Practice Areas: Product & Consumer Litigation

McGuireWoods has a proven track record of managing and defending product manufacturers in a wide range of litigation.  We serve as regional and national trial counsel to companies engaged in a variety of industry and commerce.  We routinely defend and try high exposure product injury cases in dangerous jurisdictions; coordinate the defense of pattern litigation, multidistrict mass tort litigation, and consumer fraud class actions; and oversee product recalls and Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) investigations.

Our trial lawyers have worked on behalf of product manufacturers in many of the United States’ most difficult jurisdictions, including those identified by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as “judicial hellholes.”

Although we are prepared to defend clients before juries and on appeal, we also work closely with clients to develop strategies to reduce or avoid litigation. We counsel on insurance coverage issues and recoveries, risk management, claims handling procedures, product literature and labeling, product recalls, and document retention and control.

Representative Service Areas

• Automotive Products Liability
• Consumer Class Action Litigation
• Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC)
• Fires & Explosions
• Food Production
• Insurance Coverage
• Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices
• Power Tools & Equipment
• Product Literature & Labeling
• Recreational & Consumer Products
• Trucking Litigation  

Lawyers on our product and consumer litigation team work hand-in-hand with the firm’s toxic tort and environmental litigation team lawyers. With more than 80 lawyers firmwide, our product and consumer litigation team has the depth and experience to respond quickly, comprehensively and efficiently to clients’ most pressing needs.

Recent Representative Matters

Over the last three years, we have tried cases to verdict in more than 15 states and are currently handling cases in nearly every state in the nation. Over that same time period, we have defended consumer class actions, managed nationwide pattern litigation, represented clients before the CPSC, and provided advice on and helped implement risk management programs.

• National trial counsel for an automobile manufacturer for automotive product liability litigation. Class action counsel for client on consumer class action claims arising from allegedly defective products.
• National trial and coordinating counsel for a chemical manufacturer in public nuisance/mass tort litigation relating to historic manufacture and sale of lead-based paints.
• National trial and coordinating counsel for a manufacturer of gas control valves.
• National trial counsel for a manufacturer of chain saws and other power equipment.
• Representation of a leading medical research hospital arising from alleged exposure of thousands of surgical patients to a contaminated cleaning agent used on surgical instruments.
• National trial and coordinating counsel for various Fortune 500 companies involving alleged asbestos-containing products and premises.
• National trial and coordinating counsel for a leading manufacturer of foam products used in mattresses and furniture.
• National trial counsel for a drug manufacturer in fentanyl patch pain medication litigation.
• National trial, coordinating and class counsel for a major food manufacturer in contaminated food products litigation.
• CPSC counsel to a major big box retailer.