Product Liability
Related ProfessionalsOverview
The firm delivers quality class action defense that is thoughtful, pragmatic and effective. Best in the business.” - The Legal 500, 2023
Kirkland is fearless.
Kirkland works with clients to defend and win product liability and mass-tort actions — ranging from high-stakes individual personal-injury trials to sprawling nationwide bet-the-company federal MDL or consolidated state cases involving thousands of claims. Kirkland welcomes and wins the most challenging products cases, including those brought in difficult circumstances following extensive media coverage of product recalls, regulatory fines, and white-collar investigations.
Time and time again, Kirkland has successfully defended cases turning on complex technical and scientific issues, including cases involving the pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive products, tobacco products, asbestos, and chemical industries, among others. Kirkland understands the complexities of product liability because our lawyers have been making the law—setting precedent in the highest profile cases—for the better part of a century.
We succeed at all stages of litigation, including pretrial dismissals, trial verdicts, and post-trial briefing and appeals. Drawing on a deep bench of world-class trial lawyers, Kirkland is unafraid to try and win the cases believed to be unwinnable — and our opponents know it. Our clients frequently leverage Kirkland’s aggressive approach and trial record to secure favorable resolution of massive products litigations and related massive RICO and consumer-fraud class actions and governmental investigations. We carefully work with our clients to fashion a litigation strategy that comprehends and positions our clients for successful resolution of product liability and related components of today’s high stakes complex litigation.
Experience
Johnson & Johnson
Allen v. Brenntag North America, Inc., et al. (Cal. Super. Ct.)
Represented Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., in a product liability action alleging that Johnson & Johnson's talcum-based baby powder products contained asbestos that caused the plaintiff to develop mesothelioma. In 2018, the jury delivered a defense verdict and judgment was entered in favor of Johnson & Johnson.
Aoki v. Johnson & Johnson, et al.; Metzler, et al. v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al. (5th Cir.)
Represent Johnson & Johnson and its affiliate, DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., in the appeal of two separate adverse jury verdicts in one of the largest MDL proceedings in the country relating to DePuy’s Pinnacle hip prosthetics. In 2018, Kirkland obtained a vacatur of a $502 million jury verdict in the Aoki appeal. The court also ordered a new trial because of the district court’s evidentiary errors and granted judgment as a matter of law to Kirkland's clients on seven other claims.
Baxter International
Represented Baxter International, Inc., Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Scientific Protein Labs LLC, and American Capital Ltd. in more than 1,000 product liability cases alleging personal and economic injury resulting from the receipt of contaminated blood thinner (Heparin) products. The MDL court granted summary judgment on several categories of claims, resulting in the dismissal of most of the cases in the MDL. Based on the generic summary judgment ruling and favorable results in two jury trials in 2013, the remaining cases were favorably resolved.
Mutual Pharmaceutical
Represented Mutual Pharmaceutical Company on appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court in a precedent-setting preemption case. Won appeal in 2013 that overturned a $21 million product liability verdict, and held that plaintiffs cannot avoid conflict preemption by asserting that generic pharmaceutical defendants should not have sold their products using the federally-required labeling.
AbbVie
Representing AbbVie, AbbVie Products LLC, and Abbott Laboratories in AndroGel® MDL concerning allegations of injuries as a result of taking prescription testosterone replacement therapy drugs. In 2017 and 2018, Kirkland prevailed when the court vacated the jury verdicts in the first and second bellwether trials. In 2018, Kirkland and co-counsel achieved complete defense verdicts in the third, fourth and fifth bellwether jury trials. Additional bellwether cases are stayed pending the negotiation and court approval of a potential global settlement.
BASF Catalysts
Serve as national counsel and lead trial counsel on behalf of BASF Catalysts LLC in a series of asbestos-related product liability cases arising from the sale of talc by the defunct talc-mining operations of Engelhard Corporation, which BASF acquired in 2006. Kirkland leads the effort in scores of cases filed in jurisdictions throughout the country.
Raytheon
Represented Raytheon in consolidated product liability actions alleging HAWK and Patriot surface-to-air missile system radars emitted dangerous levels of radiation and caused plaintiffs' cancers and other serious diseases. In 2006, Kirkland won dismissal of the medical monitoring claims and defeated class certification. Kirkland defeated the claims of the first two bellwether plaintiffs in 2009 by persuading the court to exclude the plaintiffs’ expert on radiation dose and risk. The remaining plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their claims.
Allergan
Representing Allergan in governmental inquiries and civil suits in multiple courts related to its sale and marketing of opioid pain killers. This litigation and related litigation has been identified publicly as a top priority of the U.S. Attorney General and Department of Justice, of several congressional leaders, and of numerous state Attorneys General, who are also bringing their own investigations and suits. In 2017, the federal cases were consolidated and centralized by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Ongoing.
Tier 1 Product Liability
Benchmark Litigation, 2024
World-Scale Matters
Our team has handled some of the largest investigations, criminal matters and civil proceedings in history
Product Liability: Automobile - Tier 1
Chambers USA, 2023