The defense of serious product liability claims has been a significant part of SRBC’s litigation practice for many years. The firm is regularly engaged by product manufacturers and distributors as national, regional and local counsel to defend complex product liability lawsuits alleging design and manufacturing defects and failure to warn. These cases involve a wide range of products, including automobiles, industrial equipment and machinery, power tools, juvenile products, sporting goods, consumer appliances and others.

In addition to serving as trial counsel in product liability suits, our attorneys also provide comprehensive in-house programs designed to assist clients to improve risk management and minimize liability in the areas of product design and warnings.

The firm is active in numerous industry and bar organizations focused on the defense of complex product claims including the Defense Research Institute, the International Association of Defense Counsel, and the Trucking Industry Defense Association. David Barry, chair of our Product Liability Practice Group, is recognized as a leading product liability lawyer in The Best Lawyers in America and in Massachusetts Super Lawyers, where he has been named one of the Top 100 Lawyers overall in Massachusetts and New England. In addition, members of the Product Liability group have written articles and are frequent lecturers at bar association and continuing education seminars on product liability issues and litigation-related topics.

For more information about our experience in this area, and how we can help you achieve your goals, please contact group chair David A. Barry.

Representative Matters:

• Federal-court jury verdict for defendant manufacturer in case involving crushing injury from crimping tool (more)
• Federal-court jury verdict for defendant manufacturer and retailer (after First Circuit reversal of earlier plaintiff's verdict) in case involving alleged defective design of table saw (more)
• Federal-court jury verdict for Volkswagen in "crashworthiness" case arising from rollover accident and resulting quadriplegia (more)
• Defense verdict for auto manufacturer in "crashworthiness" claim that plaintiff driver’s severe brain damage was caused by lack of interior padding in vehicle. In same case, judgment notwithstanding the verdict on claim that infant passenger’s paraplegia was caused by separate defect in vehicle. Result affirmed by Massachusetts Appeals Court
• Defense verdict for manufacturer and retailer of radial-arm saw in case involving 70% permanent loss of vision in plaintiff’s affected eye. Result affirmed by the First Circuit
• Defense verdict for a manufacturer of industrial jointer that plaintiff was operating when he sustained severe injuries to his hand, allegedly due to inadequate warnings accompanying the product
• Summary judgment for manufacturer of office chair based on challenge to plaintiff’s expert’s testimony in suit arising from fall and resulting quadriplegia
• Defense verdict in suit seeking $7.5 million for catastrophic personal injuries sustained by mechanic in explosion of contaminated propane cylinder
• Defense verdict for automobile importer and distributor in claim by owner that the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated in reverse resulting in the death of a pedestrian
• Directed verdict on behalf of manufacturer of bicycle helmet in claim alleging defective retention system resulting in significant head injuries
• Summary judgment for motorcycle helmet manufacturer
• Defense verdict for manufacturer of gas range in residential fire case
• Defense verdict upheld by First Circuit in wrongful death suit brought on behalf of forklift operator killed as a result of crush injuries
• Defense verdict and successful claim for indemnity against third-party defendant in suit arising from injuries to child allegedly caused by defective design of crib
• Summary judgment for retailer of automatic garage door opener
• Defense verdict for pharmaceutical company in suit alleging  liver cancer caused by ingestion of oral contraceptive
• Summary judgment for defendant manufacturer of industrial solvent based on challenge to plaintiff's expert in case involving allegation that exposure to solvent resulted in liver failure

Related News:

August 13, 2010 -
Eleven SRBC Partners Named to Annual "Best Lawyers in America" List

Eleven SRBC partners have been named to the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, an annual publication that calls itself "the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States." This year's selections are based on surveys in which more than 3.1 million leading lawyers were asked to evaluate their professional peers.

The SRBC partners were recognized in nearly all of the firm's practice areas--see the list below (which for simplicity uses our own nomenclature rather than Best Lawyers').  And Tony Doniger was named in the prestigious separate category for "Bet-the-Company Litigation."

• Alternative Dispute Resolution (Jeffrey Stern, Natasha Lisman)
• Appeals (Susan Hartnett)
• Business Litigation (Ed Barshak, Tony Doniger, Natasha Lisman)
• Domestic Relations and Probate Litigation (Ed Barshak, Tony Doniger, Alan Geismer)
• Employment Law (Jean Musiker)
• Environmental Law (Lisa Goodheart)
• Insurance and Reinsurance (Sam Furgang, Susan Hartnett, Natasha Lisman, Regina Roman)
• Medical Malpractice & Pharmaceutical Liability (David Barry)
• Product Liability (David Barry)
• Professional Liability (Regina Roman)

February 24, 2010 -
Levin on Courtroom Advocacy
On February 24, 2010, SRBC partner Andy Levin will appear as a panelist in a Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) program entitled “Courtroom Advocacy.” Panelists will offer how-to secrets of great courtroom advocates for each phase of a case.

February 09, 2010 -
Second Win for Emerson in Federal-Court Products Case
On February 5, SRBC's David Barry and Serena Madar won a federal-court jury verdict on behalf of Ridge Tool Company, a subsidiary of Emerson Electric Co., in a product-liability case involving a RIDGID crimping tool, a specialized item used by plumbers and other professional pipe workers. The plaintiff badly injured his hand while using the tool, and claimed that it should have been re-designed to reduce the risk of such injuries. After a week-long trial, a jury found in favor of Ridge Tool on all of plaintiff's claims. Follow the link below to read SRBC's full case report. The win was featured in The Defense Research Institute newsletter The Voice (second link below). 

January 18, 2010 -
Victory for Sears, Emerson in Long-Running Products Case
SRBC partners David Barry and William Boesch won a federal-court jury verdict on January 15 in favor of clients Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Emerson Electric Co., in a long-running product-liability case involving a Craftsman table saw. The case, Gillespie v. Sears and Emerson, had previously been tried in 2003, with a jury awarding over $1 million to the plaintiffs. SRBC appealed on behalf of Sears and Emerson, and in 2004 the First Circuit reversed the award (386 F.3d 21), returning the case for a new trial. After a long administrative delay, the retrial took place over two weeks in January, in federal court in Boston. The jury found in favor of Sears and Emerson on both aspects of plaintiff's challenges to the design of the table saw. Follow the first link below to read SRBC's full report on the case. The win was featured in an article on the front page of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, and in the Defense Research Institute newsletter The Voice (second link below).

March 06, 2009 -
SRBC's Barry and Levin Win Major Victory for Volkswagen
SRBC partners David Barry and Andrew Levin recently won a jury verdict for Volkswagen in federal court in Vermont, in a case arising from a rollover accident in which the plaintiff, a passenger in a 1999 VW Jetta, was rendered quadriplegic. The plaintiff claimed medical and lost-earnings damages of some $6 million, plus millions more for physical pain and emotional distress. After a three-week trial involving fifteen different expert witnesses, the jury rejected the plaintiff's claim that the roof structure and restraint system of the Jetta were improperly designed. For more, follow the link below to read the case report.