On Thursday, April 23, 2026, Law360 reported that a plaintiff represented by Keller Postman LLC appealed to the Pennsylvania Superior Court following a Philadelphia judge’s decision not to recuse himself from a mass tort case against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) over alleged cancer risks associated with Zantac.

The appeal was filed after Judge Joshua Roberts of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas refused to step down from the case, arguing that his wife’s employment at a law firm representing a defendant in a related case did not constitute a conflict of interest.

Judge Roberts’ wife, Shannon McClure, is a partner at Blank Rome LLP, which is defending Apotex Corp. in one of the 550 Zantac cases. In an order issued on April 15, Judge Roberts stated that any economic interest he might have due to his wife’s affiliation with Blank Rome and their representation of Apotex was minimal.

The specific case in question is Hillbert v. Boehringer Ingelheim et al., initially filed in 2021 by Anapol Weiss before the Zantac mass tort was established, according to Judge Roberts’ order. McClure joined Blank Rome in February 2025, after previously working at Reed Smith LLP.

Judge Roberts also noted that Apotex is not a defendant in the Hillbert case, and therefore, Blank Rome did not have grounds to request his recusal in a case where they did not represent a party. He also pointed out that Anapol Weiss, the firm that filed the case, has not filed a recusal motion.

John Masslon II of Keller Postman told Law360 that they anticipate explaining to the Superior Court why Pennsylvania judges should not preside over cases where their spouses are equity partners at law firms involved in the proceedings.

Keller Postman had previously sought Judge Roberts’ recusal in 2024, when his wife was still employed at Reed Smith, but that attempt was unsuccessful. At that time, Keller Postman raised concerns about McClure’s employment at Reed Smith because the firm represents GSK in other jurisdictions. Judge Roberts rejected the argument that his wife’s employment could create unconscious bias.

 

 

Source: Law360