Larkin Hoffman’s Product Liability team represents product designers, manufacturers and sellers in product liability claims in federal and state courts throughout the United States.
Often these claims threaten entire product lines, or even the entire business itself. Larkin Hoffman has experience in all stages of product liability litigation across a wide range of industries and product lines, including commercial and industrial equipment, household goods, lawn care products, and specialized heavy equipment. Our priority is to protect the integrity of our clients’ products and reputation. Our hallmark is the aggressive defense of our clients’ products. Our clients’ business concerns are paramount as we develop a successful legal strategy. We immerse ourselves in our clients’ business and the industry in which they compete in order to develop the most effective defense. We have litigated product liability cases as lead trial counsel in half of the country’s states and routinely defend our clients in high risk, high exposure personal injury and death cases.
We have learned that the most efficient and effective representation begins long before a claim is asserted and involves an early partnership between designers and manufacturers and counsel during a product’s design and development stage. Typically, Larkin Hoffman’s product liability team provides advice regarding warning labels and operators' manuals with the goal of making them helpful to the end user and an effective part of any claim defense during the product development process all the way through a verdict. We also strive to conduct early on-site incident investigations, fact finding, and pre-lawsuit negotiations in an effort to resolve issues before they arise.
Our experience allows us to remain focused on achieving our clients’ goals and objectives throughout the litigation process. We utilize strategies that reduce costs and avoid litigation, including alternative dispute resolution, early case analysis, pre-suit incident investigation, and post-litigation case, product and warning assessments. Our approach is tailored to our clients’ needs. This requires us to know and appreciate our clients’ businesses, industries, and cultures as well as product designs, litigation history, and quality control procedures. Equally important, it requires us to develop an in-depth understanding of the technical and scientific principles applicable to our clients’ products and the environments in which those products are used.
In addition to legal skills, our lawyers have experience understanding and utilizing scientific information and concepts that often provide the most persuasive evidence on product defect and incident causation issues. We rely on aggressive advocacy, solid technical knowledge, and innovative use of expert witnesses to defend our clients and ensure their success. Our intensive preparation and creative presentation allows us to effectively advocate for our clients in the courtroom and at the bargaining table.
Our skills extend beyond the defense of individual lawsuits. We are experienced in the management of nationwide product liability claims and the issues that accompany that role, including coordination of discovery, supervision of local counsel and centralized retention of expert witnesses.
