Louis Bograd is a nationally recognized authority on issues of federal preemption, drug and device litigation, and jurisdiction.
He has devoted much of his professional career to litigating appeals on complex issues involving products liability, Medicaid lien reimbursements, constitutional rights, and civil liberties. At Motley Rice, Lou continues his focus on appellate issues and mass torts, further enhancing the firm’s active and growing complex litigation practice. Lou serves as co-chair of the Law & Briefing Committee for the National Prescription Opiate MDL, which is focused on combatting the alleged deceptive marketing and over-distribution of opioids.
Prior to joining Motley Rice, Lou served as an appellate advocate and Chief Litigation Counsel for the Center for Constitutional Litigation where he led work in mass torts, the Class Action Fairness Act, and dispositive motions concerning consumer protection and products liability. Lou argued for plaintiffs before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding federal preemption of claims against generic drug manufacturers in Pliva, Inc. v. Mensing and has also participated in numerous other Supreme Court cases as counsel for petitioners, respondents, and amici curiae.
Lou has spoken on various legal topics at many seminars, CLE programs, and legal conferences across the country sponsored by, among others, the American Association for Justice, state trial lawyers associations, and Mass Torts Made Perfect. Lou has also presented at judicial education programs sponsored by the Pound Institute, the Brookings Institution, the American Enterprise Institute, the Northwestern University School of Law, and the George Mason University School of Law.
Lou’s legal career began at Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, D.C., where he managed and directed work on transfusion-associated HIV/AIDS cases on behalf of the American Red Cross. He subsequently served on the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation’s national legal staff and as the legal director of the Alliance for Justice. Lou has also taught advanced torts and products liability law as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law.
Selected Publications:
•Louis M. Bograd & Andre M. Mura, Buckman Stops Here! Limits on Preemption of State Tort Claims Involving Allegations of Fraud on the PTO or the FDA, 41 Rutgers L. J. 309 (2009)
•Louis M. Bograd, Be Careful What You Wish For: Drugmakers, the First Amendment, and Preemption, 51TRIAL24 (Nov. 2015)
•Louis M. Bograd, Preemption's Uncertain Path, 47 TRIAL 20 (Nov. 2011)
•Louis M. Bograd, W(h)ither Preemption?, 45 TRIAL 24 (Nov. 2009)
•Louis M. Bograd, Taking on Big Pharma- and the FDA, 43 TRIAL 30 (Mar. 2007)
Awards, Accolades & Recognitions
Best Lawyers
Washington, DC
2025 'Lawyer of the Year' Mass tort litigation/class actions - plaintiffs
2024-2025 Mass tort litigation/class actions - plaintiffs
2025-2026 Product liability litigation - plaintiffs
Blog Posts
February 9, 2023
End of the Road for the “Texas Two-Step”? Causes, Not Just Cases
by: Louis M. Bograd
May 28, 2019
SCOTUS preemption ruling good news for drug and device plaintiffs Causes, Not Just Cases
by: Louis M. Bograd
March 27, 2017
An Existential Threat to State Mass Tort Litigation Causes, Not Just Cases
by: Louis M. Bograd
News
April 28, 2025
The history and legacy of Workers’ Memorial Day
by:
M. Nolan Webb
April 1, 2025
Finish the asbestos ban to improve worker safety
by:
Nathan D. Finch
