Ellen Relkin - New York, NY
Attorney at Weitz & Luxenberg
Defective Drugs and Devices Lawyers in New York, NY
700 Broadway New York, NY 10003
- Free Consultation
- 1 Super Lawyers®
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41
Years
Experience
New York Defective Drugs and Devices Lawyer
Updated: 03/10/2026
Areas of Practice
- Defective Drugs and Devices
Attorney Information
Overview
Ms. Relkin, whose practice focuses on medical device and pharmaceutical product liability, and toxic tort matters, has represented plaintiffs injured by defective medical products with a recent focus on the generation of failed metal-on-metal hip implants.
She serves in leadership capacities appointed by courts as the Co-Lead Counsel of the In Re: DePuy ASR Multi-District Litigation (MDL) and the Lead and Liaison Counsel for the New Jersey In Re: Stryker Rejuvenate & ABG II Modular Hip Implant Litigation as well as a member of the Plaintiff Steering Committee of the In Re: Biomet Hip Implant Litigation.
She had served on the court-appointed Executive Committee of the MDL involving the birth control patch Ortho Evra, and as the Plaintiffs' Liaison counsel in the New Jersey consolidated litigation involving the oral contraceptives Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella.
In April 2006, she was part of the trial team that secured a $13.5 million verdict (case # ATL L 1296-05) against Merck in a failure-to-warn case involving Vioxx and the risk for heart attack, and she successfully defended the compensatory damage verdict on appeal.
Ms. Relkin, who is Certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Civil Trial Attorney, is an elected member of the American Law Institute as well as the Summit Council. She is an active member of the American Association for Justice (past chair of its Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Torts section); the New Jersey Trial Lawyers Association, where she serves on the Board of Governors; the New Jersey and New York Bar Associations and the American Bar Association, where she was co-chair of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Subcommittee of the ABA Section of Litigation Mass Torts Committee. She is also Treasurer of the Roscoe Pound Civil Justice Institute. She is a frequent lecturer nationally at continuing legal education programs and lectures annually at the Institute for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education's program on Mass Torts in New Jersey, as well as the law update for the annual New Jersey Trial Lawyers Association Boardwalk convention.
She has published law review articles in the Cardozo Law Review and the Dickinson Journal of Environmental Law and Policy and numerous other legal publications with her most recent article entitled "Punitive Damages Involving New Jersey Defendants" just released in the ABA Newsletter Mass Torts Litigation, Fall 2014, Vol. 13, No. 1.
In addition, Ms. Relkin serves on the board of advisors for the BNA Product Safety and Liability Reporter, The Toxics Law Reporter, and the MDEX Daubert Reporter.
Her litigation areas include: metal-on-metal and modular hips including Stryker Rejuvenate and AGB II modular stems, DePuy ASR and Pinnacle, Biomet Magnum M2a and Wright Conserve metal-on-metal hips, and the Zimmer Kinectiv modular hip. She also represents women injured by the Yaz and Yasmin birth control products, as well as women who had Power Morcellators used during laparoscopic hysterectomies.
Ellen Relkin can be reached directly by email at mailto:erelkin@weitzlux.com
Key Verdicts
- 13.5 Million (2006; W&L secures verdict in N.J. Vioxx trial)
- 1 Billion (2014; Global Resolution Reached in Lawsuits over Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II Failed Hips)
Awards and Honors
Honors
- Grade of AV® Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell
- Super Lawyer Metro New York and New Jersey
- New Jersey Association for Justice Gerald B. O’Connor Award for Professionalism, 2018
- American Association for Justice Marie Lampert given in recognition of exemplary leadership to the profession, 2019
Other Sources of Feedback About Ellen Relkin
Included on the 2026 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
Past Lists
- 2025 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2024 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2021 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2020 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2019 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2018 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2017 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2016 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2015 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2014 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2013 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2012 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2011 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
- 2010 New Jersey Super Lawyers list
Education
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Legal Education
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Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey School of Law - Newark,
Newark,
New Jersey, 1984
J.D.
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Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey School of Law - Newark,
Newark,
New Jersey, 1984
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Non Legal Education
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Cornell University, 1980
B.A.
