A crisis in the product liability context can take a variety of forms. It can be a major incident resulting in alleged personal injury, purported property damage, or a widespread product recall, among other things. A strategic response demands immediate and thoughtful action.
Morgan Lewis takes a comprehensive approach to addressing the critical short- and long-term issues arising from major product liability crises and knows how to help clients manage strategic response plans. Our product liability lawyers institute an integrated approach. They assess an incident to provide immediate strategies while focusing on long-term implications and preparing to defend clients in litigation, regulatory inquiries, or government investigations that could follow. Our team also has experience dealing with public relations issues and works closely with clients to make certain their messages are being conveyed effectively.
Our nationally recognized product liability practice represents chemical, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, construction, and auto companies, among others, in responding to major incidents. We have acted as lead counsel for major defendants in almost every variety of toxic tort litigation, including methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), welding rod, asbestos, benzene, silica, and groundwater contamination matters. For more than three decades, we have handled class action cases and national serial litigation involving the types of products regularly implicated in bodily injury, personal injury, and tort litigation, such as chemicals, asbestos, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, blood, carpets, lead, latex, and building and construction products.
Morgan Lewis’s legal professionals coordinate and oversee multiple simultaneous proceedings and have developed longstanding relationships with the government agencies often involved in crisis response, including the Food and Drug Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission, and National Transportation Safety Board and state attorneys general. The firm’s broader response team also includes insurance recovery specialists, given the importance with respect to insurance coverage of the timing and method used to notify carriers when losses may occur.