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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. 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.
Ulmer Partner James N. Kline Elected President of the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys

Ulmer & Berne LLP is proud to announce that Partner James N. Kline has been elected President of the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys (OACTA). Kline, who previously served as Vice President of OACTA, was inducted into this new leadership role at the organization’s annual meeting in November. Kline...

Ulmer Partner Joseph P. Thomas to Receive 2018 Chase Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award

Ulmer & Berne LLP is proud to announce that Partner Joseph P. Thomas will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2018 from the Chase Alumni Association of the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. “Joe has an incredible ability to defend our clients in matters that are complex...

Ulmer Continues to Grow its Cleveland Office with Additions to its Business Law and Product Liability Practices

Ulmer & Berne LLP is pleased to announce the addition of two new associates to its Cleveland office – Param K. Sahni and Emmanuel Sanders. Mr. Sahni joins the firm’s Business Law Practice Group and Mr. Sanders joins the firm’s Product Liability Practice Group. Mr. Sahni is an experienced business...

Ulmer Partners Named to Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under Hot List 2018

Paul Harris and Joshua Klarfeld Recognized Among Nation’s Best Up-And-Coming Litigators  Ulmer & Berne LLP proudly announces that two of its partners, Paul R. Harris and Joshua A. Klarfeld, have been named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under Hot List 2018.” This marks the second year in a row that...

Georgia Hatzis Named to Greek America Foundation’s “Forty Under 40” List

Ulmer & Berne LLP congratulates Associate Georgia Hatzis, who was recently named as a Greek America Foundation “Forty Under 40” honoree. The distinction is bestowed biannually to accomplished North Americans of Greek descent, age 40 and under, who have both excelled in their professional endeavors and demonstrated care and concern for...

Benchmark Litigation Recognizes Three Ulmer Attorneys Among Elite in Latest Rankings

Ulmer & Berne LLP partner Frances Floriano Goins was named to the Benchmark Top 250 Women in Litigation. Ulmer partners Paul R. Harris and Joshua A. Klarfeld were included in Benchmark’s Under 40 Hot List 2017. Individual recognition for Goins, Harris, and Klarfeld comes on the heels of Ulmer’s department-wide...

In Talcum Powder Trials, Science is the Key

Cincinnati-based counsel Nathan A. Schachtman co-authored an article focusing the science behind successfully defending clients in talcum powder trials. An excerpt from the article, along with links to the full Law360 piece, appear below. Presenting The Science Is Key In Talc Trials From Law360 By Nathan Schachtman and David Schwartz “Establishing a rigorous...

Veteran Litigator Robert Mitchell Joins Ulmer’s Product Liability Group

Ulmer & Berne LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Robert Mitchell as partner in its Cincinnati office. Mitchell brings decades of experience managing complex toxic tort and product liability litigation matters to Ulmer’s nationally respected product liability group. Mitchell’s practice focuses on product liability defense. He has decades...

Ulmer & Berne announces that Cleveland-based partner James N. Kline has been elected Secretary of the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys (OACTA) at its annual meeting. OACTA’s mission is to promote fairness, excellence, and integrity in the civil justice system by providing resources and education to attorneys and others...

Ulmer & Berne is ranked in 39 categories in the 2016 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings. Among these, the firm earns U.S. News – Best Lawyers highest rankings in 21 categories. The firm also ranks nationally in 16 categories. Firms included in the 2016 “Best Law...

Ulmer & Berne announces that six of the firm’s partners have been recognized in the 2016 edition of Benchmark Litigation as “State Litigation Stars,” a designation given to those individuals who were recommended consistently as reputable and effective litigators by clients and peers. The following Ulmer & Berne attorneys were...

Ulmer & Berne announces that Megan B. Gramke, a partner based in the firm’s Cincinnati office, has been appointed to the Advisory Board for Portaluca. She will serve a three-year term. Portaluca (formerly 4th Street Boutique) is a sophisticated resale boutique that sells women’s new and gently used clothing, and...

Ulmer & Berne LLP announces that four of the firm’s attorneys have been recognized in the 2015 edition of Benchmark Litigation as “State Litigation Stars.” The following Ulmer & Berne attorneys were selected in their jurisdictions: Frances Floriano Goins – State Litigation Star-Cleveland Jeffrey F. Peck – State Litigation Star-Cincinnati...

“Michael Nathan Ungar | Ulmer & Berne LLP” Cleveland Jewish News January 15, 2015 Perennial Super Lawyer Michael Nathan Ungar considers settlement of a dispute embroiling Case Western University among his most memorable cases of 2014. Read the full article »

Ulmer & Berne LLP is ranked in 40 categories in the 2015 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings. Among these, the firm earns U.S. News – Best Lawyers’ highest ranking in 23 categories. The firm also ranks nationally in 17 categories. Ulmer & Berne achieved a “Metropolitan Tier...

Ulmer & Berne LLP has been ranked within the top 10 percent of all law firms by The BTI Consulting Group, one of the nation’s leading legal industry research firms, in their recently published 2015 BTI Litigation Outlook report. The firm was selected as a “Litigation Powerhouse” and is named...

Ulmer & Berne LLP was named 2014 Ohio Firm of the Year by Benchmark Litigation at the second annual Benchmark Litigation US Awards held at the Essex Hotel in New York City on January 29, 2014. The US Benchmark Awards were based on a six-month research period involving extensive interviews...

Representative Experience

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.