Kelly E. Brilleaux

Kelly is a products liability litigator, focusing her practice on both individual and complex mass-tort litigation. She has extensive experience in pharmaceutical and medical device multi-district litigation in both national counsel and liaison counsel roles across multiple MDLs and has represented her clients in environmental, toxic tort, and consumer mass-tort litigation. Kelly was retained as Louisiana counsel for an international social media platform for coordinating removal of Louisiana State Court cases filed on behalf of state school boards and personal injury plaintiffs to be tagged for transfer to a pending MDL.

Kelly’s litigation background spans a variety of practice areas beyond products liability, including premises liability, trucking, and defending personal injury suits. She has significant experience in conducting expert discovery and related motion practice, including identifying and communicating medical, scientific, and other technical defense expert witnesses to assist with preparation of expert reports for their reports and deposition testimony. In this context, Kelly is actively involved in each stage of litigation, from taking and defending expert depositions, to preparing Rule 702 Motions to Exclude plaintiffs’ medical, scientific, and other technical expert witnesses.

In addition to her experience with expert discovery and work on multiple trial teams, Kelly has also secured summary judgment rulings in products liability and premises liability cases, resulting in dismissal of all claims, and participated in mediations and settlement conferences to obtain favorable outcomes. Across her practice, Kelly relies on her communication and problem-solving skills, along with her procedural knowledge, in providing creative, effective, and efficient solutions for her clients.

Taking pride in her ability to establish and develop professional connections and relationships, Kelly has served as the Chair of the firm’s Client Development Committee since 2020 and currently holds several leadership positions over multiple defense attorney organizations. She currently serves on the Executive Council for the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (ADTA) and as the Chair of the State and International Representative program for the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC). For the substantive law sections of FDCC, Kelly serves as Chair of the Products Liability section and a Vice Chair of the Drug, Device, and Biotechnology sections, and she is also active on the Admissions, Membership Recruitment, and Diversity Committees within FDCC. She is also active on the DRI Drug and Medical Device Steering Committee, which organizes and promotes the annual Drug and Medical Device Seminar.

Kelly highly values both mentorship and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within her own firm and within the organizations of which she is a member. In 2024, she was the co-recipient of the FDCC Diversity Award, which was presented at the 2024 Annual Meeting in Toronto.

In her free time, Kelly enjoys distance running, keeping up with college football, and her rescue boxer, August.

Honors & Recognitions

Louisiana Super Lawyers, Rising Star (2015-2022)

Best Lawyers in America: Product Liability Litigation - Defendants; Insurance Law (2020-2022)

Louisiana Law Review (2008-2010)

Louisiana Law Review, Senior Editor (Spring 2009-Spring 2010)

Civic Affiliations

• Irish Channel Neighborhood Association

Professional Affiliations

• Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, Vice Chair, Drug Device and Bio Technology Substantive Law Committee; Admissions Committee
• Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, We Prefer to Refer Committee, Chair; Social Media Committee, Past Chair (2020-2021)
• Defense Research Institute, Online Community Chair - Drug and Medical Device Committee
• New Orleans Bar Foundation, Secretary
• New Orleans Bar Association, Young Lawyer's Section Past Chair (2019)
• Irwin Fritchie Marketing and Client Development Committee, Chair
• Federal Bar Association
• Louisiana State Bar Association
• LSU Law Chancellor's Council