Honors: cum laude
Honors: With Distinction
Major: History
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Cornell University, 1980
Current Employment Position(s)
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Partner and Practice Group Chair
Past Positions
- Clerkship, The Honorable Sylvia Pressler, then Presiding Judge of New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, 1984 - 1985
Classes and Seminars
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Presented on Mass Tort Litigation in New Jersey along with esteemed jurists and practitioners, The N.J. Institute for Continuing Legal Education, a division of the N.J. State Bar Association, January 28, 2014
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HarrisMartin Mass Tort Litigation Conference with Judge Marina Corodemus (Ret.), March 11, 2013
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Harrismartin's MDL Conference: Current Issues in Multi District Litigation Practice - Loews Philadelphia Hotel, September 26, 2011
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Speaker at Mass Torts Judicial Forum: Joins Tort Judges, Acclaimed Special Master at Conference
- Presenter at the Mass Torts Judicial Forum in Philadelphia, June 28, 2010
Representative Cases
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$2.5 Billion (2014; Global Resolution Negotiated in the DePuy ASR MDL; Settlement Negotiation Team)
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$1.5 Billion (2014 and 2017; Global Resolution Reached in Lawsuits Over Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II Failed Hips; Settlement Negotiation Team)
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Multimillion Dollar (2018; Global Settlement Reached in the Stryker LFIT V40 Litigation; Settlement Negotiation Team)
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$500 Million+ (2023; Global Settlement Reached in the JUUL Labs, Inc. Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, Co-Lead Counsel)
Published Works
Articles
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"Punitive Damages Involving New Jersey Defendants" in the ABA Newsletter Mass Torts Litigation, Fall 2014, Vol. 13, No. 1
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4/27/2023: Program co-chair at the Mass Tort Session New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk Seminar 2023
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4/27/2023: “Hot Topics in Mass Torts” at the Mass Tort Session New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk Seminar 2023
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4/12/2023: “Nuts and Bolts of Mass Torts: The Road to MDL Leadership and Why It Matters” panel at Mass Torts Made Perfect, Las Vegas, Nevada
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4/13/2023: “Mass Torts Projects: Exactech Hip, Knee, and Ankle Recall Litigation Update” panel at Mass Torts Made Perfect, Las Vegas, Nevada
- 3/8/2023: “Tips and Developments in Product Liability Law” webinar for New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education
- 10/12/2022: “Business of Law: From Leadership Development Committee to MDL Leadership” panel at Mass Torts Made Perfect, Las Vegas, Nevada
- 10/12/2022: “Nuts and Bolts of Mass Torts: From Leadership Development Committee to MDL Leadership” panel at Mass Torts Made Perfect, Las Vegas, Nevada
- 7/15/2022: “General Discovery in Coordinated Mass Tort” panel at American Association for Justice, Seattle, Washington
- 4/13/2022: Harris Martin’s Webinar Series: Update on Exactech Hip, Knee and Ankle Recall
- 4/5/2022: “Nuts and Bolts of Mass Torts: Managing Large Case Dockets and SOL” panel at Mass Torts Made Perfect, Las Vegas, Nevada
- 6/30/2021: Program co-chair at the Mass Tort Session New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk Seminar 2021. Digital Experience
- 8/6/2020: Program co-chair at the Mass Tort Session New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk Seminar 2020. Digital Experience
- 7/27/2020: “JUUL and E-cigarettes” at Hot Topics in Mass Tort Litigation, American Association for Justice online seminar
- 7/27/2019: “Rethinking Multijurisdictional Coordination of Complex Mass Torts” panel discussion at Pound Civil Justice Institute Aggregate Litigation in State Courts: Preserving Vital Mechanisms forum. San Diego, California
- 7/26/2019: “Everything You Want To Know About Mass Torts (But Are Too Afraid To Ask)” at American Association for Justice seminar. San Diego, California
- 5/9/2019: “Mass Tort, From the Beginning to the End: New Jersey Mass Tort Update” at Boardwalk Seminar 2019. Sponsored by the New Jersey Association for Justice, Atlantic City, NJ
