Vance R. Andrus, Esq.

Partner

Email: vance.andrus@andruswagstaff.com

In 1969, Vance volunteered for the U.S. Army and ultimately attained the rank of First Lieutenant. He is a 1972 graduate of the LSU Law School where he served on the Law Review and as the legal research assistant to Professor George Pugh. Subsequently, Vance served as the law clerk for the Honorable Justice Al Tate of the Louisiana Supreme Court (who subsequently served on the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals). Thereafter, he worked as a defense lawyer before founding the plaintiff firm today named Andrus Wagstaff, and has extensive trial experience both as plaintiff and defense counsel.

Vance served as National Co-Lead Counsel of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC) in “In Re: Avandia Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation”, MDL no. 1871. He additionally served as a PSC member, as well as a member of the PSC executive committee in “In Re: Fosamax Products Liability Litigation”, MDL no. 1789. He also served as a member of the PSC in “In Re: Kugel Mesh Hernia Patch Products Liability Litigation”, MDL no. 1842. Vance presently serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee in “In Re: FLQ Products Liability Litigation”, MDL no. 2642 and also as a member of the PSC in “In Re: Actos Product Liability Litigation”, MDL no. 2299.

Vance received the Alumni Award as the Outstanding Graduate from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1969 where he served as the Student Government President of the College of Liberal Arts and a member of Blue Key National Honor Society. At LSU Law School he published articles in the LSU Law Review, co-authored with Justice Tate, in the Tulane Law Review and published in the Louisiana Bar Journal. He has lectured extensively to the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel, the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association, and Mealey’s National Mass Tort Conferences on Baycol, Vioxx, Fen-Phen, Breast Implants, Avandia, Kugel Mesh, Permax and Dostinex. He also twice served as Co-Chair of the national Mealey’s Conference on Complex Litigation, and has spoken on mass tort matters for the Mass Torts Made Perfect seminar series.

Since 1980, Vance has been rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell the “Highest Rating in both Legal Ability and Ethical Standards.” Vance is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by “America’s Top 100 Attorneys organization.” He also was chosen as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” by The National Trial Lawyers Association”. He also received The Legion of Valor Bronze Cross for Outstanding Achievement in the Reserve Officers Training Corps Program. He also was selected as a Lifetime Member of the Trial Masters Association. Vance was named “10 Best Attorneys 2017 – Colorado” by the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys for exceptional and outstanding client service.

Vance moved to Colorado in 1999 and, in 2001, became a fully certified firefighter and fought forest fires with Elk Creek Fire Department until, at age 60, he decided that it was a young man’s game. He also became, at age 54, a certified ski instructor for the Vail Corporation at Breckenridge, CO.

Practice Areas
Pharmaceuticals
Medical Devices, Implants & Products
Consumer Products
Catastrophic Personal Injury
Education
Louisiana State University Law School
J.D. 1972
University of Southwestern Louisiana
B.A. 1969
Admissions
Colorado, 1999
Louisiana, 1973
Presentations
Co-Chair, HB Litigation Conferences, “Mass Tort Med School + Class Actions” March 15-17, 2017, Orlando, Florida

Co-Chair, HB Litigation Conferences, “Mass Tort Med School: A Boot Camp for Plaintiff Attorneys,” May 6-7, 2015, Boca Raton, Florida

Co-Chair, Harris Martin’s Dialysis Injury Litigation Conference: FranuFlo and NaturaLyte, November 2, 2012, The Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida

Speaker, HB Pharmaceutical Litigation Conference on TVM, Actos and Orthopedic Devices, October 5, 2012, Le Meridien, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Speaker, MDL Conference: Transvaginal Mesh and ACTOS Litigation, “Overview and Welcome by Transvaginal Mesh Co-Chairs,” January 25, 2012, Four Seasons Hotel, Miami, Florida

Speaker, 11th Annual Class Action/Mass Tort Symposium, “Drilling Down on Documents Through Creative Technology,” December 9, 2011, The Ritz Carlton, New Orleans, Louisiana

Speaker, Mass Torts Made Perfect, “Crestormania: Taking over the Planet One Script at a Time,” October 14, 2011, Bellagio, Las Vegas, Nevada

Co-Chair, HB Litigation Conferences presents Transvaginal Mesh Litigation Conference, “TVM: Alleged Patient Injuries and Related Therapies/Treatments,” October 4, 2011, Amelia Island, Florida

Speaker, LSBA 10th Annual Class Action/Mass Tort Symposium, “Drilling Down on Documents Through Creative Technology,” December 10, 2010, New Orleans, Louisiana

Speaker, HB Litigation Conferences: DePuy Hip Recall and Avandia Updates, “Pharmacological Dangers for Diabetics: Avandia,” November 3, 2010, Miami, Florida

Speaker, Mass Torts Made Perfect, National Conference, “Wellbutrin and Aortic Stenosis”, October 14, 2010, Las Vegas, Nevada

Speaker, HB Litigation Conferences, “GlaxoSmithKline Defenses to Avandia Cases”, June 29, 2010

Co-Chair, HB Litigation Conferences presents Plaintiffs’ Perspectives on Avandia Litigation, June 29, 2010, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Speaker, Mass Torts Made Perfect, “Avandia: An Update on the Litigation”, October 15-16, 2009 Las Vegas, Nevada

