San Antonio, Texas – Attorney Mikal Watts and his partner Frank Guerra have announced a partnership restructuring at their law firm, Watts Guerra. The firm specializes in handling large mass tort litigation cases.
Watts expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to practice law with Guerra for over two decades, emphasizing their friendship and mutual admiration. He assured that he would remain at the firm and looked forward to the future accomplishments of the partnership and other colleagues.
Known for his involvement in major mass tort cases, Watts has spearheaded multi-million dollar litigation against corporations. Watts Guerra is currently representing clients in significant torts such as the water contamination at Camp Lejeune Marine base, allegations of negligence by Hawaiian Electric causing deadly wildfires in Maui, and claims linking Johnson & Johnson talcum products to cancer. Watts frequently represents the firm in court and engages with the media on these cases.
Watts is currently representing approximately 16,000 claimants in lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson regarding talc-related claims. He is also part of the legal team supporting an $8.9 billion settlement proposed by the company.
In 2015, Watts faced legal charges along with six others, accused of fabricating thousands of clients in an attempt to collect payouts from BP following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Watts and four co-defendants were later acquitted.
Last year, at the Mass Torts Made Perfect conference, Watts spoke out about the prevalence of false claims in large mass tort cases. He shed light on the flow of money from litigation funders to law firms and eventually to lead generators, who sometimes enroll clients using false information. Watts conducted audits on his firm’s leads and discovered that a significant number of them were fraudulent.
Watts has also been involved in lawsuits against manufacturers of Tylenol and generic acetaminophen, alleging that the drugs can cause ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder in children when taken by pregnant women. However, a Daubert hearing held by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in the Southern District of New York deemed the evidence presented by Watts to be inadmissible due to cherry-picking and misrepresentation of study results, as well as ignoring the role of genetics in the development of ASD and ADHD.
Established in 2002, Watts founded his law firm and later partnered with Francisco Guerra IV in 2009 to create Watts Guerra. The firm currently operates in Texas and California.