Louis M. Bograd

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 27, 2026

How Civil Litigation Helped Build Safer Workplaces-and Why It Still Matters

by:
Jacob R. Stout

November 24, 2025

Can You Sue a Drug Company?

by: Motley Rice