Product Liability
Our product liability team helps businesses understand and manage legal risks when their products are alleged to have caused harm. We quickly engage the appropriate experts to support a thorough and efficient investigation of the claims, and based on those findings, develop a comprehensive legal strategy designed to secure best-case outcomes for the client.
We have tried and resolved product liability cases in a wide range of industries, including industrial machinery, the automotive industry, firearms, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing of industrial and consumer goods. We have experience in handling the defense of both individual and class action claims alleging everything from defects in design and manufacturing defects to breach of warranty and toxic torts.
Representative Matters:
Class Action
- Defended a class action brought on behalf of a putative class of gun owners against SIG Sauer alleging claims for fraudulent concealment, unjust enrichment and violations of the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act in connection with the manufacture of a specific handgun, and successfully opposed the certification of a class
- Defended Saint Gobain Performance Plastics in multiple cases, including putative class action, claiming damages due to alleged PFAS contamination from manufacturing process
Defects
- Defended a continuing series of individual lawsuits brought against the manufacturer of prescription medication where allegations include claims such as defective design, failure to warn, breach of implied and express warranty, negligence, fraud, loss of consortium, and unjust enrichment
- Represented a tire manufacturer in a wrongful death case alleging a manufacturing defect in a truck tire
- Represented an automobile manufacturer in a wrongful death lawsuit alleging negligent testing and design of airbag
- Obtained the early dismissal of a complaint in a case involving a brain-injured biker against the manufacturer of paint used for highway lane markers
Environmental
- Represented major manufacturer in suits arising out of various chemical contamination
- Represented KeySpan Energy Corp., in defense of environmental claims by more than 80 homeowners in Bay Shore, New York, who alleged injury to property resulting from alleged contamination emanating from the former site of a manufactured gas plant
- Served as coordinating counsel for a large oil refinery in New Hampshire alleging groundwater contamination
- Represented a major utility company in multiple pending cases in the State of New York involving allegations of groundwater contamination