Speaker, HB Litigation Conferences, National Teleconference: Pharmaceuticals in Litigation, “Avandia Litigation Update”, June 24, 2009

Co-Chair, HB Litigation Conferences, National Hydroxycut Litigation Teleconference, May 21, 2009

Speaker, H.B. Litigation Conference, “Avandia Update”, March 4, 2009

Chair, H.B. Litigation Conference, “New Developments in Pharma Litigation”, February 23, 2009

Speaker, AAJ Cox2 Litigation Section Meeting, “The Vioxx Settlement Agreement,” February 14, 2008, Las Vegas, Nevada

Speaker, Mass Torts Made Perfect, “What’s Next? The Best is Yet to Come, “ April 10-11, 2008, Las Vegas, Nevada

Speaker, Mealey’s Vioxx Settlement Conference, “A Plaintiff Bar Discussion and Round Table,” December 10-11, 2007, New Orleans, Louisiana

Speaker, Mass Torts Made Perfect, “Permax: Killing our Seniors,” November 8-9, 2007, Bellagio, Las Vegas, Nevada

Co-Chair, Lexis-Nexis National Conference on Avandia, July 13, 2007, Chicago, Illinois

Speaker, Harris Martin’s, “Hot Topics in Pharmaceutical Litigation Conference,” June 7-8, 2007, Miami Beach, Florida

Speaker, LTLA Winter Seminar, “Cox-2 Inhibitors: What’s the Deal?” March 1, 2006, Aspen, Colorado

Co-Chair, Mealey’s National Conference, “Vioxx Litigation: The Pros Speak Secrets to Becoming Trial Ready”. December 12-13, 2005, Las Vegas, Nevada

Speaker, Harris Martin’s Cox-2 Litigation Conference, November 3-4, 2005, St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco, California

Speaker, ATLA National Conference, “Vioxx Mock Trial Closing Argument defending Merck on the Science”, October 22, 2005, New Orleans, Louisiana

Speaker, LSBA 6th Annual Class Action/Mass Tort Symposium, “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Pharmaceutical Litigation, Liability, Defenses, Discovery and Trial Plans,” October 21, 2005, New Orleans, Louisiana

Co-Chair, Mealey’s National Vioxx Litigation Conference, June 22, 2005, New Orleans, Louisiana

Speaker, The Case Against Vioxx: An ATLA Mock Trial Seminar, “The Scientific Literature – Defendants’ Perspective,” May 19, 2005, New Orleans, Louisiana

Panel Member, Harris Martin’s Bextra Litigation Conference, “The Factual History of Bextra,” May 18, 2005, The Ritz Carlton, New Orleans, Louisiana

Speaker, LexisNexis’ Bextra and Celebrex Litigation Conference, “Identifying the Similarities & Differences in the Theories of Liability,” May 11, 2005, The Fairmont Hotel, Chicago, Illinois

Speaker, ATLA Annual Convention, “Exploring the Medicine Cabinet: VIOXX, Bextra & other Cox-2 Inhibitors,” April 28-30, 2005, Inn of the Ozarks, Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Co-Chair, CTLA Vioxx Conference, January 2005, Denver, Colorado

Speaker, Mealey’s National Vioxx Litigation Conference, “Review of Clinical Studies and Adverse Events Reports”, November 9, 2004, Pasadena, California

Speaker, LSBA 5th Annual Class Action Seminar, “Will Settlement: Survive Notice and Associated Due Process Claims”, October 2004, New Orleans, Louisiana

Speaker, Mealey’s National Baycol Litgation Conference, “Update on Status of State Court Litigation”, June 2-3, 2004, Amelia Island, Florida

Speaker, LSBA Class Action Seminar, “Mass Tort/Class Action Trial Plans”, October 24, 2003

Speaker, National Conference, “Fen-Phen Seminar for Plaintiff Lawyers Only: Strategies for Survival”, July 17-18, 2003, San Francisco, California

Speaker, Mass Torts Made Perfect, “Trial Preparation: Baycol”, September 13, 2002, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Speaker, LTLA Winter Seminar, “So You Want to Become a Class Action Lawyer?”, Aspen, Colorado, 2003

Speaker, LSBA Class Action/Mass Torts Seminar, “National Class Actions and Multi-District Litigation: Parallel Universe vs. Collision Course”, October 27, 2000, New Orleans, Louisiana

Co-Chair, Mealey’s National Judges and Lawyers in Complex Litigation Conference, November 8-9, 1999, Miami, Florida

MDL Experience
IN RE: Silicone Gel Breast Implants Products Liability Litigation, MDL 926

IN RE: Diet Drugs, MDL 1203

IN RE: Sulzer Orthopedics Inc. Hip Prosthesis and Knee Prosthesis Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1401

IN RE: Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1407

IN RE: Baycol Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1431

IN RE: Ephedra Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1598

IN RE: Vioxx Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1657

IN RE: Bextra and Celebrex Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1699

IN RE: Guidant Corp. Implantable Defibrillators Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1708

IN RE: Medtronic, Inc., Implantable Defibrillators Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1726

IN RE: Ortho Evra Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1742

IN RE: Fosamax Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1789

IN RE: Kugel Mesh Hernia Patch Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1842

IN RE: Avandia Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1871

IN RE: Hydroxycut Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, MDL 2087

IN RE: Actos Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2299

IN RE: FLQ Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2642

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National Mass Tort Attorneys
Headquartered in Denver
Toll Free: 866-795-9529