Product Liability

Members of our product liability practice have significant expertise and experience in the defense of product liability claims. The lawyers in this area have represented manufacturers of many types of machines, devices and products, including power plant components, heavy equipment, industrial systems and consumer goods, as well as product designers, distributors and retailers, in product liability actions. 

We help clients defend product liability claims in state and federal courts nationwide ranging from individual actions to major class actions. This challenging area of the law requires continual analysis and extension of defenses available to manufacturers of products, and the lawyers who practice in this area remain current in addressing the issues that arise in products liability cases, including the following:

  • Claims based on defective design or defective manufacture of a product;
  • Claims based on inadequate warning or failure to warn (including original warnings and post-marketing warnings), including claims addressing the content and delivery of the warning; and
  • Theories of defense available to manufacturers of products, including definition of a product, assumption of risk, substantial alteration of the product, the open and obvious condition of the product, “state of the art” and unforeseeable misuse of the product.
Attorneys
John M. Alten
Alexander M. Andrews
Yelena Boxer
Matthew V. Brammer
Joseph A. Castrodale
Tiffany Reece Clark
Jason P. Conte
Paul J. (P.J.) Cosgrove
Dacia Crum
Timothy M. Fox
Jeffrey G. Geoppinger
Pamela K. Ginsburg
Linda S. Glassman
Sharon E. Gronotte
Jennifer Hageman
John J. Haggerty
Prentiss W. Hallenbeck
John M. Hands
Jeanette Hargreaves
Paul R. Harris
Jennifer Snyder Heis
Megan B. Hensler
Natalie M. Hostacky
Karen L. Imbus
John R. Ipsaro
Jessica K. Iwler
C. Reynolds Keller
James N. Kline
Camille_Kuri
Murray K. Lenson
Rex A. Littrell
Linda E. Maichl
Bruce P. Mandel
Thomas G. McIntosh
Stephen C. Merriam
Cash H. Mischka
Christopher J. Mulvaney
Jeffrey F. Peck
Gregory J. Phillips
Lawrence D. Pollack
Brian N. Ramm
Harold (Kip) Reader
Lynnette L. Rodgers
Kate E. Ryan
Gina M. Saelinger
Richik Sarkar
Jeffrey R. Schaefer
Frederic X. (Fritz) Shadley
Jacqueline R. Sheridan
Kurt S. Siegfried
Brad A. Sobolewski
Peter R. Sonderby
Michael J. Suffern
Mary Lynn Tate
Joseph P. Thomas
Traci L. Wallace
Melissa L. Zujkowski
Robert E. Zulandt III

 

Clients

 

Representative Experience

Currently serving as national counsel for four companies in multidistrict litigation involving dietary supplements containing ephedra currently pending in the Southern District of New York.  Appointed to Defendants Steering Committee for MDL and have primary responsibility for Daubert hearing and coordination of defense effort relative to experts and causation issues.

Serving as national counsel for a pharmaceutical manufacturer in multidistrict litigation pending in the District of Arkansas and state coordinated proceedings involving claims arising from use of hormone replacement therapy products. Appointed to Defendants Steering Committee for MDL.

Secured reversal in Ohio Supreme Court of trial court’s certification of class action in OxyContin litigation.

Secured dismissal of several product liability lawsuits involving asbestos containing products in Madison County, Illinois.

Served as national counsel for welding rod distributor in welding rod product liability litigation. To date, have succeeded in having company summarily dismissed from more than 17,000 cases in nearly two dozen states, including the multi-district litigation pending in the Northern District of Ohio.

Secured dismissal of welding rod product liability claim brought by more than 3,200 plaintiffs in state court in West Virginia.

Secured dismissal of $40 million product liability action arising out of an explosion at a data center in Salt Lake City, allegedly caused by onsite computer systems.

Successfully defended product liability action involving heat wraps for one of the world’s largest consumer products manufacturers.

Secured summary judgment in trial court in case involving allegations that ingestion of prescription drug caused father to murder two-year-old son.  The trial court’s decision was affirmed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.  This case attracted national attention, including a story on the CBS News program 48 Hours.

National counsel for multiple pharmaceutical companies for their cases involving claims arising from use of anti-depressant drugs.  Secured dismissal of claims against clients on a number of occasions during early part of proceedings as a result of thorough fact investigation and technical expertise.

 

Related Practice Areas

Litigation
Class Actions
Construction Litigation
Fire Litigation
Mass Tort/Occupational Exposure

Life Science
Pharmaceutical, Medical Device & Mass Tort Litigation

 

Case Studies

 

Publications
For the Defense
February 2007
"Confidentiality of Settlement Agreements"
Jennifer Snyder Heis, Esq.
Confidentiality of Settlement Agreements

 

News