Jennifer Mingus Mountcastle

Practices

• Product Liability Litigation
• Business Litigation
• Life Sciences

Professional Experience

Jen is a partner in the Product Liability Litigation and Business Litigation practice groups. She regularly defends product liability and personal injury claims involving commercial and consumer products, particularly automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Her practice includes considerable experience with class actions, mass torts, and other complex litigation. Jen has served as trial counsel in multi-million dollar cases and handled a number of appeals in both state and federal courts.

As a member of the firm's Business Litigation group, Jen has both prosecuted and defended claims of breach of contract, defended trustees against claims of breach of fiduciary duty, and defended lenders against a variety of consumer claims.

Jen is admitted to practice in the state courts of Ohio, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Sixth Circuit.

Education

• Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, J.D., 2000, summa cum laude, Cleveland State Law Review, Executive Editor, 1999-2000; Moot Court Board of Governors, Vice Chairperson, 1999-2000, Associate Member, 1998-1999
• Bowling Green State University, B.A., 1997, cum laude

• Trial counsel for automotive manufacturer in defense of claim of sudden acceleration
• Trial counsel for medical device manufacturer in defense of action alleging negligence and failure to warn based upon actions of sales representative in operating room
  
• Represents pharmaceutical manufacturer nationwide in hundreds of claims alleging personal injury from hormone replacement therapy
• Represents automotive manufacturer in defense of numerous actions alleging product defect, including proposed nationwide consumer class actions
• Manages claims nationwide for distributor of personal care products
• Represents automotive manufacturer against breach of warranty claims
• Obtained exclusion of plaintiffs' liability experts in defending automotive manufacturer from claim of sudden acceleration (Buck v. Ford Motor Co., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97380 (N.D. Ohio, Aug. 30, 2011))
• Obtained summary judgment on behalf of medical device manufacturer on ground of preemption (Wilhite v. Howmedica Osteonics Corp., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64843 (N.D. Ohio, June 20, 2011))
• Defeated class certification in defense of international package carrier from proposed nationwide breach of contract class action (Cerdant, Inc. v. DHL Express (USA), Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95087, (S.D. Ohio, Aug. 25, 2010))
• Obtained summary judgment on behalf of medical device manufacturer on claim alleging defect in spinal fixation device (Utz v. Howmedica Osteonics, Corp., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123973 (N.D. Ohio, Mar. 31, 2009))
• Obtained summary judgment, affirmed by Court of Appeals, on claim of sudden acceleration on the basis of spoliation of evidence and for lack of evidence of defect (Watson v. Ford Motor Co., 2007 Ohio 6374 (Ohio Ct. App., Nov. 30, 2007))
• Obtained summary judgment on statute of limitations ground on claims for hearing loss under the Jones Act (Vujcevic v. Oglebay Norton Marine Services Co., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86997 (E.D. Mich., Nov. 27, 2007))
• Obtained dismissal of proposed nationwide consumer class action alleging engine defect (Woods v. Caterpillar, Inc., 2005 Ohio 4170 (Ohio Ct. App., Aug. 12, 2005))
• Defended national bank in two multi-million dollar actions for breach of fiduciary duty
• Prosecuted companion actions alleging breach of contract and fraudulent transfer of assets
• Defended mortgage lender from large class action relating to release of mortgages
• Represented business in termination of management agreement and prosecution of related claim for breach of contract
• Prosecuted actions alleging breach of contract involving approximately $300 million in mineral rights

• "Practical Tips on the Spoliation Defense" · DRI's For The Defense, December 2007
• "E-Mail: A Constitutional (and Economical) Method of Transmitting Class Action Notice," · Cleveland State Law Review, Volume 47, Number 1

• Lorman Seminar: "Best Practices for Managing Multi-Forum Litigation", Audio Conference, December 2011
• Lorman Seminar: "Motion Law: From Basic to Advanced Procedures," Cleveland, Ohio - May 2006
• Ohio Manufacturers Association - Webinar: "How to Conduct a Proper Accident Investigation" - July 2009

• Selected for inclusion in Rising Stars by Ohio Super Lawyer magazine in 2006, 2007 and 2012
• Cleveland YWCA Women of Professional Excellence Recipient, 2010
• Burton Award, 2008
• Best Speaker, Final Round: Shepard Broad Law Center Nova Southeastern University Round Robin Moot Court Competition
• First Place Team: Shepard Broad Law Center Nova Southeastern University Round Robin Moot Court Competition
• Best Oral Advocate: Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Moot Court Night
• Best Oral Advocate, Preliminary Rounds: American College of Trial Lawyers National Moot Court Competition, Regional Rounds
• Best Oral Advocate, Final Round, American College of Trial Lawyers National Moot Court Competition, Regional Rounds
• First Place Brief, American College of Trial Lawyers National Moot Court Competition, Regional Rounds
• First Place Team, American College of Trial Lawyers National Moot Court Competition, Regional Rounds