Hall Booth Smith Creates Vaping/E-Cigarette Specialty Practice Group

In response to the rise in vaping lawsuits for alleged product liability and injury in the fast-growing but loosely regulated marketplace, Hall Booth Smith, P.C. has created a new specialty Vaping/E-Cigarette Practice Group to defend the manufacturers, distributors and retailers who sell vape hardware, pods and related supplies.

The new Vaping/E-Cigarette Practice Group is led by James Embrey and Derek Newberry, who are both partners with extensive knowledge and experience in defending clients in a wide range of product liability, injury and health-related cases.

HBS’s team understands the complex and interconnected causation issues, scientific and technical matters, and medical considerations that are often at the core of vaping lawsuits. That includes claims of lung disease, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other lung injuries related to vaping.

Because of the complex, opaque and global nature of most vaping products and components, HBS’s team moves quickly to investigate and establish whether there was indeed a product defect, counterfeit device or tainted material.

The team then exhaustively identifies all other potentially related parties across international supply chains, manufacturing operations and distribution networks in both the U.S. and foreign markets such as China. The firm’s strategic, critical assessment of whether it is likely that we could obtain jurisdiction, enforce a judgment or recover a contribution from these other parties should fault be found helps clients more accurately analyze exposure to determine the best strategy for presenting a defense or otherwise resolving matters.

“The burgeoning demand for vaping products combined with the complex multi-national nature of the manufacturing and distribution chains that make these products exposes many businesses to risks that they aren’t even aware of,” Embrey said. “We work tirelessly to help clients in the vaping business understand and unravel these mysteries, and protect themselves when issues arise.”

HBS’s Vaping/E-Cigarette Practice Group also offers complete business and day-to-day operational support to clients in the vaping industry, such as obtaining insurance, negotiating agreements, drafting business contracts, writing limitation of liability language for retail point of sale, creating label compliance and product packaging language, writing instructions for proper use of the product, registering brands and trademarks, protecting intellectual property, and monitoring legislative and regulatory actions.

“Companies in the vaping industry need a one-stop shop for all of their business, legal and regulatory compliance issues, and we are pleased to offer a tailored solution that will meet those needs and protect their interests,” Newberry said.

About Hall Booth Smith

Established in 1989, Hall Booth Smith, P.C. (HBS) is a full-service law firm with six regional offices strategically located throughout Georgia, as well as offices in Birmingham, Alabama; Charleston, South Carolina; Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina; Jacksonville, North Palm Beach and Tallahassee, Florida; and Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee; and Saddle Brook, New Jersey; and New York City. Experienced across a wide range of legal disciplines, HBS attorneys pride themselves on providing knowledgeable, proactive, client-specific counsel to individuals, domestic and international corporations, state and federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations. The firm’s promise: “Serving to Achieve Excellence.” To learn more, please visit: www.hallboothsmith.com.