Kristen M. Hermiz

In 2024, the Honorable Leigh Martin May appointed Kristen to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for MDL 2974 In re: Paragard IUD Products Liability Litigation in the Northern District of Georgia. Plaintiffs in the Paragard MDL suffered injuries in connection with the breakage of the IUD product. Plaintiffs have asserted defendant manufacturers failed to adequately warn women about the risk of breakage and that the Paragard IUD was defectively designed. Kristen also advocates for women who have developed meningiomas after use of Depo-Provera, an injectable contraceptive with high levels of progestin, as well as individuals who have suffered bowel obstruction, erosion and other injuries after use of the Lap-Band device. Kristen is also an advocate for women who have suffered embryo loss in connection with in-vitro fertilization due to the use of defective embryo-culture fluid as well as other harms in connection with IVF procedures.

Kristen frequently speaks on medical litigation and topics involving women's products, including at legal seminars on such issues as plaintiffs' rights in medical negligence and dangerous drug cases.

Prior to joining Motley Rice, Kristen was an associate for the Providence City Solicitor’s Office, arguing motions in various civil actions for the city of Providence and handling housing, zoning, employment and civil rights litigation.

A Roger Williams Scholarship recipient and CALI Award winner, Kristen served as a member of The Roger Williams University Law Review and was a legal intern for the Honorable Daniel A. Procaccini of the Rhode Island Superior Court. Additionally, as a judicial extern for the Honorable Jacob Hagopian of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, Kristen drafted judicial reports and made recommendations for pro se prisoner petitions. While in law school, Kristen was a law clerk for the Office of the Vice President & General Counsel at Brown University and a research assistant to law professor Edward Eberle and retired Rhode Island Superior Court Justice Stephen Fortunato. For retired Justice Fortunato, she researched statutory and case law for a constitutional law manuscript involving race, poverty, gender discrimination and civil rights reform efforts.