PRODUCT LIABILITY AND TOXIC TORTS: DESCRIPTION

McKenna Long & Aldridge has an active, national practice in product liability and toxic tort litigation.

The product liability work includes representation of manufacturers of diverse products, including:

Agricultural chemicals
Asbestos and asbestos containing products
Automobiles
Cellular telephones
Drugs and medical devices
Formaldehyde
Machinery and manufacturing equipment
Military, aerospace, and other commercial products
Organic/halogenated solvents
Pesticides
Petroleum-based products

The environmental tort work includes defense of cases involving a wide variety of industrial and agricultural chemicals and radioactive materials released to:

We also handle mold litigation.

Our work includes personal injury and property damage litigation, as well as counseling and training. We work with clients to develop mechanisms to avoiding lawsuits when they are developing or marketing a new product or when they have an environmental release or incident. We have developed expertise in defense of actions involving multiple plaintiffs and defendants and are often called upon to act as national coordinating counsel.

Our product liability and toxic tort practitioners combine their experience in complex civil litigation with the firm's experience in the technical and medical issues that often form the battleground for these cases. MLA's extensive experience with scientific and medical issues enables us to integrate complex issues to present a credible scientific defense for your company. These types of cases frequently are won through discovery. By immersion in the technical and medical issues and the related law, we succeed in effectively cross-examining opposing experts to support pre-trial motions to exclude their testimony or hinder their effectiveness at trial. At the same time, we use our experience with medical and technical issues to create a strong defense that is effectively integrated with the unique facts facing the companies we represent. When these cases are not defeated by pre-trial motions, our lawyers are skilled at presenting complex scientific evidence to lay juries for excellent results.

One unique aspect of MLA's practice is the defense of government contractors in product liability/environmental tort cases. We are particularly skilled at presenting the special legal defenses and third-party claims that are available when a products/environmental matter arises in connection with a contractual relationship with the government.

A sampling of our product liability/toxic tort experience follows.

Product Cases

Selected as National Coordinating Counsel for a cellular phone manufacturer in nationwide tort litigation claiming personal injuries from cellular telephone usage
Defended thousands of asbestos personal injury claims and defended property damage claims involving school districts and commercial properties
Defended hundreds and hundreds of personal injury actions involving automotive manufacturers
Successfully represented a defendant in the Exxon Valdez admiralty/maritime litigation in Alaska, defending against multi-billion dollar claim that the client's faulty steering system caused accident
Selected as National Coordinating Counsel for generic phentermine manufacturers in over 5,000 cases filed in the nationwide fen-phen diet drug litigation, including national coordination of expert and scientific discovery in federal multi-district litigation and 46 states
Represented numerous military contractors in wrongful death maritime action arising out of 1989 shooting down of the Iranian airbus by the USS Vincennes during Persian Gulf "tanker war," which resulted in successful dismissal under the political question doctrine and the state secrets privilege. Obtained same result in Second and Fifth Circuits for numerous defense contractors in wrongful death maritime action brought by family members of Navy sailors killed when Iraqi missiles struck the USS Stark in 1987 in Persian Gulf
Defended contractor in first wrongful death suit arising out of friendly fire accident during Operation Desert Storm, resulting in summary judgment in client's favor in Central District of California. Also, defended contractor in wrongful death suit arising out of accident which occurred during support of M1A1 Battle Tanks in Desert Storm
National Coordinating Counsel for captive insurance company's and risk retention group's product liability/toxic tort cases
Our amicus representation of numerous trade associations, including the American Crop Protection Association, Chemical Specialties Manufacturers Association, National Pest Control Association and American Wood Preservers Institute
Through our representation of numerous individual corporate defendants and also trade association amici curiae, the firm has played a nationally preeminent role in establishing the principle that FIFRA, the federal pesticide statute, preempts state damages claims that directly or indirectly challenge the adequacy of the federally approved labeling or warnings accompanying a pesticide product

Environmental Exposure Cases

Defended former operator of nuclear weapons facility in personal injury action alleging mercury poisoning as a result of mercury releases to surface water. Obtained summary judgment for defendant
Defended operator of nuclear weapons facility in property damage case alleging reduction in property and business values as a result of releases of radioactive material, mercury and PCBs to surface water
Defended operator of aircraft modification facility in multi-plaintiff personal injury and property damage cases involving chlorinated solvents in groundwater. In the case filed as a class action, we defeated class certification
Represented former operator of an Army ammunition plant in multi-plaintiff case alleging personal injuries caused by off-site chemical releases to air, surface water and groundwater
Defended operator of metal fabrication facility in multi-billion dollar claim by state for harm to its natural resources when alleged harm was contamination of groundwater
Defended manufacturer of crop protection products in multi-plaintiff personal injury case alleging facility releases to air, soil, groundwater and surface water
Defended company disposing of products at certified waste disposal site in multi-party personal injury case alleging injuries from site releases