Shirlethia Franklin is a senior associate in the firm’s Products Liability Group. She focuses her practice on complex litigation matters, primarily in the areas of products liability, mass tort and toxic tort litigation, and medical malpractice defense. Prior to joining Alston & Bird, Ms. Franklin served as a law clerk to The Honorable Alexander Williams, Jr. in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.
Ms. Franklin graduated in the top 10 percent of her class from Howard University School of Law in 2007, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Howard Law Journal and was president of her class. While at Howard, Ms. Franklin was a recipient of numerous CALI Awards for Outstanding Academic Achievement and was a recipient of the Olender Foundation’s Earl H. Davis Scholarship in recognition of her leadership and public service. She was also the recipient of the “Student of the Year” and “Next Generation Leadership” awards presented by Howard University’s Graduate Student Assembly.
Ms. Franklin graduated summa cum laude, and class valedictorian, from Tougaloo College in 2004 with a B.A. in English.
She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the Mississippi Bar.
- Represents an industry-leading automobile manufacturer in a large scale automotive products liability and consumer class action MDL and state court consolidated proceedings involving over two hundred nationwide class actions.
- Represents a Fortune 50 asbestos supplier in connection with litigation in Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
- Represents one of the largest public health systems in the United States in various medical malpractice actions.
- Defended a multinational manufacturer of dialysis equipment in litigation alleging defective design and warning.
- Defended an industry-leading chemical manufacturer in a case with over 1200 plaintiffs involved with isocyanate exposures in the mining industry.
- Defense Research Institute, Committee Member
- Vice Chair, Defense Research Institute’s Young Women in the Law Subcommittee (2012-2013)
- Past Chair and Co-Chair, Defense Research Institute’s Young Lawyers Public Service Subcommittee (2009-2011)
- American Bar Association
- Atlanta Bar Association
- State Bar of Georgia
- Mississippi Bar Association
- 2012 Volunteer of the Year Honoree, Truancy Intervention Project
- Keynote Speaker, Tougaloo College’s 143rd Founders Day Convocation
- Keynote Speaker, Chemoflage, Inc.’s “Women Helping Women” Luncheon