The lawyers in our Product Liability and Consumer Litigation Practice focus on the management and litigation of complex problems that present high stakes in terms of both potential liability and reputation of a product and the client. Our clients produce and sell technology-driven products in a variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals, health care, automotive and building materials. The issues in such cases are rarely confined to one court or one jurisdiction. We are typically engaged to serve as national counsel, providing strategic advice and coordination for the handling of cases in jurisdictions where litigation is pending, as trial counsel in our home jurisdictions and, when appropriate, with local counsel in other locations. For more information about this practice area, contact:
Our work has resulted in notable victories for
our clients in matters we have tried, as well
as cost-effective resolution of litigation involving
particular products. We try to implement a two-pronged
approach that includes aggressively opposing bids
for class action treatment and fighting to keep
litigations out of "plaintiff-friendly"
venues, and carefully selecting cases to push
for trial and then bringing home early trial and
appellate victories, to develop a body of favorable
law for particular products and issues. Early
successes can be instrumental in generating positive
decisions in other jurisdictions, and in dissuading
the plaintiffs' bar from continuing to sue on
those products.
A key to effectively handling product liability
matters involving any complex industry is understanding
the industry itself; including how its products
are developed, manufactured, marketed, sold, and
when necessary, recalled. We not only know how
to litigate product liability matters, we know
our clients' industries. For example, through
work for pharmaceutical industry clients, our
lawyers have handled litigations involving virtually
every aspect of the industry. Our combined knowledge
bases brings tremendous added value to our clients.
Some of the notable matters our Products Liability
and Consumer Litigation Practice group has handled
include the following:
- We were involved in coordinating, developing
and implementing strategy for the national defense
of leading pharmaceutical companies facing individual
and putative class actions throughout the country
relating to allegedly defective drugs. Our efforts
have contributed to the clients' successes in
avoiding, to date, the certification of class
actions or adverse final judgments in a single
case.
- We have provided "swat" teams that
jump in for difficult litigations throughout
the country. They take over the handling of
special problems or cases.
- We represented a client in a case where outgoing
counsel represented that the principal issue
would be the adequacy of the package insert
warnings. Our review of the plaintiff's medical
records revealed that the physician who had
first given the plaintiff the client's product,
years after she was already dependent on that
class of drugs, was her husband. The plaintiff,
who previously had been demanding a seven-figure
settlement, dropped the case.
- We were engaged by a pharmaceutical company
to salvage a case after it had been lost in
a jury trial handled by local counsel. We prepared
the clients' appeal brief, focusing on a theory
of superseding cause that had been neglected
before the trial court, and the adverse judgment
was reversed.
- We coordinate and handle product-related claims
for a major metropolitan blood center. We have
obtained a series of decisions in both federal
and state court granting summary judgment and
dismissing claims concerning the alleged transmission
of blood-borne viruses by transfusion, as well
as cases involving alleged bacterial infection,
improper genetic testing and donor injury.
- We have litigated, as both national and local
counsel, hundreds of product liability and consumer
cases involving the automotive and building
products industries, and have obtained numerous
victories and favorable settlements for our
clients. These cases require an understanding
of complex scientific and engineering issues
relating to allegations of defective design
and manufacture and medical issues related to
injury causation, as well as thorough investigation
of the medical and social history of the plaintiffs
to identify alternative causation.
- We are both national and lead trial counsel
defending a major international automobile manufacturer
against putative class actions filed in several
states, as well as an enforcement action brought
by a state attorney general, concerning automotive
parts. Our team has secured dismissals of the
class actions and the attorney general action.
This is one of the few reported cases where
a "consumer fraud" action brought
by that state's attorney general has been dismissed
on the merits, after a summary trial.
- We have handled a series of cases for a subsidiary
of one of the world's largest petro-chemical
companies involving allegedly defective insulating
glass sealants utilized in more than $4 billion
worth of windows in the United States. We obtained
denial of class certification of a putative
class of window manufacturers, and summary judgment
disposing of the entire action. In another case,
the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of
a claim for damages arising from allegedly defective
sealant utilized in the manufacture of greenhouses.
We also are involved in the resolution of significant
matters concerning the client's sealants and
adhesives utilized in other industries, including
home construction, flooring and tile materials,
and the manufacture of luxury yachts.
- We have been representing a major car rental
company in multiple putative consumer class
actions alleging violations of state uniform
commercial codes, consumer protection laws and
common law, and to date have obtained the dismissal
of all but two of those cases, where motions
to dismiss are still pending.
Product and consumer liability issues often involve
dealing with insurance carriers, responding to
negative press reports, addressing governmental
investigations and, in some cases, criminal proceedings.
Our product liability litigators have extensive
experience in addressing such issues, and work
closely with specialists in related disciplines,
including our insurance coverage, government relations
and white-collar criminal experts, as well as
with our clients' public relations professionals.
In addition to handling defense work, we regularly
advise clients in a broad range of industries,
including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and body
care products, automobiles, furniture, food, tobacco,
and animal feed products, on proactive means to
avoid potential problems. Our work includes reviewing,
both for regulatory compliance and claim avoidance,
marketing and advertising materials; product labeling;
package inserts, and warranty statements. We also
work closely with clients in improving consumer
affairs functions, including off-site "call
centers" and "Web-based" services,
as this is now an area targeted for litigation
by plaintiffs and governmental agencies.
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