BRIDGET WHOLEY represents clients in state and federal court, both before and during trial, and on appeal. She focuses her practice on product liability and class action matters, including in the pharmaceutical and consumer products industries. Bridget has substantial experience drafting dispositive motions in federal district courts, drafting appellate briefs in federal courts of appeals, and drafting amicus briefs at the Supreme Court of the United States. Bridget also has experience in all aspects of daily case management—from initial discovery through trial. Representative experience includes:
- Serving as a member of the trial team for a five-week jury trial related to a consumer product, resulting in a complete defense verdict
- Obtaining complete dismissal at the pleading stage of a putative class action alleging deceptive labeling on a sunscreen product
- Serving as counsel for a pharmaceutical company in a series of product liability actions involving challenges to a life-saving HIV medication, including failure to warn, fraud, and design defect claims
- Obtaining summary judgment, affirmed on appeal, for a cosmetics company in a putative class action alleging false advertising and improper drug classification
Bridget also maintains an active pro bono practice. She has successfully represented two former federal prisoners in connection with motions to reduce their sentences to time served, and has represented clients in section 1983 civil rights litigation relating to conditions of confinement. She earned the firm’s Thomas H. Morsch Award for Pro Bono Achievement in 2022, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois’ Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service in 2023.
Bridget graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame Law School. While in law school, Bridget served as the executive articles editor for the Notre Dame Law Review, as an oralist on the Moot Court Board, and as a teaching assistant for first-year courses. She received her B.A. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin.
Previously, Bridget clerked for the Honorable Michael Y. Scudder, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.