Kaye Scholer's Product Liability Group brings together more than 50 attorneys with extensive trial experience and the management skills to handle efficiently all types of product liability cases and consultations, whether on a national, regional or local level.
We can:
- present at trial complex scientific testimony in a manner understandable to judges and lay jurors,
- devise sophisticated and novel legal and factual defenses,
- comprehend underlying design and manufacturing principles,
- make informed decisions regarding the defensibility of specific claims and assess claims demands,
- provide, where appropriate, innovative mechanisms for settlement.
Our
practice includes attorneys with scientific degrees. Our in-house staff
of Ph.D.-level scientists bring additional depth of understanding to
complex medical and scientific issues relevant to product liability
litigation.
We also counsel clients on product liability issues and have experience
in conducting audits to evaluate potential product liability exposure
in corporate transactions.
SCOPE OF PRACTICE
National Coordinating Counsel
High-stakes litigation calls for in-depth analysis and seamless
coordination of cases filed across the country and, increasingly,
around the world. We frequently serve as national coordinating counsel,
providing a coherent strategy and direction in multi-jurisdictional
litigation.
In addition, we help clients to reduce costs by providing prototype
pleadings, motions and briefs; locating and developing expert
witnesses; analyzing and organizing corporate litigation documents; and
providing guidance for handling crisis situations. Our attorneys have
served in these capacities for clients in a wide range of industries,
from automotive and electronics manufacturers to pharmaceutical and
medical device companies.
Lead Trial Counsel
We defend individual personal injury and property damage lawsuits. Our
lawyers have acted as lead trial counsel in cases involving a wide
range of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, implanted medical
devices such as breast implants and heart valves, chemicals,
automobiles, heavy trucks, electromagnetic fields, repetitive stress
injuries, fire alarms, and a host of industrial and consumer products.
Class Action Counsel
We have extensive experience in product liability class actions,
involving such diverse products as medical devices, agricultural
pesticides, drugs, asbestos and tobacco. Kaye Scholer has been at the
forefront of class action law in devising strategies to oppose class
certification and, when necessary, to fashion innovative class action
settlements to achieve global peace.
Trial and Litigation Support
Kaye Scholer stands ready to assist clients in whatever capacities they require, including:
- Conducting depositions of expert witnesses.
- Preparing sophisticated motions for summary judgment and/or exclusion of expert testimony or other evidence at trial.
- Preparing and representing company executives at deposition and at trial.
- Developing complicated epidemiological and medical testimony.
- Developing computer animations and other demonstrative aids to illustrate complex scientific principles.
- Analyzing medical records in a cost efficient manner, utilizing experienced registered nurse analysts.
Product Safety and Liability Counseling
We often serve in a counseling role to evaluate product liability issues as they affect a company's business, regulatory or legal strategies. This work includes conducting audits to evaluate the potential product liabilities in proposed corporate transactions. Members of our product liability practice have established national reputations for conducting this type of analysis under the time pressures attendant to mergers and acquisitions.