Janet Gilligan Abaray is the managing shareholder for the Cincinnati office of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, P.C.  She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude.  She graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Cincinnati School of Law where she was Business Manager of the Law Review.  She is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Ohio, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Sixth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits and many United States District Courts.  Ms. Abaray has litigated extensively in the area of pharmaceutical products liability, beginning her career as defense counsel for Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in the Bendectin products liability class action and multi-district litigation (MDL), where she acted as third chair trial counsel. Since 1987, she has represented plaintiffs in many over-the-counter and prescription drug cases, including the L-Tryptophan MDL, the Copley Albuterol class action and MDL, where she acted as co-lead trial counsel, and the Fen-Phen/Redux diet pill class action and MDL, where she acted as co-lead counsel for plaintiffs at the Interneuron class action fairness hearing.  Ms. Abaray has served as Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs in the Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch Multidistrict Litigation and as a member of the Executive Committee for the Heparin Product Liability Multi-District Litigation, both in the Northern District of Ohio.  In 2004, she was appointed to the Plaintiffs' Coordinating Committee for the Ephedra Products Liability Multidistrict Litigation pending in the Southern District of New York and was later named Liaison Counsel for Plaintiffs.  Ms. Abaray also represents plaintiffs in many insurance and contract disputes. She was the co-lead trial counsel on behalf of 8000 farmers in the Chubb drought insurance class action litigation, participated as trial counsel on behalf of 2000 Cincinnati area physicians in the ChoiceCare HMO litigation, and represented Cincinnati area newspaper carriers in consolidated actions against the Cincinnati Enquirer. She represented 40,000 season ticket holders of the Cincinnati Bengals football team in a successful class action concerning their seat licenses in Paul Brown Stadium. Ms. Abaray has established national precedent in the area of employment discrimination, successfully arguing in litigation against Ernst & Young to broaden the scope of persons protected by the federal age discrimination statute.