsel in professional liability actions involving catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death claims for a major academic medical center and one of the largest single-specialty medical groups in the southeastern United States.

Representative Matters include:
  • Pharmaceutical company – diet drug litigation: Jessie served on the national expert team and conducted quality assurance reviews of MDL cases remanded for trial nationwide.
  • Pharmaceutical company – drug litigation: Jessie serves on the expert team.
  • Major food company – food contamination: Jessie defended a claim that a food product allegedly caused bacterial meningitis in an infant.
  • Automotive manufacturing – odometer fraud litigation: Jessie serves as co-counsel of an MDL consolidating multiple class actions involving odometer claims.
  • Town of Smyrna – a case of first impression: Jessie obtained summary judgment against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding water storage fees.
  • Major food company – Jessie assisted a company with a recall involving peanut butter products.