Sean Tracey (attorney)

Sean Tracey is a personal injury attorney and founder of Tracey & Fox Law, based in Houston, Texas.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]} Tracey was lead attorney in the Kilker v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. case, which established that GlaxoSmithKline was legally responsible for birth defects attributed to Paxil.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

Career

Tracey received his B.A. in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in 1988 and his J.D. from South Texas College of Law in 1991.^{[1][2][4][5][6]} He is a member of the Bar Associations for both Texas and Pennsylvania.^[1][2][4][6] Tracey is board-certified in personal injury by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is certified as a civil trial specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy.^[1][2][4][6] He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.^[13][14]

Tracey has experience with pharmaceutical litigation, product liability, personal injury, birth injuries, wrongful death, toxic tort, Mesothelioma/benzene, medical malpractice, and maritime/Jones Act.^[2][6]

In July 2012, Tracey was appointed by Judge Cynthia Rufe as one of the four members of the plaintiffs’ executive committee to lead the nationwide Zoloft MDL (birth defect multidistrict litigation) against Pfizer Inc. in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.^[6]

Notable Cases

Kilker v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. dba GlaxoSmithKline, 2007-001813

Lyam Kilker was born with heart defects, allegedly caused by his mother taking Paxil, at her doctor’s advice, during her first trimester of pregnancy.^{[8][9][10][12][15][16]} Sean Tracey argued that GlaxoSmithKline knew of the adverse effects taking their drug could have on pregnant women and “negligently failed to warn” doctors so as to not affect sales.^{[7][9][10][11][12][16][17]}

In July 2009, GlaxoSmithKline was ordered to pay US$ 2.5 million to the family of Lyam Kilker when it was concluded that the medicine was “factual cause” of the child’s heart defects.^{[10][11][15][16]}

This was the first of around 600 similar cases leveled against GlaxoSmithKline nationwide to reach that stage.^{[5][8][9][10][16][17]}

Family and Estate of Richard Walmach v. Foster Wheeler Corp.

Richard Walmach, a career naval machinist, filed suit against Foster Wheeler Corp., before dying, for failing to disclose asbestos risks to employees.^[18][19] Walmach died in 2006, after being diagnosed with mesothelioma.^[18][19] Walmach spent his 37-year career working at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, using jackhammers to remove asbestos-packed insulation from Foster Wheeler boilers, and at Long Beach Naval Shipyard, where asbestos was being removed in the 1960s.^[18][19]

The Los Angeles jury ordered Foster Wheeler Corp. to pay US$ 5.2 million for acting with malice.^[18][19]

Affiliations

Tracey is a member of the Board of Trustees of the William J. Flynn Center for Irish Studies Advisory Board at the University of St. Thomas.^[6] He is on the Executive Advisory Board of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture.^[20]

Tracey comes from a family of politicians. His grandfather is Harry Raymond Fleming and great-grandfather is George William Kyte. Tracey and his wife, Kari, reside in Houston.^[5]

References

External links

• Official site