- 5/2/2019: “Mastering Mass Tort Settlements” panel at American Bar Association Section of Litigation, New York, New York
- 11/16/2018: “New Jersey Law on Expert Evidence: What You Need to Know After the Accutane Decision” at 2018 Mass Torts Seminar. Sponsored by the New Jersey Association for Justice. East Rutherford, New Jersey
- 5/16/2018: “Inside the Opium (Legal) Wars.” Annual Meeting, New Jersey State Bar Association. Atlantic City, New Jersey
- 5/10/2018: New Jersey’s key MDL and MCL cases at Boardwalk Seminar 2018. Sponsored by the New Jersey Association for Justice. Atlantic City, New Jersey
- 4/27/2017:, “Jurisprudential Legacy of the Honorable Carol Higbee” at Boardwalk Seminar 2017. Sponsored by the New Jersey Association for Justice. Atlantic City, New Jersey
- 4/3/2017: “Personal Jurisdiction Issues in Mass Torts.” HB Litigation Conferences’ Mass Torts Judicial Forum, New York City
- 2/10/2017: “Emerging Torts.” 2017 Texas Trial Lawyers Association Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Seminar. The Westin Austin at The Domain, Austin, Texas
- 8/25/2016: “ADR for Complex Claims: Choosing and Using the Most Effective Resolution Instruments.” LexisNexis Webinar on Medical Device ADR
- 4/7/2016: “Mass Tort Plaintiffs’ and Defendants’ Perspectives” at Boardwalk Seminar 2016. Sponsored by the New Jersey Association for Justice
- 10/2/2015: Featured speaker at American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Products Liability seminar panel discussion
- 9/28/2015: A Street Car Named Desire…Mass torts are like street cars, a new one comes every 10 minutes – the importance of (and factors to consider when) vetting a tort and your cases at Women En Mass in Aspen, Colorado
- 3/25/2015: Xarelto Case Selection and Criteria at the HarrisMartin MDL Conference: Xarelto, Morcellators and Emerging Torts in San Diego. California
- 2/18/2015: Failure to Warn in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Mass Tort Litigation: The PLA and Common Law at The New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (NJICLE) seminar on Multicounty (Mass Tort) Litigation in New Jersey
- 4/2/2014: HarrisMartin’s Mass Tort Litigation Conference session on Settlement v. Trial — Coordination, Conflicts & Committees in New York City
- 5/1/2014: Mass Tort Case Law Review at the New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk annual convention
- 5/1/2014: DePuy Hip and Stryker Rejuvenate litigations at the New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk annual convention
- 1/28/14: Presented on Mass Tort Litigation in New Jersey along with esteemed jurists and practitioners. The program was sponsored by The N.J. Institute for Continuing Legal Education, a division of the N.J. State Bar Association
- 3/11/13: HarrisMartin Mass Tort Litigation Conference with Judge Marina Corodemus (Ret.). See agenda
- 9/26/11: Harrismartin’s MDL Conference: Current Issues in Multi District Litigation Practice – Loews Philadelphia Hotel
- 6/10: Speaker at Mass Torts Judicial Forum: Joins Tort Judges, Acclaimed Special Master at Conference
- 6/28/10: Presenter at the Mass Torts Judicial Forum in Philadelphia. Participated in a discussion on expert witness testimony and medical causation proofs in this one-day seminar that includes presentations from a number of leading mass-tort judges and attorneys
Bar Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
- New Jersey, 1985
- New York, 1985
- U.S. District Court District of New Jersey, 1985
- District of Columbia, 1986
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York, 1986
- U.S. District Court Northern District of New York, 1986
- U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, 1986
- U.S. District Court Western District of New York, 1986
- U.S. Supreme Court, 2000
- Pennsylvania, 2013
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 2013
Specialties and Certifications
- Civil Trial Attorney, Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2007
Other Affiliations
- New York State, Toxic Torts Committee of Environmental Law Section, 1988 - 1994 (Co-Chair)
- American Bar Association
- Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Section on Toxic, Environmental and Pharmaceutical Torts (Past Chair)
- American Association for Justice, Section of Toxic, Environmental and Pharmaceutical Torts (Chair)
- Pound Civil Justice Institute (Fellow)
- American Law Institute (Elected Member)
- New York State rial Lawyers Association (Elected Member)
- New Jersey Trial Lawyers Association (Elected Member)
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