Product Liability

Goldberg Segalla represents major manufacturers of consumer and household products in national, regional, and local product liability litigation, as well as in regulatory and risk prevention forums. We are proud to serve as national counsel for manufacturers of appliances, fans and heaters, electronic devices, and children’s products.

We are regularly called upon by our clients who manufacture consumer products, including children’s products and other household products that could potentially cause injury to children, to assist them in presenting their position to the CPSC and Health Canada regarding proposed new regulations and requirements, individually and through industry trade organizations.

By developing an understanding of the design and function of our clients’ products, our goal is to face down opposing experts, undermine their methodology, and achieve successful outcomes. Our experience defending product liability torts includes products such as:

• Household appliances
• Lithium-ion batteries
• Electrical products
• Sports and recreational products

Goldberg Segalla product liability lawyers understand the myriad legal and regulatory challenges facing the food and beverage industry. Our breadth of experience resolving product liability, regulatory and commercial disputes for clients — including market-leading manufacturers of food and other products — means we provide not only solutions for the complex problems facing food businesses today, but also sound, practical advice to avoid potential pitfalls in the future.

Whether your business involves growing, producing, distributing, or selling food and beverages — or any combination thereof — we provide the legal prowess plus industry perspective necessary to help you protect your assets, reach your goals, and gain a competitive advantage.

Product liability litigation involving motor vehicles requires complex, specialized investigations and the ability to manage extensive document and deposition discovery. Goldberg Segalla’s team of highly skilled attorneys have broad experience in these matters, and work collaboratively with their clients to provide the most efficient and effective defense.

We have defended manufacturers and component suppliers of automobiles, heavy trucks, buses, motorcycles, golf carts, ATVs, recreational vehicles, boats and personal watercraft in product liability torts involving allegations of design and manufacturing defects, inadequate warnings, breach of warranty, and consumer fraud.

Our product liability lawyers have litigated cases involving all aspects of vehicle design, and served as national counsel to manufacturers on such issues as sudden acceleration, inadvertent movement, and vehicle fires. Our team has tried to verdict cases involving defect allegations related to fuel systems, stability and handling, roof structures, cruise control systems, transmissions, starter and shift interlocks, seats, brakes, seatbelts, and airbags.

As a product liability law firm, Goldberg Segalla has long served as a trusted advisor and steadfast protector of the manufacturing industry. Whether seeking proactive counsel to avoid disputes or facing a bet-the-company lawsuit that puts everything on the line, manufacturers count on us because we are committed to quality, thoroughness, and efficiency upon which the manufacturing community is proudly built.

Our product liability attorneys have handled thousands of complex and high-value matters for clients that range from global enterprises and Fortune 500 companies to start-ups and emerging leaders. Drawing from our team’s vast collective experience representing manufacturers, coupled with the in-house, industry, and technical experience of several members, we speak the language of manufacturing and understand the operations, philosophies, and goals behind every engagement.

The product liability attorneys at Goldberg Segalla have broad experience and proven success in defending manufacturers of materials handling products, hauling and loading equipment, cranes, heavy-duty vehicles, industrial/manufacturing machinery, woodworking machinery, and steel processing equipment. In fact, we have represented clients around the country in product liability torts alleging defects in lift trucks, haulers, loaders, conveyors and molding machinery, as well as other related products.

Our team has also:

• Achieved successes including affirmed summary judgment decisions for several manufacturers in the materials handling and industrial equipment fields
• Worked with some of the nation’s leading experts in mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering
• Deposed and disqualified many experts offered by plaintiffs
• Published and presented on these issues to national product liability audiences

With our experience in developing product warnings and information, our attorneys are uniquely qualified to work with leading human factors experts on issues ranging from product literature and warnings to guarding and audible/visual alarms. We have also developed significant familiarity with the standards that apply to the products we defend, working with in-house engineers to learn more about the design and engineering aspects of each product.

