Jillian T. Flax

Member

Jillian focuses her practice on product liability litigation and product regulatory compliance. She represents major corporate clients in all aspects of product liability, including successfully defending catastrophic injury and death claims and large-scale environmental toxic and exposure claims. She defends companies in a variety of industries, including consumer goods, highway safety products, chemicals, medical devices, and cosmetics. She serves as national counsel for a consumer safety product manufacturer and highway safety product manufacturer in product liability matters throughout the United States. Jillian provides counsel in all phases of litigation, from pre-suit investigation and negotiations through trial and appeal. She has successfully represented clients in all facets of high-stakes federal and state litigation, including jury trials.

Beyond litigation, Jillian offers strategic advice to companies regarding product regulatory compliance and approval, risk mitigation, product development, labeling, good manufacturing practices and procedures, and a wide range of matters across the regulated product life cycle. Jillian helps clients assess their compliance with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and other agency regulations; determine when it is appropriate to notify CPSC of potential safety issues; avoid unnecessary recalls; develop effective corrective action plans; and defend penalty investigations.

As a former assistant district attorney at the District Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia (through the firm’s year-long secondment program),  Jillian effectively handled hundreds of criminal trials and felony preliminary hearings. Jillian earned her law degree from Harvard Law School and her undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh.

Experience

News

42 Cozen O'Connor Attorneys Named Pennsylvania Super Lawyers & Rising Stars

May 24, 2023

Super Lawyers has selected 42 Cozen O'Connor attorneys to the 2023 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists.

Jillian Flax Honored as a 2020 Lawyer on the Fast Track

June 10, 2020

Jillian Flax, member of Cozen O’Connor’s Commercial Litigation Department, has been recognized by The Legal Intelligencer as one of this year’s Lawyers on the Fast Track category.

Jillian Thornton Flax Named to Product Liability Advisory Council “Future Leaders”

April 24, 2019

Jillian Thornton Flax, a member in Cozen O’Connor's Commercial Litigation Department, was admitted to the Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc. (PLAC) as a part of their “Future Leaders” program.

$120M State AG Deal With GM Preludes More State Actions

October 20, 2017

Jillian Thornton Flax, a member in Cozen O'Connor's Commercial Litigation Department, was quoted in Law360's recent article, "$120M State AG Deal With GM Preludes More State Actions."

GM Faces Potential Mountain of New Claims in Ignition MDL

July 14, 2016

Jillian Thornton Flax, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Products Liability practice, discusses the new claims that GM is facing in Law360.

Publications

8th Circuit Reverses to Uphold Successor Liability Defense, Highlighting The Importance of Consistent, Clear Descriptions Of Acquisitions To Avoid the de facto Merger Exception [Products Liability Prevention & Defense Blog]

June 01, 2018

On April 5, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit wiped out a jury verdict in a products liability action and $13 million punitive damages award against a manufacturer and its wholly owned subsidiary on the basis that the parent company manufacturer could assert a successor liability defense....

FDA releases draft guidance on expansion of abbreviated 510(k) Program [Products Liability Prevention & Defense Blog]

May 01, 2018

On April 12, the FDA released draft guidance discussing an expansion of its Abbreviated 510(k) program for medical devices. This new guidance would allow a submitter to establish substantial equivalence by demonstrating that a new medical device meets certain performance criteria, rather than by...

Proposed Legislation to Relax Rules on Medical Device Reporting Passes U.S. House [Products Liability Prevention & Defense Blog]

July 17, 2017

On July 13, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would triple the amount of time in which medical device manufacturers are required to report certain malfunctions of some products to the Food and Drug Administration.  Companies currently must report product malfunctions within...

The Harbor Might Not Be Safe: Failure To Update Generic Drug Labels Can Invite a Storm of State-Law Claims [Products Liability Prevention & Defense Blog]

August 30, 2016

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled on August 22 that consumers’ state-law claims that manufacturers of a generic Reglan, a heartburn medication, did not adequately warn about its risks are not preempted by federal law.[1] Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, manufacturers of brand-name...

New FDA Draft Guidance on Benefit-Risk Factors Affecting Medical Device Compliance, and Enforcement [Products Liability Alert]

August 08, 2016

Abby Sacunas and Jillian Flax discuss the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently released draft guidance to clarify the benefit and risk factors it may consider in compliance and enforcement actions involving medical devices.

Events & Seminars

Past Events

Education

  • Harvard Law School, J.D., 2008
  • University of Pittsburgh, B.S., summa cum laude, 2005

Awards & Honors

Pennsylvania Super Lawyers "Rising Star" 2023

Lawyer on the Fast Track, The Legal Intelligencer, 2020

JD Supra’s Readers’ Choice Award Top Authors Medical Device Industry 2017

BillyPenn.com “Who’s Next in the Law: 18 young leaders making a difference in Philly’s legal community”

  • Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court -- Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Product Liability Advisory Counsel

Pennsylvania Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession

Legal Clinic for the Disabled, former board member