Our Mass Torts Practice draws upon the substantive knowledge of a team of more than 25 lawyers who have had significant involvement in this area for many years. We were one of the original participants in the asbestos property-damage litigation that helped develop current national product-liability and class-action law. For more than three decades, we have been fully engaged in class-action litigation and national serial litigation, involving the full range of state and federal causes of action, including product liability. Our lawyers represent manufacturers and distributors in a variety of industries and have longstanding industry experience relating to a wide range of products, including chemicals, asbestos, blood, carpets, lead, latex, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, building and construction products, automatic fire sprinklers and tobacco.
We understand the challenges posed by high-profile, large-scale complex litigation and its potential to inflict financial damage upon a company and devastate an industry. Working with more than 600 skilled litigators located in our offices throughout the country, and drawing on the synergies provided by our Environmental, FDA/Healthcare Regulation, Insurance Recovery and Construction Litigation Practices, we offer specialized experience in the defense of toxic tort and product-liability cases, as well as class actions, that combines the highest level of creative legal analysis and litigation strategy with extensive knowledge of the relevant industry and a thorough understanding of the laws and science at issue. Our lawyers have a sharp business perspective and are able to manage the sensitive external publicity and media relations needs attendant to this kind of litigation, while minimizing the impact on business operations.
Clients choose Morgan Lewis because of our ability to handle the full range of issues that are often involved in large-scale, high-profile product-liability litigation. Our representation of a leading manufacturer of automatic fire sprinklers provides just one demonstration of the range of our capabilities. We have represented this manufacturer in a series of matters concerning its products, including the resolution of administrative proceedings before the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), class-action litigation in state and federal courts, individual litigation by opt-outs, including state opt-outs, and claims administration matters. We have also provided counseling concerning the manufacturer’s relationships with national, state and local fire authorities and industry associations.
Our team of trial lawyers provides a full range of defensive legal services to industries targeted by the organized plaintiffs’ bar. In the lead products litigation area, Morgan Lewis had a principal role in developing the strategic motion practice that produced positive results for our trade association client. In another massive lead products case, our trial team defended a manufacturer of lead pigments named in a class action for personal injury, property damage and medical monitoring. Morgan Lewis trial lawyers were lead counsel in a jury trial of several months and tried the class action to a verdict for the defense.
Our interdisciplinary client service teams are composed of lawyers, scientists and technical specialists with the best combination of skills, experience and practical judgment. A nurse-paralegal who assists with medical/state-of-the-art research and medical chart review, and specially trained research librarians are just a few of the members of our highly skilled professional legal support staff who, utilizing the latest in automated case-management and technological systems, are a valuable resource for our team. A senior lawyer with extensive case-management skills is assigned to every client service team. Over our many years of experience we have developed systems and efficiencies that are important to the management of large-scale complex litigation. We are leaders in litigation management, and clients turn to us for the specialized skills and case efficiencies that we have developed in this important area.
To help clients minimize their exposure and ensure the safe use of their products, we advise clients on issues relating to the packaging, labeling and marketing of their products. We have conducted warranty audits of sales and marketing materials to ensure conformance with relevant statutes. In addition, we counsel clients in connection with issues relating to product safety recalls, regulatory inquiries and litigation before the CPSC.
The depth of our jury trial experience sets us apart from other large law firms. We know what it takes to try a high-profile, complex case to verdict. Our willingness to try cases when it is in our clients’ interest to do so, and our record of success at trial, gives us a strategic advantage when it comes to negotiating settlements for our clients. We have been selected repeatedly to serve as national trial counsel and national coordinating counsel for significant class actions, and we have tried cases in every major jurisdiction in the United States, developing valuable experience and gaining insights into the jurisdictions that are especially relevant in this area of litigation. Two of the cases we have tried to verdict were selected as "Top 10 Defense Verdicts" in the National Law Journal. As trial lawyers, we have set the standard for the use of technology and multimedia in the courtroom.