Products liability claims can be serious enough to ruin one’s business. Companies who design, manufacture, and sell products need to understand their responsibility in protecting their end user market. Our attorneys at HBS are ready to help you with your products liability issues.
Products Liability
About Our Practice
Products liability laws can vary from state to state. The claims most commonly associated with Products liability are negligence, strict liability, breach of warranty, and consumer protection claims. Basically, there are three types of products “claims” a business may face:
- Manufacturing or Production Flaws–consumers claim that due to some part of the production process, the products has an unsafe defect.
- Design Defect–consumers find the design of the products unsafe.
- Defective Warnings or Instructions–the products is claimed not properly labeled or lacking adequate warnings for consumers to realize the risk.
The attorneys at Hall Booth Smith, P.C. have extensive experience in assessing risk and defending clients in products liability. We help our clients understand possible risks and combat claims filed against them. Our trial experience has provided us with intimate familiarity with the federal and state courts and their decision trends, which aids us in evaluating exposure and defending claims for personal injury or property damage in the products liability arena.
Our attorneys have extensive experience working with brokers, underwriters and claim professionals in the international insurance market, particularly with Lloyds of London. Our firm has handled many matters on behalf of various Syndicates at Lloyds, and our attorney’s understand how this unique market works. We utilize these long-standing relationships to assist foreign insurers to managing their domestic litigation, as well as assisting domestic clients to gain access to the Lloyds market.
The voice of our law firm is heard through the individual experience of our attorneys in products liability matters. We have:
- Helped clients prepare for and minimize risks with products liability
- Defended clients against claims of personal injury or property damage
- Handled catastrophic exposure matters involving construction, mass torts, and transportation
- Drafted and presented oral argument on numerous Daubert motions challenging the competency of the opposing side’s expert and/or the reliability of the expert’s opinions relative to design/manufacturer defect and proximate causation
- Litigated hundreds of cases.
HBS is extremely successful in both federal and state courts due to our attorneys’ superior litigation skills and ability to thoroughly grasp the scientific and technical issues involved in each case. A combination of skill, knowledge, and strategic litigation planning enables us to provide our clients with a superior defense and higher probability of success.
Our products liability practice involves the defense of businesses in all areas of litigation. When litigation arises, we focus on an appropriate resolution to the matter, whether that involves positioning the case for a swift settlement or trying a case to verdict. In addition to litigating product liability cases, HBS has a broad range of experience including counseling clients on product safety and reporting, product recall and regulatory compliance before government agencies, such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Food and Drug Administration. The attorneys in our Products Liability Practice Group are dedicated to exceeding your goals. We have handled products including:
- Drug and medical device
- Hand & power tools
- Consumer products
- Good, beverage & supplements
- Automobile
Our attorneys have exceptional skill and expertise in products liability law and represent a diverse range of clients. We have litigated and tried products liability cases in every facet of products liability including:
- Negligent design
- Negligent manufacture
- Loss prevention
- Breach of express or implied warranty
- Strict liability or failure to inspect, label, warn or instruct
- Manufacturing defects
- Design defects
- Strict liability
- Asbestos
- Automobile designs
- Design defects with machinery
With the professional integrity and skill HBS lawyers bring to the table, we have successfully resolved many cases for our clients through mediation, motion practice, administrative bodies, bench, and jury trials. Some of our representative clients include:
- A European medical device manufacturer of surgical mesh
- A national medical device manufacturer of patient monitoring equipment
- A national medical device manufacturer of pacemakers in a products liability matter
- A European pharmaceutical manufacturer of metoclopramide
- A national consumer products company that manufactured multi-use ladders and hand carts
- A national turkey fryer manufacturer
- A national manufacturer of go-karts
- Pharmaceuticals and medical device companies.
- Manufacturers and wholesalers of medical products
- Manufacturers of household and commercial products
We have received successful outcomes in
- Defending medical device, biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers from products liability claims
- Defending a wrongful death claim against an incubator manufacturer
- Pre-suit defense of a medical device death case involving a world-wide products recall
- Workplace injuries involving skid steer loaders and hand-held power tools
- Defeating a putative class action in litigation over surgical bone screws
- Obtained a dismissal of a putative class action over wood screws
Karl Braun
Partner
HBS Memphis Office
HBS Nashville Office
T: 615.313.9911
kbraun@hallboothsmith.com
Related Industries
Food & Agriculture
Scientific developments, technological efficiencies, global trade, and government support and regulation have changed food and fiber production in the United States into a sophisticated and complex business. From a farmer’s field to a consumer’s kitchen table, complicated legal issues now arise for growers, agribusinesses, distributors, brokers, and food retailers. Hall Booth Smith (HBS) specializes in providing legal counsel to and litigation and regulatory advocacy for farmers and agribusinesses.
Because most of our Agriculture Law Practice Group attorneys either grew up on a farm, earned degrees in agriculture, or have spent their careers counseling farmers and agribusinesses, our specific and keen understanding of the business practices and needs of farmers and agribusinesses superiorly position us to handle any agricultural matter. With six offices located throughout Georgia and offices in South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida, we couple the expertise and reputation of a large firm with the accessibility of a local firm.
The legal issues farmers and agribusinesses face are often unique to the agriculture sector. For example, HBS handles issues for buyers and sellers under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA), a complex federal statute which establishes a code of fair business practices that protects businesses dealing in fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables. In many cases, the laws relevant to the issues facing agriculturists arise out of the laws and regulations that are applicable to any contract, insurance policy, property right, business organization, or succession plan.
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