Sherrie Armstrong Davis, Partner | Thomas Combs & Spann PLLC

Attorneys Sherrie Armstrong Davis | Partner

Sherrie Armstrong Davis (Partner) defends product liability and environmental litigation at the trial and appellate levels and also provides regulatory and risk management counseling. Prior to joining the firm, Sherrie practiced law in the Environmental and Torts practice groups of an Am Law 100 firm based in Washington, D.C.

Named a Super Lawyers D.C. Rising Star in environmental law from 2014 to 2016, Sherrie handles litigation, regulatory, and counseling matters arising under a variety of environmental statutes, including the Clean Water Act; Clean Air Act; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; Endangered Species Act; National Environmental Policy Act; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; and Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. Sherrie represents members of the natural resources, chemical, mineral, and electric power generation industries, and associated trade groups. She also has served as outside counsel for a state department of environmental protection.

As part of her product liability work, Sherrie defends manufacturers against product liability claims in individual, mass, and multidistrict litigations, with a focus on medical devices. She has counseled a Fortune 100 healthcare services company on claims handling and risk management and provided defense for its nationwide product liability cases.

Sherrie also sometimes represents plaintiffs and defendants in commercial or personal injury cases that do not involve traditional product liability claims.

Sherrie prides herself on her collaborative working style; since she was a young lawyer, she has worked on virtual client service teams formed across multiple law firms.

Sherrie graduated from the College of Charleston with a B.A. in political science in 2001, and earned a Master of Public Administration from the College of Charleston in 2004, winning the award for outstanding graduate student. Sherrie received her J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 2007, where she served as the Editor in Chief of the Connecticut Law Review and graduated with high honors.

Before entering private practice, Sherrie was honored to serve as a judicial term law clerk for the Honorable Jerome A. Holmes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (2009-2010); the Honorable Joseph R. Goodwin, former Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (2008-2009); and the Honorable Chase T. Rogers, former Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court (2007-2008).

Professional Organizations:
•  Sherrie is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, an invitation-only global legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests.

Professional Recognition:
•  2014-2016 Super Lawyers D.C. "Rising Star" in field of Environmental Law
•  2015 National Law Journal's Pro Bono "Hot List"

Admitted To Practice:
Sherrie is licensed to practice in Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Sherrie is admitted to practice before various courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits; U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia; U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan; U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin; and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Representative Environmental Matters:
•  Coordinate multi-law firm briefing in industry challenge to EPA's Clean Power Plan and provide oral argument support before en banc D.C. Circuit.
•  On behalf of multinational oil and gas company, prosecute litigation against the federal government seeking to hold it liable as a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act "owner" for estimated billion-dollar remediation costs at mine site, including supervision and coordination of multi-million-page hard copy review and production of historical documents, fact witness and expert depositions, dispositive briefing, and oral argument preparation.
•  Represent natural resources companies in environmental citizen suits under a variety of statutes as defendants or intervenors, including successfully obtaining dismissal from a U.S. district court on behalf of a group of intervenors made up of natural resource companies, unions, and Indian tribes in a citizen suit alleging that the state environmental agency had habitually failed to ensure that coal mining operations did not violate water quality protections.
•  Defense of federal and state environmental enforcement actions.
•  Represent state department of environmental protection in litigation against EPA and the U.S. Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, including primary responsibility for factual development and briefing in coordination with agency department heads as well as with other states who had filed suit, and oral argument support before D.C. Circuit panel.
•  Advise state department of environmental protection on reclamation-related settlements and risk management.
•  Provide environmental compliance and litigation risk counseling to chemical, natural resources, and power generation industries, including counseling regarding EPA's Clean Power Plan, "Waters of the United States" rule, and Coal Combustion Residuals or "coal ash" rule.
•  Coordinate and prepare industry comments to proposed EPA regulations.
•  Conduct environmental due diligence for renewable energy project acquisitions.

Representative Product Liability Matters:
•  As part of the defense of a medical device manufacturer in multidistrict litigation, responsibility for Wave discovery strategy and implementation, including fact witness depositions, work with defense experts, taking and defending expert depositions, and serving as editor for dispositive and Daubert briefing.
•  Defense and coordination of product liability claims and litigation for healthcare services company nationwide, including responsibility for claims handling and settlement, investigating claims, managing soup-to-nuts litigation, and defending corporate representative depositions. This work also involved developing a deep familiarity with the client's businesses; liaising with product managers and in-house legal team; managing local counsel; and advising on risk management.
•  Defense of product liability claims against medical device manufacturer in mass action, including coordinating and supervising large-scale document review, developing factual defenses, preparing company witnesses for deposition, and coordinating and editing Daubert and dispositive motion briefing.
•  As part of the defense of a medical device manufacturer in multidistrict litigation, responsibility for Wave discovery, including expert witness work, treating physician depositions, plaintiff depositions, dispositive motion drafting, and coordination of Daubert and dispositive motion drafting across multiple law firms.

Contact:

P O Box 3824
Charleston, WV 25338
Direct Dial: 304-414-1800
Download Sherrie's VCard

Education:

University of Connecticut School of Law, J.D. (2007), high honors
Connecticut Law Review, 2005-2007

Editor-in-Chief, Connecticut Law Review, 2006-2007

Member, Moot Court Board 2005-2007

College of Charleston, M.P.A (2004)

College of Charleston, B.A. (2001)