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Products Liability
The Products Liability Practice Group has approximately 30 attorneys focused on the defense of complex product liability, toxic exposure and other mass tort claims. The Group offers expertise in the aggressive defense of a broad range of products and materials, proficiency in highly specialized areas of science, engineering, technology and medicine and the depth to handle the most complex and extensive multiple claimant litigation. Our attorneys have represented clients in claims involving a full spectrum of products, including prescription drugs and medical devices, orthopedic implants, birth control devices, tractors and other vehicles, consumer appliances and products, amusement park rides, industrial machinery, construction materials and firearms. We represent clients in matters ranging from regulatory enforcement actions by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, to multiple claimant litigation involving thousands of claims in state and federal courts in multiple jurisdictions, to post-sale recall programs. Our goal is to provide our clients the highest level of service and ethical representation in a cost-effective manner.
The Group's trial experience includes class action property damage claims, tractor rollover claims, industrial accident claims, complex pharmaceutical litigation, and the successful defense of one of the first trials in the country of a claim of cancer caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields. We have served as trial counsel and regional counsel in both stand alone and mass product liability claims, counsel in multiple jurisdictions as to particular products, and as coordinating counsel supervising law firms in other states and other countries in the development of trial strategy and conducting mass settlement negotiations.
Our products liability attorneys also regularly defend toxic tort and chemical exposure product liability claims involving allegations of workplace exposure, environmental illness and chemical sensitivity. We understand and are used to litigating the central issues of exposure, dosage and causation that are often key to successfully defending such cases. The Group has defended claims of disease allegedly caused by exposure to everything from electromagnetic fields to fungi, and tried cases of exposure to many allegedly toxic substances, such as diesel fumes, lead and solvents. We represent chemical manufacturers, petroleum manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, plant owners, food supplement manufacturers, transportation companies, and manufacturers of asbestos-containing products.
In addition to substantial trial experience, attorneys in the products liability group encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration, to minimize litigation costs. The Group includes attorneys with experience as in-house counsel who understand the perspective of corporate clients and are mindful of the need to manage costs in an effective and efficient manner. We also provide product liability counseling to promote product safety and minimize future product liability exposure. Such counseling services include analyzing a client's design and manufacturing processes, testing protocols and quality assurance programs; advising on appropriate insurance coverage; drafting product warnings and instructions; reviewing vendor and customer agreements for appropriate warranty, disclaimer and indemnity language; developing programs for proper document retention and post-sale product retrofits or recalls; and ensuring regulatory compliance.
Troutman Sanders products liability attorneys are active and hold leadership positions in professional and defense organizations including, among others, the Product Liability Advisory Council (PLAC), Defense Research Institute (DRI), Lawyers for Civil Justice (LCJ), and the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC). Attorneys in the Group regularly speak and write on issues relating to products liability law, and several Troutman Sanders attorneys authored a treatise on products liability law in Virginia published by West Publishing.
At Troutman Sanders, we recognize that products liability litigation often involves highly technical scientific questions and has an impact on all areas of our clients' business. Consequently, the Group often draws on the skills of attorneys in other groups, such as corporate attorneys, regulatory affairs attorneys, and a number of attorneys in the Technology and Intellectual Property Practice Group who have advanced degrees in fields ranging from electrical and mechanical engineering to molecular biology and biochemistry, to provide clients with a comprehensive and integrated array of legal services. The breadth of legal, technical and practical experience of the attorneys across these groups enables us to provide comprehensive and integrated legal advice and guidance tailored to each client's unique needs.
Sample Representations:
Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Litigation
- Defending several major pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in claims relating to individual surgical devices, orthopedic implants, and prescription drugs.
- Defending a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in the defense of mass tort claims involving diet drugs.
- Defending a medical device manufacturer in mass tort claims relating to the use of orthopedic bone screws, also called "pedicle screws."
- Defending a major pharmaceutical company in defense of mass tort litigation involving claims of musculoskeletal and kidney disorders caused by a cholesterol-reducing drug.
- Defending a manufacturer of phenylpropanolamine in claims involving hemorrhagic stroke.
- Defending a manufacturer of a fetal heart monitor in the defense of a catastrophic brain injury case.
- Defending a medical laboratory in multiple claims involving analysis of pap smears for cervical cancer.
- Defending a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in claims involving acetaminophen-containing products.
- Defending a major contraceptive manufacturer in multiple claims throughout the Southeast United States involving specific intrauterine devices.
Commercial Products, Equipment and Vehicle Litigation
- Defending manufacturers of heavy industrial equipment, tractors and other vehicles in a variety of claims, including a tractor rollover.
- Defending a major automobile manufacturer in a claim of a defective air bag.
- Defending a major utility in claims involving electrocutions, exploding insulators and hot water heaters.
- Defending a manufacturer of the world's first standup roller coaster in a wrongful death case arising from an allegedly defective restraint system.
- Defending a major retailer in a significant construction defect claim relating to construction of a shopping center.
- Defending a distributor of a three-wheel traffic control vehicle in a claim involving a rollover and fire.
- Defending a manufacturer of an industrial chipper in a major personal injury claim.
- Defending the designer of an industrial humidification system in a property damage claim from the failure of a humidistat in a textile mill.
- Defending a circular saw manufacturer in defense of a claim involving the loss of a hand in an industrial accident.
- Defending a major automatic door manufacturer in several claims involving serious personal injuries.
Consumer Product Litigation and Recalls
- Defending a major appliance manufacturer in cases involving an allegedly defective automatic coffee maker, including representation before the Consumer Product Safety Commission, implementation of an international recall of several hundred thousand units and assertion of claims against component part manufacturers.
- Defending an appliance manufacturer against efforts by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to require a product recall.
- Defending a manufacturer of motorcycle helmets in a claim involving serious personal injury.
- Defending the manufacturer of a child's play tent in a claim involving wrongful death from asphyxiation.
- Defending a ladder manufacturer in claims alleging defective warnings and design.
- Defending a munitions manufacturer in multiple states in claims arising from the manufacture of shotguns.
- Defending a major bus manufacturer in a claim involving an allegedly defective automatic step.
Toxic Exposure Litigation
- Defending manufacturers of asbestos-containing products and respiratory devices in thousands of claims in Georgia, Virginia and throughout the Southeast.
- Defending a major railroad in claims of toxic exposure to asbestos, diesel fumes, solvents and silica as well as other claims of industrial exposure, including hearing loss and carpal tunnel syndrome
- Defending a major utility in a claim that electromagnetic fields cause cancer.
- Defending a major chemical company in multi-plaintiff toxic tort claims.
- Defending a major medical institution in a claim of multiple chemical sensitivity allegedly caused by exposure to pesticides.
- Defending a food supplement manufacturer, as well as its major distributors and retailers, in claims arising from ingestion of L-tryptophan food supplements in jurisdictions around the country.
- Defending property owners in several claims of lead paint poisoning.
- Defending a major petroleum company in claims alleging leaks from underground storage tanks in retail gasoline stations.
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