Goldberg Segalla is called upon often to provide counsel and representation to clients throughout the aviation industry on a wide array of matters, ranging from product liability claims to catastrophic events. Our Aviation team is led by attorneys who have decades of experience in this highly specialized field, both as litigators and counselors. We are well versed in the intricacies of the aviation industry and its evolving technologies, experienced in the full range of legal disciplines and regulations impacting the industry, and capable of resolving even the most catastrophic of claims.

We routinely provide our aviation clients with proactive advice and counsel regarding liability risks, insurance, contractual warranty and indemnity, and other issues related to this highly regulated and scrutinized industry. When a dispute or liability claim arises, our product liability lawyers bring to each case the zealous representation, openness, and deep respect for our clients’ business reputations. Through relationships built on trust, our firm has earned a legacy of successfully and efficiently managing extremely difficult, high-exposure claims. Our team has extensive experience representing domestic and foreign clients in the aviation industry from the investigation of a mishap through final judgment. We have handled complex litigation in both state and federal courts involving air crashes and other aviation-related mishaps, especially in the defense of personal injury, wrongful death, and survival actions.

Our litigation experience includes cases involving product liability, general aviation liability, property damage, cargo and baggage claims, and subrogation and recovery. We also protect the interests of our clients in this highly competitive market in litigation involving commercial and consumer claims, as well as the full range of contractual risk-shifting agreements involving airlines and airline alliances, under-wing vendors and fixed-base operators, and municipal authorities.

Goldberg Segalla serves as national and coordinating counsel for both closely held and Fortune 500 companies whose products have been accused of causing fires. Our product liability attorneys represent insureds and insurers in fire litigation throughout the United States, including cases involving:

• Large loss subrogation defense
• Arson
• Catastrophic burn injury
• Death actions

Our nationally recognized team of trial lawyers is experienced in the defense of all types of litigation involving and arising out of fire. We have considerable knowledge regarding the investigation of fire claims, having accompanied experts to hundreds of fire scene investigations and product inspections. In fact, several of our attorneys have extensive knowledge of NFPA 921 — which provides Goldberg Segalla clients the competitive advantage of having on their side fire investigation credentials that often match or exceed those of opposing expert witnesses.

The attorneys at Goldberg Segalla have committed their time and talents to turning the tide of toxic tort litigation on behalf of product manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. In local and individual matters, and in mass tort litigation, we have won trials and appeals, and have shaped case law around the country. We have defended product manufacturers and sellers in connection with myriad toxic exposure claims, including asbestos, talc, Legionnaires’ disease, benzene, mold, glyphosate, lead, pesticides, and carbon monoxide.

With the ability to defend product manufacturers and sellers across our national footprint, we’ve built a reputation for precedent-setting victories over aggressive plaintiff lawyers in some of the country’s toughest judicial jurisdictions — but also for developing cost-effective litigation management strategies to meet each client’s goals.

Asbestos

Our attorneys have a long record of success defending and trying toxic tort cases for decades in many of the most-challenging judicial jurisdictions around the country, including New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis and Chicago. Collectively, our team has litigated thousands of asbestos cases nationwide over the last 35-plus years, and we have experience managing immense asbestos caseloads.

Throughout our footprint, we have capable trial teams on the ground defending our clients’ interests. Our Asbestos Case Tracker blog has earned national recognition as the “go to” resource in asbestos litigation, named The Expert Institute’s Best Litigation Blog, and making the ABA Journal’s Top 100 blogs (out of more than 5,000).

Legionnaires’ Disease

Our team leadership comprises nationally recognized litigators who have successfully defended clients in high-profile Legionnaires’ disease cases. We have a history of successfully mitigating, if not completely defeating, exposure claims related to Legionnaires’ disease and other bacterial contamination claims across the country. Our attorneys have also lectured on Legionnaires’ disease, both in private client settings and on the national public stage.

