In trying to expand their market from Europe to the United States and Canada, international drug companies claimed that thalidomide was safe and would help women cope with the symptoms of pregnancy. Evidence, however, was mounting that the drug caused severe birth defects, including deformed limbs. When the families of Quebec children born with thalidomide-related birth defects were told that all of their claims were barred under Quebec law, they turned to Arthur Raynes, who had tried the first thalidomide case in the U.S. Commencing a coordinated legal battle in multiple states where the U.S. drug company had significant business interests, Raynes & Lawn overcame the procedural hurdles thrown up time and time again by the multinational drug conglomerates. When it became clear that a jury would hear in detail about the egregious misconduct of the companies, they settled the claim of every family. Mr. Raynes met with more than 50 affected families and earned Canadian and American court approval of what he had accomplished.