Product Liability Defense
A product liability lawsuit can expose a producer or manufacturer to catastrophic
losses. In many cases, the ability for the defendant to continue operations
hangs in the balance. Defending a product liability action can be a very
specialized and nuanced endeavor, and should be reserved only for the
most skilled and creative product liability defense attorneys. McFarlin
LLP has broad product and manufacturing knowledge across many industries,
as well as a strong litigation background, to defend any claim including
the most common “dangerous and defective product” claim which
has gained widespread use, especially in California.
Limiting Exposure in a Defective Product Lawsuit
Oftentimes product liability claims are completely frivolous wherein the
plaintiff himself caused his or her own injury by unreasonable misuse
of the product or complete disregard for his own safety. Nonetheless,
anytime someone is hurt they naturally assume it must have been someone
else’s fault or the result of a dangerous product. Plaintiff’s
attorneys are all too happy to go along with such claims hoping for a
nuisance settlement or a few dollars to get through the month. Unfortunately
such cases are part of our legal system and although they can’t
be prevented, an experienced product liability attorney can minimize costs
and limit exposure to claims. No matter how carefully manufactured a product
may be, when you light it on fire, chances are it’s going to eventually
burn. McFarlin LLP will aggressively litigate your product liability case
to effectively and efficiently minimize risk.
Types of Product Liability Claims
With our many years of experience litigating and defending product liability
and similar claims, McFarlin LLP has developed an understanding of many
different products and industries including:
- Auto and Motorcycle Parts
- Bicycles
- Toys
- Tools
- Batteries
- Medical Devices
- Surgical Equipment
- Firearms and Ammunition
- Power Tools
- Recreational Equipment
- Dietary Supplements
- Household Appliances
- Industrial Tools and Equipment
- Vehicle Components
- Heavy Machinery
- Furniture
- Clothing
- Helmets
- All Terrain Vehicles (ATV’s)
- Packaging Materials
Our approach to defending product liability matters is always to start
with our clients own engineers, product designers, and knowledge base
in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of the product itself,
safety features, and manufacturing procedures. We then
formulate a litigation strategy based on the clients’ budget. The budget will determine how many
experts we retain, types of media we use (video, storyboards, graphic
illustrations, etc.), and how extensive our depositions are. Of course
in taking such a thorough, methodical and systematic approach to the litigation,
we often can settle the matter at an early stage in the process on very
reasonable terms. When it is clear to the plaintiff’s they are facing
a robust and vigorous defense, their demands often decrease substantially.