Our product liability attorneys have decades of experience with personal injury defense, including the highest-stakes litigation – catastrophic injury claims. By partnering with top experts in various fields, including accident reconstruction, biomechanics, human factors, fire cause and origin, statistical evaluation, medicine, vocational rehabilitation, and economics, we develop strong, data-driven defense strategies.

Our lawyers are versatile and have a vast experience with jury trials in the U.S. and how best to defend product liability litigation. We have also employed successful counterstrategies to the increasingly aggressive discovery/disclosure tactics employed by the plaintiff’s bar.  Based on our proven track record of success, our experienced trial attorneys have been called upon by both self-insured companies and insurers to defend catastrophic personal injury cases throughout the United States.

Our product liability lawyers take pride in our creative resolutions and productive working relationships with governmental agencies. We have represented product manufacturers in matters before numerous regulatory agencies and organizations, including:

• Consumer Product Safety Commission
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• U.S. Coast Guard

Goldberg Segalla offers attorneys with experience in regulatory law and product recalls. Knowing that time is of the essence in such matters, we respond rapidly to the needs of our clients.

We’re on it from the word go

With training and hands-on experience in post-incident investigations, the attorneys on Goldberg Segalla’s Rapid Response team are ready to deploy at a moment’s notice whenever and wherever our clients need us to provide immediate direction, control, and documentation at the scene of the event. We have on-call relationships with private investigators, accident reconstruction and safety experts, and other professionals, who work together to protect our clients from potential claims in unexpected and high-stakes situations.

From the minute our phone rings, we know that our job is to coordinate the post-incident investigation, tap the needed experts and other resources, interview potential claimants within 24 hours, and ensure the preservation of evidence.

Just as important, we keep the client thoroughly updated and involved at all times – through mobilization, assessment, investigation, and successful resolution.

We understand that avoiding product liability litigation is more important — and more cost-effective — than winning one. We often help clients with risk avoidance, including:

• Minimizing and managing risks associated with designing, manufacturing, and selling products
• Appreciating the scope and application of industry and governmental standards
• Assisting in the preparation of appropriate owners’ manuals, warnings, and instructions regarding the proper use — and dangers of misuse — of products

Our product liability lawyers assisted in developing hundreds of manuals for a wide array of industrial and commercial goods. Our involvement in the development of these materials is based on our vast experience in, and knowledge of, the multitude of ways in which plaintiffs have exposed shortcomings of less carefully drafted manuals, and the manner in which they will pursue “failure to warn” claims.

Given today’s litigation climate, it is also essential that manufacturers implement a document retention policy in order to provide for the preservation and proper destruction of corporate documents in conformity with federal and various states’ laws. Such policies must account for electronic documents that may be stored on all computers company-wide. While this is a daunting task, our lawyers have the requisite experience to guide our clients through this potential minefield.

Key elements of the defense we provide our clients include our coast-to-coast rapid response service and early case assessment. We deploy to critical incidents including fire and catastrophic accident scenes to provide timely and crucial information to key stakeholders. We ensure necessary investigative and expert resources are engaged, that key witnesses are identified, critical evidence and documents are preserved, and the right steps are taken at the right time — when every second counts. And when continued investigative action is required through the aftermath, our attorneys provide guidance and regular updates to the client, allowing the product liability trial team to focus on strategy and defense.

Clients rely on our steady guidance and complete situational control from the minute we answer the call. We understand the first hours, days, and weeks are critical, and have developed detailed protocols to ensure we collect and secure all the evidence needed to evaluate exposure and build your best defense.

Litigation is not always the best route to achieving one’s legal goals. Sometimes, the best way to resolve a complex matter is through direct settlement or mediation. Goldberg Segalla is home to highly skilled and experienced mediators, arbitrators and neutral evaluators who provide our clients with the informed counsel and advice necessary to ensure cases are brought to a close in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. Our team regularly handles complex mediation and arbitration in a wide range of proceedings, including product liability. We are committed to our clients’ success and ensuring their best interests are protected throughout every step of their legal journey.